2. emergence, the Internet is equated with progress and advancement of
civilization. Another prominent theme emphasizes attendant harms -
that is, what may be lost because of it. A third theme concerns inter-
relationships - globally, for example, on an international scale, and univer-
sally, regarding who has access and to what degree muUidiversity may be
realized and reflected through this medium. The first part of this theme
recurs across time, but emphasis on access and diversity belongs to the
present age. A fourth theme, which seems new in part, involves what makes
a whole individual - that is, what makes the most complete, productive
person. Concerns about potential harm of new communication media are
familiar from the past, but new dimensions appear in present-day attention
to the individual computer user, particularly in discourse about the Internet
as conducive to creating isolationism vs. developing social interaction skills.
Looking at discourse about the Internet from individual, institutional,
and social perspectives makes manageable the treatment of similarities and
differences across time regarding communication technologies. At the
broadest social level, some universal truths are that people inherit a cultural
tradition and approach interpretation of everything with ideas alreadv in
mind, as Paul Ricouer reminds us and, as Murphey asserts, people draw
upon, and never deviate very far from, the stock of concepts and beliefs
provided by their culture. Moreover, individual action, as Murphey empha-
sizes, cannot be understood without taking its context into account. Such
truths underscore, for example, as McChesney and others have emphasized,
that the Internet does not bring more democracy or equality nor erase gender
biases and other biases entrenched in the culture.-
Also from a social perspective, a community theme, recurrent histori-
cally in discourse about communication technologies, reflects a significant
shift in present-day discourse. For example, nineteenth-century Americans
expected world peace and solutions to the gravest problems to follow the
spread of printing and other communications technologies, but discourse
about the Internet emphasizes what some have called quot;community fluidityquot;
and how community is formed. Also new is that the power to quickly form
specialized communities via the Internet raises a concern about who controls
information. Laura Gurak, for example, says this raises problems of exclu-
sion, inaccurate information, introversion. In other words, she asks, who
controls information and who can and should have power to use it?-'
From an institutional perspective, discourse about new communica-
tion technologies across time shows a dominance of interest in the financial /
business impact and applications in work and educational environments, but
what seems to be new today is concern about institutional alterations to make
way for the technologies. A July 1997 Atlantic Monthly article pertaining to
present-day educational applications of the computer - most relevant of
these three to purposes here - illustrates this and the progress theme. U.S.
teacherspolled in 1996 ranked computer skills and media technology as more
quot;essentialquot; than study of European history, history, biology, chemistry,
physics; and more important than learning practical job skills or reading
modern writers (such as Steinbeck and Hemingway) or classics (such as Plato
and Shakespeare), or about such social problems as drugs and family
breakdown. A California task force of forty-six in 1995, the author reports,
said computers offer more than anything else to remedy public schools'
problems and are needed more than reduced class size, more hours of
instruction, improved facilities, and higher salaries for teachers. Despite
reductions in state aid to several New Jersey school districts, $10 million was
20 /ouRNAUSM & MASS CoMMUNJomcw QUAHTEFLY
3. spent on classroom computers. A Los Angeles elementary school music
program was cut so a technical coordinator could be hired, and teaching
positions in art, music, and physical education were eliminated from
Mansfield, Massachusetts, schools while $333,000 was spent on computers.
One Virginia school's art classroom was turned into a computer lab, and,
across the nation, quot;technology education programsquot; have replaced most
shop classes.''
From the individual perspective, many themes emerge - some of
which are touched on below. Especially notable is concern about effects on
thinking skills, another familiar theme. With the Internet, the fear is that
thinking skills diminish in people who spend endless hours communicating
electronically in isolation at the expense of socially interactive behavior.
Clifford Stoll writes that quot;anyone who's directed away from social interac-
tions has a head start on turning out weird.quot; quot;No computer can teach what
a walk through a pine forest feels like,quot; he adds. quot;Sensation has no substi-
tute.quot;quot;^
Some argue that pencil-and-paper work forces one to think through
implications whereas computers, though useful for repeated calculations,
are not conducive to innovative thought. Arguing that quot;the ability to touch,
feel, manipulate, and build sensory awareness in the physical worldquot; are the
primary foundations of reasoning, some warn that computer-driven activity-
in-isolation over time will produce a mindlessness that will come to dominate
and gradually quot;dumb downquot; tomorrow's adults. Some say electronic
conveniences intended to improve writing skills seduce students, and that
word-processingcut-and-paste functions encourage patching together (quot;with-
out thinking them throughquot;) materials to create quot;snazzyquot; looking papers.
