EAN: 9781433103957

VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES - FELICIA WU SONG KARTONIER...

Does contemporary Internet technology strengthen civic engagement and democratic practice? The
recent surge in online community participation has become a cultural phenomenon enmeshed in
ongoing debates about the health of American civil society. But observations about online
communities often concentrate on ascertaining the true nature of community and democracy 
typically rehearsing familiar communitarian and liberal perspectives. This book seeks to
understand the technology on its own terms  focusing on how the technological and
organizational configurations of online communities frame our contemporary beliefs and
assumptions about community and the individual. It analyzes key structural features of thirty
award-winning online community websites to show that while the values of individual autonomy 
egalitarianism  and freedom of speech dominate the discursive content of these communities  the
practical realities of online life are clearly marked by exclusivity and the demands of
commercialization and corporate surveillance. Promises of social empowerment are framed within
consumer and therapeutic frameworks that undermine their democratic efficacy. As a result 
online communities fail to revolutionize the civic landscape because they create cultures of
membership that epitomize the commodification of community and public life altogether.

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