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As we begin to form links with others who have similar interests around the globe, the idea that a nation and a people are to some extent identical is likely to break down. John Browning, a freelance writer for Wired magazine, sees the potential for a radical change in the structure of society. "We can communicate so easily across national boundaries to reach globally that we are beginning to see coherent groups grow up who don't really have any physical presence but are trans-national, linked by their cultural sense of identity." Douglas Adams thinks of it as a bit like a dinner party discussion. "You start off talking to the person next to you, but as the evening goes on there's an unplanned moment when suddenly things open out and you find yourself talking to someone you don't know because they've said the most interesting or the most challenging things. What you are talking about determines who you are talking to, so now the things we're really interested in put us in touch with a far wider range of people."
As these groups form, the hope is that the global village will at last become a reality. But there is no sign that this is likely to be some sort of peaceful Utopia. Browning has already come across many examples of behaviour on the internet which he likens to a twelve year-old's playground war. Internet groups have begun to 'flame' each other, an expression used to represent the sending of offensive messages by e-mail, and worse. In some cases hackers have actually broken into the websites of those with opposing views and either left graffiti on the page or simply dismantled it word by word. But Browning feels that the ferocity of these exchanges can be tempered by the nature of the internet itself. "There's a difference between a virtual online community and a real world community. The virtue of a real world community is getting people to accept the worst in each other, because people are stuck together in the same place and need to overcome their differences. In a virtual community there are so many different communities to join, thousands of newsgroups, millions of websites, that you can pick up the things you like and ignore the things you don't. There shouldn't be a need for these different communities ever to touch each other."
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