Sociology of the internet

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. This virtual world is superior to the physical world which it will redeem.