THE INTERNET AS A POST-MODERN CULTURE. A paper prepared for presentation at the 1995 American Sociological Society Meetings. by Allan Liska Department of Sociology University of Maryland at College Park 2112 Art/Sociology Building College Park, MD. 20742 Tel: 301-434-7876 e-mail: HSTAUB@BSS1.UMD.EDU and Ilana Grune Faculteit Kunst, Media en Technologie, HKU (Department of Art, Media and Technology) Betje Wolfflaan 36a 1187 CJ Amstelveen The Netherlands e-mail: lets5541@stud.let.ruu.nl INTRODUCTION: The Internet is a worldwide network of computer networks, encompassing people who use those networks. The people, the "users", are creating a global community based entirely upon communication (Winder). This network of communication has become, by definition, a post-modern culture. The goals of this paper are essentially twofold. The first goal is to introduce people to the Internet, not in the form of a short course, or a "how-to" manual (for that the reader is recommended to turn to Zen and the Art of the Internet, by Brendan Kehoe). Instead, enough information must be disseminated so case may be developed that the Internet meets all of the traditional requirements for an anthropological/sociological definition of a culture; because the second goal of this paper is to develop a framework in which future study of the Internet may be done. THE INTERNET AND ANTHROPOLOGY: Over 30 million people use the Internet worldwide, and the amount of users is growing at the rate of one million new users per month. Sooner or later, electronic communication is going to be available to nearly everyone. The people on the net are not all as highly computer literate as one might think. Universities, colleges, government departments, big corporate concerns, commercial on-line services, even political parties, are all connected, and use the Internet on a daily basis. History In 1969 an American defence department agency - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - realized that they needed to develop an easy way to exchange military information between scientists and researchers based at different geographical locations. A simple network of four computers was therefore established. By 1972 the system had grown to include 37 computers on which the users - apart from performing their normal work on the system - had started to send electronic mail (e-mail) to each other by means of private mailboxes. Throughout the next 11 years the small network grew to such an extent that it was felt that the military research component should be moved to a separate network, called MILNET. In 1984 the National Science Foundation, another US government agency, established NSFNET, which was to be the solution to the problem of linking together five supercomputer centers and making the information held on them accessible to any educational facility that needed it. By 1987 there were so many people using NSFNET and so many sites (computer centers) connected to it that the infrastructure was completely overhauled to keep up with the load. The system was then opened up to any educational facility, academic researcher, government employee or international research organization who wanted to use it. In 1990 the Internet as it is used today had begun. The net is now available to anyone who has the means to connect to it (Winder). Technically: The networks that comprise the Internet are connected by computers, known as "routers", which need to be able to decide how to transmit data most efficiently across different parts of the network. The "Internet Protocol" makes sure that routers know where to send the data by addressing it in small data packages. In other words, any computer user will be able to connect to the Internet regardless of what kind of computer they use for it. Connecting to the Internet: People are connected in several different ways to the Internet. These ways differ in levels of what the users can do with their connections. The first is access through a gateway. The users can send and receive electronic mail only and may be able to read the Usenet Newsgroups. Other than the users are limited to the services the local network of the service provider offers them. The second method is by remote modem access. This is where, through the use of a modem, you access a "host" and your computer acts like it is a terminal on that mainframe. The users type the commands on their own computer, but it is the host that carries out the commands. This connection limits the users to the programmes that are available on the host. Most people have this connection. Another form of access is Direct Internet access. This is the highest, and most expensive, level of connectivity there is. With Level Three connectivity, users are directly wired into the Internet using high-speed telephone lines, and they are "on-line" twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This level of connectivity is very expensive. A less expensive connection variant of this level is the SLIP connection. SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) is software which enables the users to connect directly to the Internet using a standard high-speed modem and a telephone line. This means that the users get their access through a company that has a direct connection itself (Crispen). The Use of the Internet: Most of the use of the Internet is subject related. Since the Net basically exists of information and places to store the information, the users will immediately start to look for something when they connect to the Net. Either they're looking for information on a specific subject, or they look for people who talk about and discuss specific subjects. Information on Subjects: When looking for information, the users have several ways to try to find the it. Depending on their personal level