Diversity online

While many of Sunstein's observations seem intuitively reasonable, Jenkins does a good job of showing how "broadcast" and "narrowcast" media will work together to expand the ways that information is communicated. One problematic part of Sunstein's analysis, however, is his evaluation of diversity in the real world, as compared to online diversity.

While it may be true that the internet allows people to filter out opinions that disagree with their own, Sunstein overestimates the exposure that many people have to opposing viewpoints in other parts of life. Indeed, many people who live in homogenous communities, especially small or rural communities, may find more intellectual and political diversity in their internet wanderings than they would walking down the street, talking to their neighbors, or reading the local paper. National news takes a broader view, of course, but can three corporate networks really be considered "diverse"?