One unfortunate side effect of the Net's growing commercializaton is a proportionate reduction in the free exchange of information. In the old days before 1990, the Net existed solely to promote the free exchange of information, and most people participated. But now that we have deep-pockets corporations putting up Web sites all over the place and a new generation of consumer-oriented citizens joining the Net, this "gift economy" ethic seems to be slowly fading. For every active member of an online discussion group or website, there are dozens or hundreds of lurkers, and sometimes calls for comments or input go begging, even on sites that get hundreds of visitors a week.

One reason for the reduction in participation may be newcomer's jerkophobia--the fear of looking stupid. After all, as Mark Twain said, "Better to keep your mouth shut and appear an idiot than to open it and remove all...

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