Is Today's Internet Killing Our Culture?

Internet 2.0, the participatory websites that depend on content generated by users, is under attack. Once hailed for democratizing culture by providing more information from more sources without either filters or fees, critics now contend that web blogs, Google and Wikipedia are replacing expert gatekeepers with the "wisdom of crowds," often ignorant and wrong. Will traditional standards devolve into cultural anarchy where nobody knows what's true or false or will history's biggest communications explosion liberate culture from the heavy hand of self-interested elites?