All entangled in the web? A short reasoning about the condition of culture and politics in the Network Society

We all know that the media are more and more present in our lives. But we are not always so aware as we should be. In the last three decades, the Personal Computers have been transformed into connected multimedial devices, not only computing or writing machines, and mobile telephones have become little PC. Moreover, thanks to the wireless networks, Internet reached in 2016 3,419 billions (46% of the world population) and mobile phone users worldwide are by now also more (51%). The new communication technologies have dramatically crashed all forms of lato sensu traditional resistence, penetrating everywhere. We all get a lot of informations, services and positive opportunities from Internet, but from another side the communication networks and the communication devices are dangerously changing not only our competences and knowledge, but our perceptions and our feelings too: we are always under pressure and distracted, almost addicted. It’s not easy to decide whether Internet make us more stupid or more clever: maybe both two. Also from a political point of view the Network Society give us great chances of democracy and freedom, but also raises new risks, that we must face without simplifications.