So the coach-potato will be more probable than the interactive citizen as part of a lively virtual community. The actual trends towards professionalization and broadcasting in Germany are counterproductive for the development of local community networks. Outlook It is a normative decision to be active and campaigning for the political and societal use of the Internet for and by the citizens themselves. To succeed, different actors have to play different roles. The belief that the market will assure the political or societal use of ICT' s is a misbelieve for Germany.
Government has to play a leading part.
Especially in creating and guaranteeing access for all who wish to participate. There are lots of lessons learned from CSCW-system design. Applying these principles rises the hurdle of establishing cooperative societal and political community networks for the future. But they are worth being regarded for future design. A Sample of French-Speaking Websites.