One English teacher reported that computer-generated essays are easily
recognizable because they do not link or develop relationships among ideas.''
Discourse about what makes a whole, productively functioning social indi-
vidual seems new in relation to communication technologies. Two themes
especially stand out - that one is not a whole person without a balance
between social interaction and solitude, and that broad, useful, well-devel-
oped skills are necessary for a full life. Regarding social interaction, some
suggest that the computer culture promotes thinking of the mediated world
as more significant than the real world - as exemplified by so many people
spending so much time looking at computer screens.
Regarding skills needed for developing as a complete, productively
functioning individual, some argue the computer culture emphasis on the
quot;virtualquot; over the real world minimizes the importance of face-to-face
conversation, careful listening, and clarity and individuality in expression,
while it limits development of imaginations by teaching that one can get
information without work or discipline merely by watching a screen. The
article referred to above reports that Hewlett-Packard rarely hires predomi-
nantly computer experts, but looks instead for innovative, flexible people
skilled at teamwork. Another company that provides computer training
seeks to hire, instead of those with computer skills, people who have a good
foundational education in the history of what the company works at (archi-
tecture), and good speaking, writing and comprehension skills. Neil Post-
man, who blames the computer culture for curtailment of traditional arts
education in favor of business-oriented studies, advocates education
focused on quot;how to make a lifequot; more than how to make a living/
2. Discourse Online. The Internet brings stronger emphasis to and
interest in informal, interpersonal conversation than has been true of preced-
DISCOURSE 21
4. ing media. Internet quot;talkquot; is closer to word-of-mouth. Discourse online here
means literally talk on line plus the talk about that talk - which expresses
concerns ranging from le^al and ethical to limitations it puts on social
development.
Although the individual perspective cannot be discussed entirely
apart from the social realm, and emerging communication technologies
seem to have always raised issues about impact on individuals, discourse
about the Internet seems to draw more attention to the individual than has
that surrounding previous emerging communication technologies. Particu-
larly notable in talk about the whole person is the separate personae. On the
Internet, people take on new personalities, typified by less inhibited behav-
ior. That is, some communicate electronically what they would never say
in person to others. Some students, for example, who never speak in class
and shun face-to-face consultations with teachers send them surprisingly
loquaciouse-mail messages. But moreserious undesirable conduct emerges,
of which hostility via flaming is only one shocking example.** Online conver-
sations, occuring when individuals are alone, lack social cues and the
unpredictability of face-to-face talk; some say this retards imagination and
mental agility — and may lack controls needed to keep people responsible.''
As in the novelty stages of previous communications technologies,
Internet users unquestioningly accept information via the Internet that they
would not accept so readily from another medium, and, as Gurak says, users
rarely question communicators' ethics while accepting individuals they
have never seen as credible and moral. Users accept on its face information
about others' identity, credentials, occupation, profession, position, and
authority to speak about whatever is offered. One cannot ascertain from
messages whether users are who they say they are, Gurak reminds us.quot;^
3. Discourse across Time. Professor Carey and his students have
contributed much to knowledge abouf responses to communications tech-
nology over time. Larry Cuban has summarized recent patterns in adoptions
of computers for teaching purposes. Foremost among these are great
expectations and promises, a lack of questioning of the claims, and a ten-
dency fo incorporate new technologies based on speed and efficiency,quot;
These not only recur in the historical record; they extend beyond the educa-
tional arena. Similar to past responses, a fear that technology brings harm
appears in discourse about the Internet (some of which has already been
touched on here), but this theme has new variations. Much stronger in
discourse about the Internet than that surrounding previous emerging
technologies are emphases on skills, ability to use the medium, and impor-
tance of its use by everyone. In fact, discourse reveals a kind of breathless
anxiety about keeping up in a rapidly changing world. That is, the message
comes across clearly, tacitly or explicitly, that students especially must have
the necessary skills to access valuable resources (people and information)
around the world.'^
Also different in present discourse is questioning of the whole educa-
tional system and learning process, and the emphasis on community and
meaning. In fact, meaning as fluid vs. fixed seems to have gradually seeped
into consciousness with twentieth-century communications developments
and come into sharp focus in discourse about the Internet.
4. Discourse about Tomorrow- Discourse surrounding new commu-
nication technologies has always emphasized what they promise for the
future. From an historical perspective, this shows that discourse in the
present continues into the future, with reshaping, to be sure, as part of the
22
5. ongoing process and cultural reconfigurations around technologies' usage.
