social navigation as a tool for citizenship

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1、18HeikkiHeikkilä&PauliinaLehtonenSocialNavigationasaToolforCitizenshipCitizens’initiativesmeetwiththeinfocracyinFinlandIntroductionMarketactors,statesandlocalauthoritieshavecommittedthemselvestoprovidemoreandmoreservicesonline.Thiscommitmentincludes,amongotherthings,apromisethatnewdigitaltoolswoul

2、dsignificantlyimprovecitizens’possibilitiesforpoliticalparticipationi.e.accesstoinformation,facilitiestointeractionandincentivesforpoliticalengagement.WhilsttheprivateandpublicsectorkeepthemselvesbusywithcreatingnewonlineservicesthereisagrowingconcernabouthowthedemocraticpotentialsoftheInternethav

3、ebeenutilised.PeterLevine(2001,206)forone,writesthatjustafewyearsagotheInternetseemedtobeararemodernexampleofafunctioningcommonswhereuserswereabletoexhibitmutualtrust,habitsandskillsofcollaborationandpublicspiritwithoutbeingrestrainedeitherbythestateorthemarket.Today,Levinecontinues,electroniccomm

4、onsisunderintensepressure.Theopenandfree-for-allInternet,withallofitscivicandpublicpotential,israpidlyshrinkingandtransformingintoacompartmentalisedplatformforconsumingaudiences(cf.Ridell2002,147-148;Wilhelm2000,4;Dahlgren74-75).Theoreticallythereisnotmuchnewinsuchaccountstoearliercriticaltheorist

5、s,whohavegroanedabouttheexpansionofcommercialismandcorporateinterestsoverthemorenoblevaluesofdemocracyandcivicculture.Whatisprobablynewistheassumptionthatinthetimesofglobalcyberspacethepaceofcorruptionseemstomoveonfasterthanever.Empiricallythedrivefrom“citizens’Internet”to“consumers’Net”isobviousl

6、ythestrongestintheUS.wheretheeconomy,policiesandtheadvancedInternetinfrastructuretogetherhavecreatedfavourableconditionsforsuchdevelopment(Dahlberg2001;Hagen2001).Itcanbearguedfurtherthattherestoftheworldisadoptingsamepoliciesduetoglobalisationofeconomy.Itappearsthatsupranationalinstitutionsliketh

7、eEuropeanUnionandOECDaredoingtheirbesttohelpprivateinvestorstoseizetheNet(EUCommission2002;OECD2001).18Evenifthesewerethedeepundertowsdirectingglobaleconomy,technologyandrespectivepolicies,itisprematuretoacceptsu