From the Private to the Public: Online Identity

Abstract

In the previous chapter, it was argued that digital media has, to a certain extent, undermined or, to put it more charitably, refashioned traditional methods of scholarly research. This not only has implications for education but also for politics, for the way in which we construct and maintain our political positions is largely dependent on the quality and range of information that we receive. This is particularly the case where information which was previously monopolized by public, or civic-minded, institutions is now increasingly sourced from commercial search engines and the increasingly privately run Internet, the political implications of which will be explored further in Chapter 3.