Technology, Community, Humanity and the Net(by Howard Rheingold) :

Communication technologies, from alphabets to Internets, have been changing the nature of communities for nearly 10,000 years.
Plato warned that recording knowledge in books would destroy the oral tradition of knowledge and pedagogy and would eventually lead to the losing of the skill of remembering and education will stop being a diaolgue where students and teachers argue on the meaning of knowledge.Plato might have been right but human civilization undoubtedly gained something with the invention of the alphabetic writing.
A long time ago people in towns and villages  would rather hear the latest news from travelers and would discuss it as a group but when printing became economical people used to stay at home and do their reading.People began to identify with other people from other places of the world.
People accept and use market technologies without thinking about the consequences.
Internet is used more and more nowadays and it helps a lot of people to solve their problems,whatever they may be.
If we want to know the way new technologies affect our lives we should first be better informed.

THE NEW INTERACTIVISM: A MANIFESTO FOR THE INFORMATION AGE(by Howard Rheingold) :

All means of communication(including internet) are inherently political.
Until the printing press spread broadly it was impossible for citizens to govern themselves.Self-government was made possible with the help of the internet now that every PC connected to the net can be a printing press or a broadcasting station.
Communication technologies are political instruments because the power to persuade is becoming more and more effective.
there are 3 categories of internet tools for citizens who wish to strengthen democracy,interact with one another in the public sphere and improve civil society:
1: information
2: discourse
3: civic engagement
Anyone can broadcast a manifesto with the help of the internet.
Information sources and communication media that were until recently only the privilege of the wealthy and powerful are used daily by millions.
the e-mail is a new form of social communication;a simple e-mail list can be a potent medium for raising and debating issues or the solving of many problems