of connectivity, they can choose the following methods. Which, primarily, fall into two categories. Those information systems that involve don't involve human interaction and those that do. First, a discussion of the various non-human retrieval systems. Gopher is a menu-based system for searching through the Internet. The idea is to start from your "home gopher", from which you can burrow from site to site, following links in the Net. Archie is a network of databases containing a list of every single file available for downloading on the Internet. FTP (File Transfer Protocol), software used to transfer data over the Internet. This includes all data available on all the sites connected to the Net. Every piece of information (pictures, text, sounds, codes, etc.) that someone wants to make available to people on the net ( usually referred to as shareware) can be reached by FTP. Telnet enables the user to visit places. They make a connection to another place (another computer system) and let you in. The user can look around, read notices, leave messages and then go home. World Wide Web is the fastest developing part of the Internet. It provides a graphical interface4 to about 30 percent of all information available on the Net. The information is linked together by connections within the information itself. One piece of information points to the next and so on. Discussions on Subjects: This part of the being on the Net always involves other people. The user is either looking at discussions, participating, playing games with others, exchanging personal letters, or merely soaking in the atmosphere. Electronic mail (E-mail) is the most important feature in the system of computer connectivity. It allows users to send each other messages anywhere in the world. These messages arrive nearly instantly after their sent. E-mail provides the possibility of requesting specific information, or receiving it. It's got the directness of telephoning someone, and it's got the detail of exchanging letters. A whole manner of expressiveness has developed through this new medium of communication (Angell and Hesslop). E-mail is also, by far, the most popular use of the Internet. Mailing lists are subject-based message-spreading systems. The users subscribe to the "list", just like they would subscribe to a magazine, and subsequently receive all the messages that are sent to that list. Mailing lists enable people to communicate with other people all over the world. Anyone with E-mail capabilities can subscribe to a mailinglist, and the subjects range from MacGyver to AIDS to Progressive Sociology. Usenet is a pass-the-parcel system where subject based areas are available for all to read. There are thousands of groups, all centered around specific subjects. This is a very lively part of the Net, as any kind of human interaction is possible (given the circumstances) and tempers run high at times. Instant Relay Chat (IRC) are boards that allow users to actually talk to each other, in real time--similar to a telephone call, with words. These boards are also subject based. MUDs (Multi User Dungeons), an ever-growing collection of ways to play interactive games on the net. A lot of people play in one game, and usually there's role-playing involved. MUDs are highly interactive and highly time consuming. The Language of the Internet: The final component of the Internet that is to be examined are the verbal, and non-verbal forms of communication that have developed. Obviously, language plays an important part in the human interaction on the Internet. In fact there are words that have developed specifically because of the Internet. Flame is one that springs quickly to mind. Flame is an Internet verb. It means to verbally (most of the time) attack someone. A lot of flaming occurs in the Usenet groups because they are unmoderated and so there one person to step and assume the role of the traditional authority figure. Most flaming occurs because of a mistake made by a person new to a group, or because of an ideological disagreement. Another aspect of internet verbal communication that has developed is the heavy use of acronyms. Many users rely on acronyms to keep from repeating the same expressions over and over. While many are specific to groups some have gained Internet-wide popularity. These include: BTW: by the way, ROTFL: rolling on the floor laughing, and RTFM: read the friendly manual. There are also language rules that have developed, that are specific to the Internet. For instance, while it is considered bad grammar to use all capital letters in every day communication, through e-mail it is considered yelling. So, a message sent in all capitals is likely to offend someone, because the receiver will think he or she is being yelled at. More interesting than the verbal communication is the use of non-verbal symbols in Internet communication. Groups of symbols called smileys and emoticons have developed to express emotions in a medium that is usually considered emotionless. Smileys are symbols, found on standards keyboards that are put together to create faces. For example, ;+} (wink) and :+) (smile); if the reader is having trouble seeing these turn the paper sideways and it should become clearer. The bracket, or parentheses becomes the mouth, the addition sign is the nose, and the colon or semi-colon is the eyes. Emoticons are letters placed inside "greater than", "less than" symbols to demonstrate emotion. These include signs like (grin), and (sigh). Smileys and emoticons help to clarify the written word in much the same way that tone of voice helps us to understand the intention of a speaker. Anthropology: One of the basic goals of Anthropology is to study culture (Zeitlin). In order to study culture it must first be defined. Unfortunately, Anthropologists have not