Interesting developments in South Korea show the power of the Internet once a society has widespread broadband access.
The online community of scientists have uncovered scientific fraud in articles in the US scientific journal "Science" by a leading South Korean researcher, Hwang Woo Suk.
The story is in the news around the world, but in general the news account leaves out the fact that the online community of scientists in South Korea were responsible for finding the fabrications in the articles and then others in the online community helped to spread knowledge and an understanding of the nature of the scientific fraud
South Korea leads the world in broadband access and the result has been this significant event. Below are two articles that give more of the details.
"South Korean 'Netizens of the Year': The online scientific community and Internet media challenge old hierarchies"
"Korean Cloning Hero Deconstructed Online: Online Scientific Community in South Korea Uncovers Fabrication of Data in Acclaimed Stem Cell Research Papers"
Ronda ronda(at)ais.org
P.S. I have been working on a draft paper "The New Dynamics of Democratization in South Korea: The Internet and the Emergence of the Netizen." I would welcome feedback on it at this stage in its development. I would be willing to send it in return for comments on it.