The big advantage of the internet (Score 1)

Everybody, every day, makes choices about what ideas to expose themselves to. They decide what organizations to join and how often to attend meetings. They decide where to get the news and which magazines and books to read. The choose who they want to talk to and spend time with, what music to listen to, and what movies to watch. And they choose what websites and newsgroups to use.

Online as in the physical world, it is possible--and often quite easy--to expose oneself exclusively to viewpoints that reinforce the beliefs one already holds. If people don't want to hear the other side, they have the power to cut it out of their lives completely, on or off the internet.

In this respect there's not much difference between the internet and traditional media. But the ease with which one can learn about alternative viewpoints through the internet makes it much more likely that people will choose to do so.

If learning more about a political organization involves driving across town to go to their meetings or spending your hard-earned money on their publications, are you going to bother? What if all you have to do is wait for their homepage to download?

No one can force you to learn about ideas you don't agree with, but you're much more likely to do so if it's cheap and easy.