The rhetoric on the Internet and its potential implications for the
sphere of politics have been especially pertinent in regard to young
people. Through the use of notions such as "the e-generation" or "the
messenger generation", the new ICT's supposed transformative potential
has been identified and discussed. Just based on the title of this book,
it might seem as if we are offering a similar approach here --
speculative reflections on the significance of the Internet for young
people's engagement and participation.

However, the reader expecting discussions on how the various generations
of the Web have turned the political and democratic world upside down
will be disappointed. What this book offers instead are theoretical
reflections on the Internet's civic potential: analyses of policy
concerns connected to its development, and elusive case studies of civic
websites as well as young people's everyday Web practices. Basically,
the chapters in this book seek to analyze rather than mythologize the
Internet's political implications for young people.