Today’s Internet, often referred to as the Web 2.0, is primarily characterized by its interactive nature between a writer and readers. Some see it as a platform for exchange of ideas where everyone participates as “equals,” as the German sociologist Jurgen Habermas envisioned in famed notion: “public sphere.”
But Lee Moon-yeol, one of the nation’s most well-known writers, sees that there is a collective misunderstanding on the Internet as an egalitarian public sphere.
“People turn to the Internet, believing that I can have my voice heard just like some other (famous) individuals. Actually, that’s not the case,” Lee said in an interview with the local daily, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.
“Extremely few people in fact enjoy interaction. The majority of the mass serve only as the object for one-way propaganda,” Lee said.
According to Lee, those few who enjoy interactivity on the Internet are those who know the online mechanism so well. “On the Internet, only about 5 percent of the users present views. But people still trust the system because they think the system is interactive, erroneously believing that they can also raise their views.
“The Internet is often described as a platform for collective intelligence. I beg to differ. Rather, I think the Internet is a tool for collective hypnosis. It’s often a tool for mass instigation,” Lee said.
Lee said the Internet can be a boomerang, arguing the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s rise and fall had also to do with the Internet.
Roh Moo-hyun expanded his constituents by making use of the Internet before he was elected the nation’s president when his supporters turned to the Internet, urging people to go to the polls.
Roh jumped to his death amid a growing corruption investigation implicating his family.
“I think the reason for Roh death was due to the Internet. I think he was hit by the Internet boomerang,” Lee said in a figurative term, indicating the criticisms on Roh on the Internet.
Lee said he has been waiting for a time when the Internet can be able to self-regulate. “But it has not been realized yet.”
Some readers view that Lee’s sour feelings with the Internet has also to do with the fact that Lee’s critics, mostly in their 20s and 30s, use the online discussion forums to disagree with Lee’s conservative ideas.
Lee, 62, admitted: “I envy those writers who are about the same age with me but who communicate with the younger generation.”