Evidence of sucb discourse is abundant and familiar, and we need not dwell
on it here, except to stress that cultural strains permeating online discourse
today from the past wilt continue into tbe future - as likely tbe most
significant shaping mecbanism for wbat will happen in Internet develop-
ment and usage.
5. Discourse Importance Today. Discourse has gained importance
witb tbe computer culture due to emphasis on community - shift in its
meaning and the way people tfiink about it - arising from Internet use.
Indeed, from tbe early twentieth century, community, in addition to place,
has come to mean shared interests, symbols, beliefs, values, and interpreta-
tions. Scholars have noted tbat the original ARPANET designers predicted
in 1968 that future quot;on-line interactive communitiesquot; would rest on common
interests rather than on shared geographic space, fn fact, one trait distin-
guishing tbe Internet from other media is that it has no target community as
a primary audience or as a result of its function. Rather, the Internet
primarify makes communities, Gurak has noted, pointing to the irreversible
establishment of the idea of community as based on common goals and
values as evidence of a significant shift in the way people think - from
emphasis on the individual to tbe relationship between the individual and
the community in which the individual functions. The concept of interpre-
tive community, focused on values and culture, is defined by how its
members see the world - a group that shares certain habits of mind.'^
quot;Interpretive communitiesquot; and quot;shared habits of mindquot; are common in
reference to people linked by communications.
Sucb empbasis elevates the importance of ideology, Gurak says. In
turn, this elevates the importance of discourse - how people talk about
subjects. Particular discursive formations obtain among those who quot;share
habits of mind/' and scholars increasingly emphasize the necessity of study-
ing sucb formations for insighf into cultural and change processes.''^
Implications for Historical Research. The mosf interesting questions
for historians may be about how uses of the Internet reshape discourse {in
differing cultures). Indeed, will the increased concern with ideology and
importance of discourse lead fo greater emphasis on discussions of political
relations? Wbat patterns of discourse are emerging on the Internet? What
among those is distinctive to fhe Internet, and bow are such distinctions
related fo general discourse? In other words, how is the Internet changing
tbe way we talk about subjects - now and for fhe fufure?
The emphasis on communify, drawing attention to its creation, raises
questions about what makes and sustains communify and how media are
related. Study of such discursive formations can reveal insight about values
and attitudes of a culfural sector, and, as noted, about change over time.
A basic question historians might ask is what belief system dominates
development of the Internef? And, given that scholars have noted how
previous communication technologies - fhe railroad, telegraph, fetepbone,
radio, television - changed perceptions of distance, fime, space, and global
boundaries, anofber basic question is how use of the Internet changes
perceptions.
The phenomenon of Internet personae raises new questions about
communication behavior. Such problems as inaccuracies, manipulation of
information, sensationalism, and other excesses in fbe past have been ex-
plained by exigencies of work, time, place, vested interests. We need fo look
again af such excesses for how behavior relates fo conditions under which
THE FinvRE OF THE (WTEKNET - THE INTERNET AND CONTINUINC HISJORICAL DISCOURSE 23
6. communication occurs, particularly the physical presence of others and how
and by whom the communicator may be held accounfable. How related is
uninbibifed behavior to lack of face-fo-face communication and its attendant
social cues? What impact might a belief thaf one can remain forever
anonymous have on fhe kind and degree of excesses in communication
conducf? Wbaf is at work in cases of those who, despite needing face-to-face
discussion, prefer communicating electronically in isolation? Such explora-
tion may mean revisiting fhe gatekeeping role in communication. How
significanf in fhe credibility and shape of information are sucb factors as
whaf Gurak calls tbe moral bond with the community, sense of belonging,
the concern for fhe whole, shared collecfive concerns? How important is the
speaker'spresence, or at least face-to-face encounters, to the conduct commu-
nicators? The need to think in new ways about fhe impacf of a speaker's
presence in communication suggests that fhe long-sfanding quandary abouf
the power of pictures over printed words grows more and more simplisfic in
the face of issues emerging around fhe Infemet. What happens in communi-
cafion when fbe fexf is complefely defached from any image of the speaker?