come to a consensus concerning the one, true nature of a culture. There is, however, one element that most definitions of culture have in common. For a group of people to be considered a culture they must have a unique form of communication (Zeitlen, Abercrombie, and Kammeyer). Language is one of the defining aspects of a culture, and since the Internet is entirely defined by language we would argue that it is a culture. Why is this important? If the Internet can be defined as a culture then a framework for studying the ecology of the Internet has been formed. How do people interact with each other differently on the Internet? We have already shown that there are different norms of communication, but how do these norms affect the users and create a different environment from the non-virtual world? Momentarily adopting a social-psychological point of view; how does the nature of the medium affect how people perceive each other. With the absence of typical physical cues (physical attractiveness, voice) how is perception of other, and of self developed? Also, how does the anarchistic nature of the Internet (no central, governing body) change the lines of communication. On the Internet, a high school student, with access, is on the same level as George Ritzer or Pierre Bourdieu. Thus, eradicating traditional hierarchies and creating an almost Marxian level playing field. THE INTERNET AND POST-MODERNITY: The Internet lends itself perfectly to the discussion of language games and the information revolution that has raged in post-modern circles. The rub in any discussion of post-modern ideas is that there is no one, universally accepted definition of what post-modern ideas encompass. Therefore, the discussion will be limited to the ideas of Jurgen Habermas and Jean Baudrillard, before giving full attention to the concept of the Pioneer Theory. Habermas and Baudrillard were chosen for their seemingly diametrically opposed views on the "information revolution" that is often symbolized by the Internet. Baudrillard is a leader in the discussion of the information overload that is occurring (Ritzer, Der Derian). With all of the existing technologies that surround us, and all of the information that is quickly becoming available, it is impossible for people to absorb and process it all. The Internet is entirely a culture of communication. On the one hand it becomes Baudrillard's worst fears realized. There is so much information, the majority of which is of value to only a small percentage of the population that it has created an information glut, and it is impossible to keep track of, and absorb all, or even a small fraction, of it. At the same time it draws people together. The Internet has created a common culture, which defies Baudrillard's concept of post-modernity as the end of the social (Baudrillard). While Baudrillard may view society as breaking down into ever smaller roles that do not communicate with each other, the Internet has managed to bring these people together with a common language. Habermas views the information revolution as the chance for all people to communicate on equal levels, with a redefinition of the concepts of information and communication. Habermas is a proponent of the free exchange of information (Conner). The Internet, is obviously the perfect venue for this, to a point. While information on the Internet is free, access is not. This is where Habermas' theories of post-modernity break down. Internet access is limited to the elites in society. Academics, businesses, white collar workers, and middle to upper class citizens (who can afford computers and on-line services) all have the advantage when it comes to information access on the Internet. Many areas of the world are setting up Internet connections at local libraries so that more people will have access, and many grade and high schools are doing the same. However, these are only the richest areas. The poorer students and people will not be connected to the vast resources for a long time. So while communication on the Internet fits Habermas' ideas of parallel lines of communication (Ritzer). It is a qualified level of equality, for it is equality only among the elites. PIONEER THEORY: As the Internet becomes more popular and more people sign on, there is a spirit that is developing that is labelled, by some, as a pioneering spirit. This pioneering idea should not be confused with the ideas that many Americans associate with pioneers as people who steal land from others, or forcibly displace existing populations. Instead, think of the Internet as a truly unsettled, and only partially tamed area. Think of the Internet as a land, an ecology, an geographic environment for people to live in. At the rate the Net growing unmediated, it is becoming a worldwide ecology that will do nothing but grow. It must grow or it will fade away. The World Wide Web is growing, being an informational network that is added to at an amazing rate. The Net itself is growing and is being added to every time another person connects themselves to the net, and it's more than just information. The people who connect to the Net bring with them their identity (the current rate at which the Net is growing is one million new users per month (Winder)). So the Net is a culture of talent, interests, (re)design, opinions, bare ground, possibilities, vision, etc... that is constantly expanding, changing and growing. An ecology must be self-sustaining, but it is also dependent on the what happens outside of itself. So can the Net exist without the 'real world' (= non-electronic world), or is it in need of interference from the real world just as much as flora and fauna on Earth are in need of phenomenon in space, like the Sun and the Moon? The Internet - viewed as a growing culture - needs the people