Analysis: Internet Social Costs

The advent of any new technology, from the wheel and atomic bomb to cell phones and the Internet, offers society benefits and drawbacks. This is because any invention or form of new technology has the potential for positive or negative use. For instance, the internet has removed significant barriers to education for disabled individuals with online classrooms and courses by established universities, but it has also created potential danger for teens and youth from Internet predators. In Social Implications of the Internet, DiMaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, and Robinson (2001) maintain that because of the internet's unique capability of integrating modes of communication and forms of content, it is "a critically important research site for sociologists testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects" (p. 307).

Critics of the internet argue it is divisive and leads to a decline in social capital, while others contend it offers more personalized information and entertainment, can lead to new forms of community-building, and offers a more effective and less expensive media distribution network. This analysis will argue that the internet positively compliments existing media across three significant domains: (1) the digital divide (inequality in access); (2) political participation; and (3) cultural participation and cultural diversity.

For purpose of this analysis, the "internet" is defined as "the electronic network of network

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the social context in which individuals are situated" (p. 322). Technological environments, social environments, and the nature of internet-related goals all impact the digital divide post-access, but when these environments are developed the divide is undermined among all socioeconomic groups in societies that exhibit these dimensions. Political Participation Perhaps few areas of social interaction have been as positively impacted by the internet as political participation. There are both utopians and doomsayers on the issues of the impact of the internet on politics. Many view the internet as stimulating a "re-engaged, more deliberative, and more equitable political community" (DiMaggio, 2001, p. 319). Doomsayers believe the usual corporate players will dominate political activism and campaign interaction, with DiMaggio et al. (2001) arguing "most research suggests that effects thus far have been mixed and modest" (p. 319). Yet DiMaggio et al. (2001) is writing nearly a decade ago. From the enormous amount of monies raised on the internet in the past two presidential elections to the increasing influence of political websites and blogs like The Huffington Post, the views of those who support a re-engaged and m

Category: Economics - I