| With the commercialization of the Internet, the face of the Internet
has changed. The original vision of an environment that nurtures the knowledge
and growth of individuals and communities is being blurred by marketing
interests. As the typical user logs onto the World Wide Web today, s/he
is bombarded with page after page cluttered with advertisements. To seek
an item of personal interest is to sort through a labyrinth of extraneous
screens and messages designed to lure the user to this page or that product.
As one astute developer responded when asked whether he thought this was
the way to go, "I'm afraid we're going to blow it." He was acknowledging
the possibility that this incredibly powerful tool for individual learning
and societal good could, in fact, be reduced to a commercial meat market.
So, how do we preserve the knowledge-building capacities of the Internet?
There are no "authorities" to pressure to stem the tide here. The greatest
virtue of the Internet, its decentralized nature, is also its greatest
vulnerability. Only by building a community of like-minded developers and
users who are willing to exert grassroots pressure site-by-site can we
influence its development. Thus, if we are to influence the collective
mind that constitutes the Internet, if we are to help channel the flow
to achieve the higher purposes of personal and communal growth, we must
have a handle on what principles are worth protecting and what practices
can nurture those principles. |
The Vision