In the 90s, many studies focused on pathological users of the internet, stating that it creates an “unreal” world and that its users suffer from a lack of social capacities. However, this discourse doesn’t seem to make sense today. Obviously there are always uses and abuses of technology, but we have different examples of the political use of the world wide web. Political, in this context, means all activities related to the public life. In dictatorial regimes such as Belarus, to give but one example, the role that the internet plays for the opposition is well known. Similarly, anti-globalisation movements are often closely linked with new communication technologies.
Read the complete article by Rui Montez (who worked as an EVS volunteer for Citizens of Europe from January to October 2008) at nonformality.org.