Clinton report may be posted on Net

WASHINGTON - When the 445-page summary of independent counsel Kenneth Starr lands on the Internet - possibly this afternoon - it will hardly be the start of any online dissection of President Clinton.

Despite what Congress or party leaders might decide, hundreds of thousands of people have been conducting "impeachment hearings" on Clinton in newsgroups and on Websites for months.

There has been a sea change, caused by the vast global network of computers, in the way our society views its public affairs. A similarly thorough and profound shift occurred in 1954 when another new technology, a vast network of televisions, altered public opinion during the live broadcasts of the Army-McCarthy hearings. In that case, it allowed Americans to see their representatives at work. In this case, the twist is that the Internet encourages millions of citizens to simultaneously process the accusations and implications at the speed of light, and together.

This time, the stately pace of special prosecutors and House committees and impeachment proceedings appears absolutely quaint compared with the warp speed with which the drama is unfolding online.

It's the hive mind at work, a collective group-think making snap judgments (good and bad), swapping opinions (educated and not) and jumping to conclusions (right and wrong).

From here on out, the Internet's immense influence on the public mind is incontrovertible. But is it a good thing?

Is this massively parallel processing or merely pack psychology?

Is this an intelligent, positive, deliberative force or a destructive, deconstructive lynch mob?

There's a change in quantity and speed that's unprecedented. But are we heightening the quality of debate or heaving it back into the swamps?

Anti-Clinton and impeachment-oriented Websites and newsgroups abound.

The newsgroup labeled alt.impeach.clinton (available through www.dejanews.com ), for example, has been a hub of hubbub. Don't look there for keen insight, however.

"Clinton is great - Impeach the Republicans," wrote one loyalist yesterday.

To which someone replied, "Impeach them all, especially if they fail to impeach Clinton."

09-11-98