People can limit their global views when they log onto the world wide web, Harvard University professors said at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last night.

The MIT Communications Forum and the MIT Center for Future Civic Media hosted the forum “Our World Digitized: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” to discuss how people are using the Internet in ways that affect society and the democratic process.

Program Research Director Ellen Hume said they discussed any communication tools people use to come together for civic purposes, “not just journalism.”

Panelist Cass Sunstein, a Harvard visiting law professor, said the unlimited freedom of the Internet allows people to access the information they are already interested in, which can isolate them from current events.

“[Users should be] exposed to materials not chosen in advance to create unanticipated exposure and shared experience,” he said.

Higher online participation in media and democracy can lead to community fragmentation, Sunstein said. He said people tend to interact with those who share their values, stunting communication among different groups, but online participation is not entirely negative.

“There is a societal benefit from the greater stock of arguments increased by participation,” he said.

Panelist Yochai Benkler, a Harvard law professor who writes about the Internet and society, said blogs, unlike television and newspapers that filter information and possibly have motives other than informing the public, boost interest in the news by allowing readers to comment, edit and interact.

“The net, opposed to mass media, builds trust and reciprocity through integration,” he said.

Critics of the Internet era are skeptical users are surfing the web for other reasons than to read the news or debate politics, but Benkler said he does not see this as problematic.

“If you think you can affect an agenda, you walk through the world with different eyes and ears . . . with arguments, not complaints,” he said.

Boston University College of Communication freshman Samantha Ulan said online involvement is important for young people.

“Otherwise, they won’t care about society or the people around them because they feel like they have no effect,” she said.