Saturday, March 23, 2002

Interview with Sunstein, C.: Republic.com.
Probably the more serious risks involve an increase in social fragmentation. I mentioned that as a result of the Internet, and increased specialization, there appears to be an ever-smaller role for general interest newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters. These institutions have been really important to our society and our democracy, and I think we've overlooked that importance. They're important partly because they've exposed people to topics and ideas that people might not have encountered--and so helped create a common culture, which is extremely valuable for a democracy.

If the Internet allows segments of society to fragment into their own separate little communications universes, there's a real problem. We have some evidence that this is happening. To the extent that it does happen, people will have a harder time talking to one another, and helping to solve shared problems. When Democrats and Republicans end up dividing so sharply - "Bush stole the election!," versus, "No, Gore tried to do that"--it's often because people are just talking to people with whom they already agree.
http://www.pup.princeton.edu/releases/m7014.html

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