Balkanization Theory
Aired
January 3 and 4, 1998
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This is Internet On The Air. I'm Todd Mundt. Does the amount of information
on the Internet cause you to expand your horizons or narrow your focus?
Details in a moment.
Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production
of the University of Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio,
made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
You can think of the Internet as an endless all-you-can-eat information
smorgasbord. You may want to load up on all sorts of new experiences
each time you sign on...or you may want to stick to a few familiar topics.
Social theorists say that making so many different materials available
on the Internet may lead some people to narrow their searches to subject
matter they already understand. This is called "Balkanization Theory,"
referring to the post-World War Two partition of the Balkan region in
Europe into small, often hostile units.
The degree to which this "walling off" occurs on the Internet
is especially important in science. University of Michigan professor
Marshall Van Alstyne points out that collaborations between scientists
in different disciplines have produced important breakthroughs. For
example, a physicist, Francis Crick, and a zoologist, James Watson,
worked together to discover the structure of DNA, the building block
of chromosomes. This created an intellectual revolution in the field
of genetics.
Professor Van Alstyne says the Internet makes such collaborations both
more likely and less likely to occur. He says technology creates options,
but preferences create outcomes. Because the Internet makes it possible
to find more interesting contacts, colleagues and students down the
hall may be abandoned for specialized experts across the ocean. On the
other hand, the Internet is an invaluable tool for those who are curious
about making new connections across subject areas.
To learn more about Balkanization Theory and the social implications
of Internet use, visit our Web site at www.iota.org. For Internet On
The Air, I'm Todd Mundt.
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Related Links
For further information, try these
Web sites:
- To explore Balkanization Theory
in more detail, visit Marshall
Van Alstyne's homepage.
- For a short introduction, follow
the instructions for downloading this three-minute radio
broadcast-"Could the Internet Balkanize Science?" from
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's science and technology program
Quirks & Quarks.
- Selected
papers include "Electronic Communities: Global Village
or Cyberbalkans?" from the Dec. 1996 International
Conference on Information Systems and "Wider Access
and Narrower Focus: Could the Internet Balkanize Science?"
from the Nov. 29, 1996 issue of the journal Science.
Other findings related to Balkanization
theory include:
- Researchers at the University
of Tornoto's Centre for Urban and Community Studies, who suggest
that new communications technologies can reduce socio-economic distincitions
even as it increases the uniformity of outlook among spliter groups.
Related links include Barry
Wellman's homepage.
- Preliminary data from HOMENet,
a study of families using the Internet in the Pittsburgh area--featured
in this season's first episode--suggests that for the most part people
seek out information on familiar hobbies and interests. But the study
also found examples of people with restricted mobility, such as teenagers
and the homebound, who relied on the Internet to connect them with new
people and ideas.
- Another good source of information
on Balkanization Theory and related topics is the International
Network for Social Network Analysis site at the Heinz School of
Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.
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The Interview
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for this show.
Please direct questions or comments to iota.webmaster@umich.edu.
Last Updated January 2, 1998
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