Statistics show that last year, more than 31 million people were connected to the Internet. But, everyone knows that the number is grossly underestimated. Everyone in my residence hall is hooked up to the Internet and practically everyone I know is on-line, so the numbers must be higher than reported. In fact, "the studies used to report on-line users fail to account for each person in the household who might have access to the Internet from the same computer." 1 Shaw argues that changes need to be made in our counting system if we want to fully understand the reach and impact of the Internet. (1997, p. 43) I tend to agree.
This paragraph has an identity crisis: namely that the reader often is unaware of where important figures have originated and an inconsistency in reporting of the sources that are given credit.
In this section, you will learn:
Prepared by Pam Benoit and Kelly Berg Nellis to Communication 104: Controversies in Communication. Suggestions or comments are welcome. Last updated 03/05/03 by Greg G. Armfield.