Is the internet a democracy

I stumbled upon an interesting sentence in an article I read today explaining that a sports analyst's comments  were not well-recieved.  Regardless of whether it needed more or not,  the only justification he gave was "judging by the slew of negative Twitter reaction" (Jahnke).   At the time, I thought it was interesting considering this course (EME6414). The sentence seemed to imply that the court of public opinion is held on the internet now.  Although the author only referenced twitter, if he wanted to illustrate the power of social media, couldn't he have referenced countless other Web 2.0 resources as well?  Benkler illustrates in great detail all the Web 2.0 technologies and their advantages and disadvanges. 

As far as its impact on education, I personally believe that the web's biggest impact will be on old-fashioned economics concept of supply and demand. Even as it stands now, we could have enrolled at countless universities online for our degrees; whereas there are no universities offering this program within driving distance of where I live.  The internet has increased supply tremendously.  With increased supply, there is a need for companies to be more comptetitive, lowering the expenses for us consumers.  Also, this means that universities in particular need to be more "in touch" with the desires and needs of students to keep themselves competitive. 

Does anyone else have insight on this topic they would like to share?



References:
Benkler, Y. (2006) The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Jahnke, J. (July 12, 2012) Matt Millen ripped for his take on Penn State report. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved from http://www.freep.com/article/20120712/SPORTS01/120712035/matt-millen-joe-paterno-espn-penn-state?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE