Before the Internet “consumers had very little access to information that was not produced by the economic system, and the physical range of their discourse was limited to their local social networks” (Strangelove, 99). This meant that whatever capitalism wanted us to know was what we knew and talked about. The messages of the corporations were absorbed and the meanings given to things through the economic system were not questioned, but accepted.

       Then the Internet came along and people’s social networks expanded as people all over the world have access to the Internet and messages could be sent much further and much more quickly. People now have access to different opinions and viewpoints than just those that surround them in their everyday life.

The Internet is a public sphere, which is a place in the social structure where people can share their opinions and identify and discuss social issues.

It is a place where people can present corporate resistance, which many of them do. They can put their ideas in a blog, on a web site, in a response to another blog or post a diary video. There are more web sites now that speak poorly of corporations’ products and behaviours and that talk

       This new found consumer freedom and control greatly worries corporations. They do not want consumers hearing or reading negative things about them as they do not want to lose any customers. The messages found on the Internet may have a greater impact on how the consumer feels about a particular organization because it comes from people with experience – other consumers.   

       Corporations have an image to maintain and the Internet is a great threat to this image through the freedom of expression and information that it allows. Not having any control over the content about them on the Internet is very frustrating for corporations and is a problem for capitalism. These web sites try to prevent organizations from achieving their goals, such as selling products, because they try and are somewhat successful in rallying consumers to boycott certain products for whatever reasons.

Corporations are going to have to find a way to start using the Internet to their advantage because until they do, it will continue to try and take them down by destroying the meanings they attach to their products.