ABSTRACT
There is a very large literature, dubbed ‘internetphilia’ by Korinna Patelis,1
which argues that the internet will solve many of our social ills: the decline of community, political apathy, national prejudice, social discrimination, public disempowerment, and much else besides. This tradition argues that the virtual world is free, egalitarian, interactive, self-expressive and global. It is superior to the physical world which it will redeem. The counter-argument to this is that the impact of the net is determined
not by its technology but by the structures and processes of society. In this view, the real world shapes the online world more than the other way round. This is a central debate in net sociology. It also provides a good starting
point for assessing the role and influence of the net.
