An internet-based electronic forum as a Habermasian form of societal discourse

Communication plays a crucial role in influencing various aspects of our social life. However, communication has more often than not been distorted by unequal opportunities to initiate and sustain it. Such a condition has been criticized by Habermas who argues for an ideal speech situation. It refers to a situation of democratic communication with equal opportunities for social actors to communicate undistorted manner. This ideal situation is partially being realized by Internet. The paper provides a case story of how an Internet-based too 1 can be used, for example by environment group, as a new avenue to create a more equal exchange of ideas among social actors. The Internet- based electronic forum, known by its acronym GRASS (Group Report Authoring Support System), is a generic software tool supporting the production of concise group reports that give their readers an up to date and credible overview of the positions of various stakeholders on a particular issue. Together with people and procedures it is a comprehensive socio-technical system which can play a role in resolving societal conflicts. With the widespread use of the Internet, such an Internet-based forum has the potential to become an emergent form of communication for widely dispersed social