who live, work, grow and play in that environment. Those people are the ones who are create the Net, sustain it, and make it grow. Much like a new people pioneering on a wild, unused, uninhabited, barren land. They have to make it work, they have to make the land fertile, build on it, and they have to create their own society and culture. They have to live together and be tolerant of each other in the space they have chosen to inhabit. Internet: Space with Nothing But Raw Potential to Become Something: If you view the Internet as a mostly unused land, but some of it has been shaped by the people that passed it already, then the Internet users are the pioneers. There are more "inhabited" spaces on the Net, there were there's a lot of information traffic, or there where a lot of people gather regularly. And there are places that not many people use, for one reason or another. Either it's too complicated to use, or it's too hard to find. These latter places are what could be viewed as the "frontier" of this new land. USERS: THE PIONEERS: Traditionally, if you go pioneering on a barren, uninhabited land, you need to know what you're doing. Pioneering people have to be strong, open, tolerant, tough, self-sufficient, fertile, etc. They also need to be in equal numbers for each sex/gender, be willing to raise big families, herd animals of all sorts (cows, chickens, dogs), have a good concept of building, climbing, farming, hygiene, medicine etc. In short, they have to be extremely able to be good enough to survive (Heinlein). It would then follow that the most intelligent, most creative, most tolerant and most technically-able people will "survive" (i.e. netsurf to their heart's delight) in the outer regions of the net, the places that aren't yet connected to the Web, and dominate the least travelled discussion sites. And they would be the most active among all Internet users. In the same vein the lesser-technically-able people would stay on the often-trodden paths, surf the web (which are only 'trodden' paths), lurk more, add percentually less to the net, and finally have a city-like quality rather than a wild-country quality. Human Interaction Areas on the Net: SUBJECT BASED ENVIRONMENTS: Newsgroups and mailinglists are based on people choosing to relate to other people just for the sake of their interest in certain subjects. The subjects of interest are no longer "just a hobby", but on the net it suddenly becomes clear that people, many people are deeply interested in discussing topics and enjoying their hobbies. They want to be addressed by others with the particular personal interests in mind. USENET NEWSGROUPS (Inner City Space): Usenet Newsgroups that are bigger (e.g. those with the subject centered on Star Trek) have a vast number of readers (estimated 4000 to 5000 people) and generally maybe 50 people are active users. So there are about 79 out of 80 (98.75%) to 99 out of 100 (99%) lurkers on such Newsgroups and about 1 out of 100 (1%) to 1 out of 80 (1.25%) of the users are actually active. MAILING LISTS (outer settlements): In smaller, less organized groups (like an average Mailinglists) there are an average of 150 people of which 10 to 25 people out of those 150 write regularly. That makes the percentage of active people between 6.7% to 16.7%. This shows percentually a much greater number of active people in those frontier environments than in the city-like highly populated environments. (A difference in activity of a minimal factor 5.36 to a maximum factor 16.7). In a Real Life comparison one can see that the smaller the town the more the people in it need for everyone to work together for it to survive and grow. Once it gets big, there isn't the same sort of attachment, so less people (percentage wise) are actively adding new things to the town. Generally speaking mailinglists are much more frontier-like than Newsgroups, because they are 'out' there, they are more sparsely populated and they are usually hard to find. They are more like small sub-communities. The Usenet Newsgroups are generally bigger communities, easy to find, and they are also made accessible through the World Wide Web. WORKSHOPS ON THE INTERNET: There are also the so-called "boom towns". The "NewbieNewz" mailinglist is a very good example of this. This was a mailinglist that was an experiment by two people (Patrick Douglas Crispen - workshop conductor, and Don Z'Boray - list owner) who over the course of a few weeks showed anyone who subscribed to their mailinglist around the Internet, giving them thorough daily lessons a glimpse of the Internet, explain about the available tools and giving the readers tips about avoiding traps and smart use of e-mail and so on. The idea was to have a month-long Internet training workshop to be conducted over the Internet. This workshop -- "Roadmap for the Information Superhighway" --started accepting participants in July of 1994. By October of 1994, word of mouth advertising for the workshop had been so successful that over 62,000 people from 77 countries had enrolled in one of the three Roadmap workshop distribution lists. This was a service that was devised to prepare big-city users (and new ones) for pioneer-life on the Net (Z'Boray). Growth and Change: The Internet is still obviously being modified and changed by the users at a fast, visible rate, pioneering remains. The Net is as large as the imagination and effort of the users will permit. It's not an finite resource that will end when you reach the ocean on the other side, rather it's an expanding world, expanding at the rate of the users' imagination. In fact, even if the internet becomes completely established as a means for communication and information transport, there will always be the pioneering element. 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