This paper attempts to explore the role of the internet in the processes of organization andmobilization of the ‘movement for alternative globalization’, which is often characterized as an‘internet-based movement’. It reports the findings of a survey undertaken in the Paris 2003European Social Forum (ESF), which asked 257 respondents about the contexts that mobilizedthem to participate in the ESF (political/voluntary organizations, friends/relatives,workplace/university, news media), as well as the modes and methods of communication thatwere used in each context. The findings question the claims about the internet-based character ofthis movement, as face-to-face contact seems to be the predominant mode of communication.The survey also challenges the much discussed potential of the internet to mobilize politicallyindifferent or marginalized individuals, as a comparison between users and non-users of theinternet revealed that users tended to be mobilized for the ESF through political or voluntaryorganizations.'['