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egistration pattern (in the reversed consultation version, i.e. ‘on request’) would be (tele-)opinion polling, TVviewers
voting by letter or phone, shopping systems, etc., or (in the reversed transmission version, i.e. ‘without
request’) tele-alarm, video surveillance, logging of computer systems, electronic surveillance, security and
alarm systems, etc. But other examples, on a more general level, could also be well known services such as
news agencies, civil registration, tax authorities, and other public (accessible as well as non-accessible)
registration systems, etc.
Commercial/public service. In addition to Bordewijk and Kaam’s two questions, I now wish to introduce
a third concerning the overall interest behind the transmission of information. This is a dimension of the infotraffic
which seems to be of increasing relevance as the Internet becomes more and more commercialized. The
question can be stated as follows:
• Is the transmission of information motivated primarily in the interest of the information service providing
center (C), i.e. a commercial service, or in the interest of the information service consumers (i), i.e. so-called
public service?
This question serves as the basis for the construction of a third dimension in the matrix, thus establishing eight
possible patterns or media types of either commercial or non-commercial/public service: transmission,
conversation, consultation and registration [see Fig. 10].
Information Traffic Patterns on the Internet Highway
As is apparent from the above description, the eight information patterns represent very different forms of
communication and social power relations. It is now the thesis of this paper that the current media landscape
in general, and the services and applications on the Internet in particular, can be categorized in terms of these
information patterns. The remainder of the paper will elaborate on this thesis.
If you consider the current new media developments that have arisen in connection with digitization, telematics,
computer media etc., within the framework of the two dimensional matrix, they can best be described
as a relative movement away from the top-left position, towards the other positions, i.e. from the traditional
transmission pattern, towards the conversation, the registration and especially the consultation patterns. This
evidently also implies a general movement away from the strongly asymmetrical, centralistic power structure,
towards a larger symmetry in the distribution of power. In connection with a discussion of Bordewijk and
Kaam’s matrix typology [McQuail 1987] writes: »The new media seem to offer the potential of a shift on the
balance of power away from the sender and towards the receiver, making much more content of all kinds
accessible to users and choosers without dependence on the mediating and controlling systems of mass
communication«. And he concludes: »This seems to indicate a general increase in individual freedom to gain
information and a reduction in the dominance of centralized sources«. While this can undoubtedly be said to be
correct from a general perspective, both for the collective new media landscape and for the Internet, there are
still considerable modifications and opposing indications.
Since its historic beginning as the military ARPA-net, Internet has primarily functioned as a communication
network. The entire structure built into the protocols and hardware that combine to constitute the Internet
has been designed for point-to-point communication, and even a very non-hierarchical, decentral
communication network. As such, from its start, the Internet was conceived within a conversational pattern
and this type of traffic is still considerable. The dominant application in this pattern is obviously e-mail,
understood as electronic post, which makes it possible to send written messages from one consumer with an
electronic address to another (or several others). In this case, the center is the packet switching transmission
system in which data are transported from different origins to different destinations. In spite of its
asynchronous features, e-mail can thus be characterized as a relatively typical example of conversational
media. But also Usenet and some mailing lists (especially when the individual members are active) can be seen
as conversational patterns in the form of many-to-many conversations. Synchronous or quasi-synchronous
conversational patterns can be found in various chat programs, in net-based online games such as MUD,
MUSE, and MUSH, and in various forms of computer based video-telephones made possible by new
broadband, switched, two-way networks. For obvious reasons, most information exchanged in this pattern is of
a non-commercial character, although examples of commercial conversation can be found in online games,
consultation and help services, etc.
The other dominant traffic pattern on the Internet is undoubtedly consultation. As is clear from the above
description, digital media’s large storage capacity and facilities for quick retrieval of information, are special
strengths in relation to the consultative pattern. A large portion of the resources, services and tools on the
Internet can also be more or less understood within the consultative pattern. A brief list follows. TELNET, understood
as a service or an application that makes it possible for individual consumers to select and connect to
remote hosts on the Internet and interactively use the services and programs they offer so that the consumer’s
computer actually becomes a terminal for the selected host computer. Anonymous FTP (File Transfer