How does the Internet enhance the public sphere or diminish it?
911954
it enhances it...hell, information moves at lightning speeds even China cant keep it "all"out. It keeps those who were before less informed now on the same par as any news bureau.
749601
Absolutely. There is a huge problem with internet fraud and the proliferation of child pornography. MacLean's magazine had a great article recently titled something like, The Internet Sucks. People think they can spread hate propoganda and get away with it. I'm all for free speech too, but not this kind of free speech.
680432
Certainly.  Some internet abbreviations have entered daily spoken language.  People are doing much more writing and much less speaking.  A new level of langauge (e-mail speak) seems to be developing.  Even amoung educated, careful speakers, a certain number of appreviations, symbols and careless spellings seems to have become accepted.  While some younger users are taking this to the point of incomprehensibility (if you are not in the know), this will probably level off.  The number of international users will change some English used on the Internet as new norms develop.  The Internet is a new community of speakers/writers, and as it develops, it will change.
665655
Internet has enough of a force of its own to do that. Seems like the gravitational force of the net is more than that of the world.
44517
One of the best ways is to interact with other people's web pages, forums, and blogs such as this. As you can see, my website will now show up on this message and might possibly drive additional traffic to my site. Also, having original, useful information over a long period of time will help you be found in in the search engines.
397819
oh yes, yes, yes. The internet is a great source of information that be very valuable.... so get a filter or limit yours kids!
39559
internet is a vast medium, there are countless resources of information on the internet.\n\nin my opinion there should be some controlled resources of information and some without censor.\n\nfor example u can search for a specific topic on controlled resources such as microsoft encarta, or wikipedia and then search the same thing on freenet.\n\nin this way u can decide on your own, which one is better.
1071016
Basically it generates interests to the public and the public can make a decision on whether to react or ignore it. Communication involves two identities communicating with each other.
127761
media (tv, papers, internet, radio,...) give a narrow view. as a result, humans are dumbed down globaly. this leads to ignorance & apathy. adhesion to religions, dictators & social quirks is our weakness.
169654
Yup, I agree with Froggie and nini_nil, the people of a family would be closer and they would spend more time with each other. Also, children who are innocent wouldn't get spoiled (You know what I mean !) by Internet. But yes, there would have been many disadvantages too. We would never meet those people whom we have met online. There would be no Yahoo Answers ! We would have to go to a library every now and then whenever we have a project work at school, people of different nations would remain to be far apart and wouldn't know the cultures and traditions of other nations. Yup, there are many advantages as well as disadvantages, though, I am glad Internet is there !
412524
I think it will eventually.  \nI'm seeing it a lot with my generation already.  In person, peopele are awkward and sensor themselves too much.  It's like everyone is afraid of expressing what they really think for fear of the other person's reaction.  Online however, people tend to be more open.  We tend to say what we think to people we know and strangers alike.  I think this is because we don't have to see their expression.  Online we are given the option to be whoever we want to... and a lot of the time we are more able present a truer side of ourself because we're not so conscience of the fact that we may be being judged.  Since we have the internet for an 'outlet', we no longer require ourselves to be ourselves.  We allow our peers to see what it is that we want them to see and show our real self online more than in person.  The irony of this is we're being more open with complete strangers (who we used to try to make our best first impression on) than we are with the people closest to us (who used to know us best).
88598
The internet. \n\nZING!
427467
People say things on the internet that they wouldn't ever say in real life.  Something about the anonymity (from both ends) allows you to make assumptions and express strong opinions you wouldn't be able to when face-to-face with people.
996495
Perhaps you are referring to how computer networking (the Internet in particular) makes it a "small world"?  Another way to say it is that technology and the Internet have made the world flat.  It refers to "globalization" and the fact that networks and the Internet and technology have changed the way we live, work, shop and learn, not to mention the way we communicate and collaborate... just look at Y!Answers as an example.  People now interact from halfway around the world as if they were sitting right next to each other.  We can get dozens of answers to a question in SECONDS that our grandparents would have spent days or weeks researching in a library.  It's as if we are all sitting in a virtual conference room regardless of how far apart we are geographically, I think that's the idea your asking about.
1034550
You're right, this cloak of anonymity allows a person to overstep their mouth with statements that ordinarily would not be espoused so freely. \nYeah, civility is the key factor which would allow this medium to flourish. Without it, it's less engaging and right-on.\nI'm with you on this.\nSo,\nLet's be mindfully kind with our answers\n...or don't answer at all. \n'Ya know ?\n\nThanks, folks.\nGood Question.\nPeace.
362188
I believe that it is certainly possible, the internet is a big part of what may make it happen because it is getting harder and harder for oppressive govenments to control information (such as China) eventually it will be impossible and people in these govenments will demand to chose how they are governed.
1091010
Communication in the 21st century:Benefits of the Internet