Horizontal, not vertical

Our institutions and organisations are built on hierarchies. People find themselves constantly in hierarchical, vertically structured relationships: as citizens facing politics, as students facing teachers, as patients facing their doctors. The new media now make it noticeably easier for people to share. Countless people come together in social networks and online communities based on similar interests. We are all able to maintain larger networks of relationships than would be possible via purely offline relationships alone. It is far easier to find people on the Net who are in a similar situation or who share similar interests.

In this way, the Internet fortifies the horizontal relationships within our society. Participation does not automatically mean protesting against them „up there“. First of all it involves forging links with the others „down here“. The formation of networks and communities is among the participatory effects the Internet produces and that have become the focus of substantial interest. It appears a constant source of surprise that these communities take on their own lives, so to speak.

What can one say about a fan community so enamoured with itself and its members that the film star or band that the members are fans of fades entirely into the background? What happens when patients provide each other with support and treatment tips – without any contact with the physician? What if students help each other and ignore the teacher? It is not always possible to translate this horizontal strength into vertical momentum. Neither does the Net call into question every form of hierarchy. But it is becoming increasingly clear that hierarchical influence is waning.