Is The Internet Making Us Better Informed Or More Partisan?
But the three did not agree with one another and sometimes with themselves about whether the Net is making us more partisan (”echo chambers”) or better informed. Is it manipulated by pols throwing out chum that predictably attracts the mindless sharks or, as Trippi replied, is that more characteristic of cable news than the Net? The fact that we are so uncertain about this might indicate that it’s just too soon to tell, but I suspect it indicates that there’s something malformed in the question.
For example, last night one of the audience members expressed concern that the Net is naught but a series of echo chambers. Bai earlier had maintained that he worries that the Net is not about persuasion but about confirmation: you only read that which confirms your views. Ellen Hume of MIT’s civic media project worried from the floor that we’ve lost a unified, authoritative press, feared enough by politicians that when they’re caught in a lie (”I said thanks but no thanks”) they’ll actually stop repeating it.
These are all good points. And yet the question of whether the Net is making us better voters or not remains unsettled, including, I suspect, in the minds of each of those speaking last night. Ultimately, I think it’s unsettled not simply because we lack evidence or because the Internet revolution isn’t over yet.
David Weinberger (wiki – author of a few things and a thinky type of guy when it comes to the Internets and stuff) makes some good points as to why this is still up for debate. Check out the full post for his thoughts. (Editor note: Weinberger is also a Dean adviser. That’s a whole lotta Dean folks in one room.)