For historians, an issue is how fo preserve online discourse, docu-
ment it, and study it, E.D. Hirsch wrote in 1967, in Murphey's words, quot;All
meaning is someone's meaning. If an interpretation is fo have 'validity,' to
have greater or less probability of being correct than some ofber interpreta-
tion, fhere has to be a parficular someone whose meanings is faken as fhe
standard.quot;''• Wbose quot;voicequot; dominates Internet discourse, and can if be
idenfified? Who sets fhe standard for meaning, for interpretation, and for
what is quot;correct?quot;
Finally, fhe long view of reactions fo communicafions technology
suggests generally liffle fhougbf abouf social implicafions of new technolo-
gies during fbeir development, emergenf and noveify sfages - or such
considerations come as mere afferfhoughfs. If would seem fhat we might
learn from study of this and of her pafferns in discourse about communication
technologies over time.
NOTES
1. Norman Fairclough, Discourse and Social Change (Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press in association with Blackwell Publishers, 1992); Norman
Eairclougb, Media Discourse (London, New York, Sydney, Auckland: Ed-
ward Arnold, 1995), 1-19; Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge
(London: Travinsfock Publications, 1972); History of Sexuality, vol. 1
(Harmondsworfh: Penguin Books, 1981); and quot;The Order of Discourse,quot; in
Language and Politics, ed. M. Shapiro (Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1982, 1984);
Teun van Dijk, ed.. Handbook of Discourse Analysis, 4 vols, (London: Academic
Press, 1985); Teun van Dijk, News as Discowrsf-(Hillsdale, NJ: Eribaum, 1988);
and quot;The Interdisciplinary Study of News as Discourse,quot; in A Handbook of
Qualitative Methodologies for Mass Communication Research, ed, Klaus Bruhn
lensen and Nicholas W. lankowski (London and New York: Routledge,
1991), 108-119; Gunfher Kress, quot;Ideological Structures in Discourse,quot; in
Handbook of Discourse Analysis, vol. 4: Discourse Anati/sis in Society, ed. Teun
van Dijk (London, Orlando, San Diego, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Sydey,
Tokyo: Academic Press, 1985), 27-42.
2. Paul Ricouer, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences (NY: Cambridge
University Press, 1989), 44,57; MurrayG. Murpbey,P/i//osop/iJi:fl/FoMndflf/o«s
24 JOURNALISM & MASS CoMMUNxymoN QuARTERLr
7. of Historical Knowledge (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994),
281-82; Robert McChesney, quot;The Internet and U.S. CommunicaHon Policy-
Making in Hi.storical and Critical Perspective,quot; journal of CommunicaHon 46
(winter 1996): 112-17.
3. Laura Gurak, Persuasion and Privacy in Cyberspace (New fiaven: Yale
University Press, 1997): 6.
4. ToddOppenheimer, quot;The Computer Delusion,quot; ThiMfifl)ificMo»f/i/y,
Jufy 1997, 46.
5. Clifford Stoll, Silicon Snake OU: Second Thoughts on the Information
Highivay (NY: Anchor Books, 1995), 136,139,
6. Oppcnheimer, quot;The Computer Delusion,quot; 52-54; Stoll, Silicon Snake
Oil, 23-26.
7. Cited by Oppenheimer, 53.
8. Martin Lea, Tim O'Shea, Pat Gund, and Russell Spears, quot;'Flaming' in
Computer-Mediated Communication: Observations, Explanations, Implica-
tions,quot; in Contexts in Computer-Mediated Communication, ed. Martin Lea
(London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992), 89-102.
9. Gurak, Persuasion, 14-16,
10. Gurak, Persuasion, 14-16.
11. James Carey, Communication as Cw/fur^ (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989);
Daniel Czitrom, Media and the American Mind: From Morse to McLuhan
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1982); Carolyn Marvin,
Wlicn Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the
Late Nineteenth Century (NY, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); Larry
Cuban, Teachers and Machines: The Ctassrootn Use of Technotogi/ Since 1920
(1986), cited in Oppenheimer, quot;The Computer Delusion,quot; 46.
12. Stoll, Silicon Snake Oil, 11-12; 25.
13. Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Elec-
tronic Frontier (NY: HarperPerennial, A Division of Harper Collins Publish-
ers, 1994), 24; Laura Gurak, quot;Technology, Community, and Technical Com-
munication on the Internet: The Lotus Marketplace and ClipperChip Contro-
versies,quot; journal of Business and Technical Communication 10 (January 1996): 84,
14. Norman Fairclough, Media Discourse (London, New York, Sydney,
Auckland: Edward Arnold, 1995), 2, 47-48, 52,
L5. E.D, Hirsch Jr,, Validity in Interpretation (New Haven, CN: Yale
University Press, 1967), 225, cited in Murphey, 279.
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27
