8(3) April 2003 Margaret McLaughlin and Sheizaf Rafaeli, Editors |
 There is an underlying assumption held by government that simply by introducing technology to disadvantaged communities, the digital divide will be removed and people will go online. The author critically examines this assumption.  The ICT literature posits that community networking should positively affect levels of social capital in a community. The author uses social network analysis to examine this idea. 
The author reports that people appreciate the diversity of persons and viewpoints they encounter in their chosen political discussion spaces and are not primarily oriented towards finding like-minded others online. 
Internet use is reinforcing the pre-existing turn to societies in the developed world that are organized around networked individualism rather than group or local solidarities. The result has important implications for civic involvement. |
 Electronic Networks and Democracy Edited by Nicholas Jankowski   In this special issue we present studies of community-based information systems and virtual arenas for political information and debate  The author explains the obstacles which discourage Internet users from more direct involvement in political life and explores the possibilities for more interactive, open political engagement. 
The authors argue that social researchers should become involved in the process of community network design and adopt an orientation toward inquiry based on the concept of phronesis. |
