台灣網際網路發展與問題初探

An Exploratory Analysis of the Development of Internet in Taiwan

本文試圖為台灣日益普及的網際網路提供描述性分析，包括網際 網路在台灣的起源、發展，形塑的虛擬空間現象，及其衍生的問題等。本文強調，除了使用者的側寫與網路使用狀況普查之外，傳播學者似乎也應從宏觀的角度，觀察網路的社會與文化效應。更重要的是，當媒體謳歌資訊帶來的美好幻象時，從批判的政治經濟學觀點來解析網路使用與階級差異之間的關連，進而重新檢討影響網路發展政策背後的意識形態與商業邏輯，應是未來最值得研究的方向。

The present study attempts to describe the origins and development of Internet craze in Taiwan from 1990 to 1997. In addition to the surveys of Internet users' profiles, the present paper suggests that communication researchers pay more attention to the social and cultural effects brought by the Internet. More importantly, when the mass media offer a promising future that is made possible by the information revolution, observers should be more cautious about the worsening effects of knowledge gap. We therefore call for a critical research examining the capitalistic ideology behind the Internet development in Taiwan.