. . . The Internet became the ultimate tool for finding like minds and blocking out others long before supporters of candidates began seeking one another out on Meetup.com. With online dating sites where searches can be tailored by age and income, e-mail forums for the most narrow band of subjects, bookmarked sites and even spam filters, the Web allows users to tailor the information they consume more than any other medium. Social scientists even have a term for it: cyberbalkanization. . . .
Scott Heiferman, the founder of Meetup.com, where people interested in any subject or cause can sign up to attend a local meeting with others similarly inclined, says Dean supporters once crashed a Kerry meet-up in New York. There have even been cases of priests showing up at atheist meet-ups. But the meetings are, by their very nature, self-segregating.
John O'Brien, a business consultant who attended a recent meet-up sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, said he enjoyed mingling with other conservatives. The only reason he would attend a Dean meet-up, he said, would be to heckle. . . .
But if Internet users tend to seek out people and information that reinforce the views they already hold, they are following a law of human nature that social scientists have observed for decades.
"Everything we know about psychology and political communication says people look for stuff that confirms their views," said Michael Cornfield, research director at the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University. "It would be a surprise if the Internet doesn't accelerate the trend."
Some Internet activists don't see any problem with that. For MoveOn.org, the goal is to mobilize like-minded people to action against the Republican agenda, not to persuade them that it's wrong, said Eli Pariser, the group's campaign director.
"Changing people's minds is overrated," Mr. Pariser said. "Most of the people in this country are with us, and it's a matter of getting them active and getting them informed."
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/weekinreview/25harm.html> ***** -- Yoshie
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