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76 Barbara Becker and Josef Wehner

Certainly, this interpretation of the Net is confronted by some
critical arguments. So, it is possible to argue that even in industrial
nations, only a very small part of the population has access to the In-
ternet. For many people, the personal computer and related equip-
ment which would enable them to participate in on-line discussions
are still too expensive. And in countries of the so-called third world,
the situation is even worse: most of the inhabitants of these coun-
tries do not even have a telephone connection. The possibility of par-
ticipating in the public space of the Internet therefore is restricted to
a very small, prosperous part of the population. Another problem ap-
pears if we consider that not only financial resources are a necessary
precondition of participation; in addition, people should be endowed,
to use a term of Pierre Bourdieu (1987), with “cultural capital.” Most
Net-users not only possess sufficient money and technical compe-
tence, but also a specific educational and cultural background which
includes competencies such as speaking English and being able to
present arguments in a rational way (see Wetzstein 1995). An active
participation in on-line discussion groups presupposes the ability to
overcome one’s shyness and to articulate one’s own opinion, to pres-
ent arguments, and to deal with the anonymity of the communica-
tion situation (especially the fact that very often, a response to what
one has posted may not be forthcoming). The habit of the passive
consumer, into which people have been socialized for such a long
time, cannot be broken very quickly. The transition from the role of
the passive recipient to an active user of interactive media is still in
its early stages. Researchers are also more and more afraid that the
Net will become fully commercialized on the long run.
Some of these problems are not technical but “only” social prob-
lems. So, they could be overcome through appropriate social reforms
and political support (see Schmid 1997). There is also the fact that
the computer equipment which is needed for participation on the In-
ternet is becoming ever less expensive. Consequently, more and
more people will get an access to the new media. Further, more and
more people outside of the industrialized world as well will learn the
basic technical and communicative skills to use the new media. And,
last but not least, there is some hope that commercialization will not
dominate all spaces of the Internet. [The economic actors cannot
transform the Internet completely into a market because this media
is open for different modes of treating and coding. Neither one type
of actor nor a single social system can turn the new media into a
medium focussing exclusively on special values and procedures.
There are always representatives of other social spheres like politi-