ABSTRACT
The utopian rhetoric that surrounds new media technologies promises further democratization of postindustrial society. Specifically, the internet and related technologies can augment avenues for personal expression and promote citizen activity. New technologies provide information and tools that may extend the role of the public in the social and political arena. The explosion of online political groups and activism certainly reflects political uses of the internet. A virtual sphere enhances democracy. This chapter examines not only the political discussion online, but the contribution of that discussion to a democratic society. Online political discourse was dominated by conservatives, even though liberals were the online majority. This implies that the virtual sphere is politically divided in a manner that echoes traditional politics, thus simply serving as a space for additional expression, rather than radically reforming political thought and structure.
