虛擬政治：沒有人民的政治

Technological culture, Virtual community, Virtual politics

作者對時下討論正烈的新型虛擬文化進行了深入的思考和探索，梳理並批判了傳播對社區的鞏固作用以及虛擬政治的可能性，指出技術文化只是烏托邦的又一種表現，而傳播本身長期以來都是促進社會秩序和社會控制的手段。傳播技術不可能成為社會和政治的萬能藥，因為我們面臨的根本的社會問題不是傳播匱乏。作者認為虛擬社區是一個興趣的社區，只存在于虛擬條件下，是對現實中對抗與衝突的逃避。因此，虛擬政治根本就不是政治。

The authors reflect and explore the prevalent approach to the new virtual culture that has been taking shape through the 1990s. By examining and criticizing the various claims of the enhancement of communication and community and the possibility of virtual politics, we point out that technological culture is just another kind of utopian formulations. Communication is a means of promoting social order and control for a long time. Communications technologies are impossible to become a social and political panacea, because the fundamental social problem we faced is not a historical communications deficit. The authors think that the virtual community is the community of interests, only under conditions of virtual existence. It is a retreat from the conflicts and antagonisms of the real world. Virtual politics is thus not politics at all.