Too old and cynical to be innocent, too unruly and dumb to be an adult, our Internet-based media and communications culture is like a gangly teenager who is not quite sure how to behave or what he wants to be when he grows up. Even as most Americans routinely turn to the Internet for news, shopping, information, and a “social” experience, we are only now just beginning to develop acceptable norms of behavior to guide our online lives. For all our sakes, I hope we develop those norms quickly.
Take newspaper journalism, for example. With print newspaper circulations essentially in free-fall (down another 10 percent from just six months ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations), we are in real danger of losing one of the foundations of our democracy—a free and vibrant media—without yet finding a suitable online replacement that can be economically viable. Early ideas, like non-profit, Internet-only newsgathering operations or micro-payment options to access articles are starting to develop. We need a viable journalism industry to expose wrongs (individual,corporate, and governmental) and to support the marketplace of ideas. These are powerful urges in a democracy, and I’m confident that a new Internet-based model can take hold. As it is, we are in the middle of a period of great uncertainty.
Equally interesting to watch, are the slowly developing norms for individual behavior online. The Federal Trade Commission, for example, has proposed rules that would require bloggers to disclose when they receive any form of compensation for writing about products or services. The Internet has grown based upon an “anything goes” culture, but with the web now mainstream, the fact is “anything goes” doesn’t work very well. Most people don't like it. Just as the influx of settlers eventually brought rules and organization to the Wild West, Americans are beginning to demand rules and organization to the Internet. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
The Internet is growing up, and like the gangly teenager, it will inevitably become something more mature and controlled than it is today.
