And many public interest non-profit organizations and special interest groups already use bulletin boards heavily as a means of communicating among their members and organizing political activity. But all is not perfect online. The quality of discourse is often very low. Discussion is often trivial and boring and bereft of persuasive reason. It seems like no place for serious discussion.
Information overload is also a problem.
There is simply far too much to read to keep up with. It is all without organization. Recent innovations in the design of software used to connect people to the Net and the process of online discussion itself reveal some hope. Flaming is universal, but different systems handle it in different ways. Both the technology and cultural norms matter.