While some view it as an expansive bastion of decentralized communication and democratic discourse, the World Wide Web is scarcely more civic-minded than your local bank, says media critic Norman Solomon.
Solomon sees these trends:

Online media consolidation. Websites operated by just four corporations account for 50.4 percent of the time that U.S. users of the Web are now spending online.

Web browsers will become outdated within five years, giving way to widespread use of interactive TV networks managed by large media companies.

The owners of some key search engines, including AltaVista, AOL, Microsoft and Lycos, are avidly prostituting their services. Chances are good that the top search results come from dollars rather than relevance or quality.

A move toward closed networks, not unlike America Online, in which the user experience is guided, shaped and far more controlled — something advertisers and online retailers are demanding. Consumer networks of the future will begin to look more like television. Some believe interactive digital TV is the true wave of the future.