Five hundred years ago, Columbus and his adventurous contemporaries busily navigated the unknown waters of the world, knee deep in the Age of Exploration. Today, somewhat less-waterlogged individuals in the hundreds of thousands -- and growing in number at a rate of 10-20% per month -- forage new territory in the virtual frontier of the internet.
The largest electronic network in the world, the internet is really the global network of all computer networks and has the potential to link up every computer on Earth. The end of the Cold War and the trans-global push towards national or ethnic independence has brought with it in the slackening of electronic deregulation, the further development of mass communications and the increasing importance in the integration of technology as essential to progress and the building or rebuilding of nations and communities. As a result, the computer and the internet have played essential roles in the transformation of post-modern culture, power and social action, enabling users to quickly obtain information on demand with regard to almost any subject from practically anywhere in the world.
The internet has emerged as a formidable social and cultural institution of global proportions. It challenges conventional (existing) societal institutions spanning from individual liberty, the role of "established" authority, and the concept of ownership (privacy and public space) to definitions of media, community, social interaction and even "reality."
Society itself has been restructured and new on-line communities have been form ed that transcend physical boundaries. Individuals interact -- partnerships form, friendships build, love affairs steam -- over the net without these people ever seeing or meeting one another in person. Sometimes, these relations occur much more intensely than in physical person-to person social interaction, perhaps due to the anonymity of the medium. Two people may be see and sit next to each other everyday but never speak more than a few words while they busily engage in profound conversations and deep relationships in the internet dimension. Social cocooning (an apparent rising social trend) through the internet allows an individual to seek out his select community as well as stay well within his own familiar protective walls. "Surfing the net" might be seen as a step above TV "channel surfing." George Gilder, a much-cited senior fellow of Seattle's Discovery Institute, claims that "people are not inherently couch potatoes; given a chance, they talk back and interact." People around the world with elements of identity in common (ethnicity, language, hobbies, etc.) may socialize among themselves through special interest bulletin boards or livid Internet Relay Chat (IRC) conversations. Communities are no longer defined by physicality, proximity or tangibility. Access to the internet means access to a thriving civilization in virtual existence on-line.
Up until recently, accessibility to the internet was limited to the select few with the knowledge and means of logging in and navigating through the complex network. In 1969, this consisted primarily of researchers (BBN; Bolt, Beranek and Newman), scientists (NSF; the National Science Foundation) and the U.S. Department of Defense (ARPA; the Advanced Research Projects Agency) in their efforts to create a system that could withstand partial outages (e.g. bombing) and still function. Under NSF sponsorship, it then expanded to educators and students, then to businesses where these alumni worked and convinced their employers to hook up to the network.
The Worldwide Web (WWW, also fondly referred to as "the Web"), introduced in 1989 by CERN, a Swiss nuclear reactor facility (Conseil Europen pour la Recherche Nuclaire), unified and linked hypertext information space, which enabled any part of any on-line document to be linked to any part of any other document on-line. While it made referencing information even faster and easier, it wasn't until the recent release of "freeware" (no cost) multimedia browsers, especially the National Center for Supercomputing Application's (NCSA) highly-acclaimed Mosaic in January 1993, that access to the internet has become a more universally-realizable goal.
Browsers link together almost all forms of internet communications protocol -- e-mail, telnet, netnews (electronic news and bulletin boards), the Worldwide Web, gopher, ftp and more -- and put them into a similar format. (For example, LYNX also combines network protocol but is a text-only browser.) Mosaic's multimedia point-and-click interface of "home-pages" reduces the amount and level of computer jargon and know-how required to navigate through the Web (the internet ), making the on-line world appear to be a vast interconnected universe of information. Therefore, knowledge of the proper internet jargon will certainly assist a user to an extent in surfing the net, but fluency in the language is only essential for intellectual-sounding conversation fodder.
The multimedia aspect integrates other communication forms, such as sound, graphics and video, into the browser (society begins to realize the important balance of the visual with the verbal in communication). The internet has become easier, less intimidating and more entertaining to use. Mosaic has made the next step in the extensification of the internet from a tool of an exclusive set of specialized individuals for research, education and defense to a form of entertainment for the public masses.
While Vice President Al Gore's dream of universal internet accessibility by the year 2000 via the proposed National and Global Information Infrastructures (NII and GII) has been put on hold due to political complications, computers and the internet are becoming so increasingly popular and feasible that within a few years' time, the only thing that will keep mainstream society from this goal of universal access is unfounded computer anxiety.
One of the societal implications of accessibility and this technophobia is the restructuring of social power hierarchies. Knowledge has emerged as the greatest measure of value and means of control and power in Information Age. The resulting have and have-nots are those with or without internet access; power rests with those elites with greater knowledge of navigating through the internet. Social stratification includes those with potential (willing to venture into this new frontier, whether currently equipped with the means or not) and, at the bottom, the untouchablesQ that is, those so intimidated by the computer that they are too afraid to touch it.
Internet kinship has shaped new forms of identity both on-line as well as off. The facelessness of interpersonal communication over the net opens up options for role-playing, testing out different identities, new personalities, in each social encounter. This on-line anonymity masks users' gender, ethnicity, physical attributes (weight, height, etc.) and other characteristics that may not be so easily hidden in other forms of communications media. Thus, these qualities play a lesser role in interaction and are only brought to attention when they are made more obvious. For instance, a woman can mask her presence (which is sure to bring a lot of attention) by choosing a non-feminine-specific handle (user-ID) or by creating a non-gender-specific home-page on the Web. The user has the ability to present herself to the global public as she so pleases.
Sexual relations are based on getting to know the apparent personality of the individuals involved. Suddenly, one's ability and eloquence in expressing oneself through text takes on a whole new importance. Relationships can either be deeper, since individuals are drawn to character first and physicality later, or they can be misleading as the question of truth can often be left unanswered. Added complexity arises when people then change communication from an electronic to a corporeal format. The social inhibitions that may have been wiped away through the anonymity of internet interaction can easily rise up with the re-imposition of non-verbal cues such as facial expression, tone of voice, etc.
Another aspect of internet anonymity is the gradual and subtle dehumanization of humanity and the depersonalization of institutions of authority. Lack of non-verbal cues in electronic communication leaves much room for misinterpretation and miscommunication that often spark harsh flaming criticism. Senders often have no regard for the feelings of the recipient of these "flames" and can get quite personally offensive or bitingly cruel. The psychological disembodiment of "establishment" often validates both major and minor, legal and illegal actions: the pirating of software, protesting censorship and regulation, complaining about advanced technology that "sucks" and electronical ly "hacking" into confidential or personal files or accounts.
Breakdown of society can only be controlled by the individuals and the cultural ethos they form and foster over the net. The internet plays a meaningful role as the world moves towards an increasingly interdependent market system that embraces the ideals of the West. Much social interaction on the net upholds beliefs of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and is in the form of interactive democracy. Users define content as they play the roles of both producer and consumer of information commodity. Users exercise individual autonomy in deciding what activity they want to see and whom they want to make aware of their own activity. Generally, this exchange of knowledge is universal and the default is public. "Net-surfing" through various home-pages reveals how private lives are bared for the public home-pages filled with personal entries, photographs and what-not. The information exchange is then a system of reciprocity and trust which forms a basis for kinship ethos and for the on-line community.
Therefore, people with a lack of concern for others create security risks by exploiting the implicit trust of the internet community; dangers exist in sometimes being too trusting. Oddly enough the limits on trust that do exist are the same limits on trust that exist on real-world, off-line society, that is lack of trust in politicians and in commercial industry. Ironically, these are the two main sources of financial support for the internet.
The financial backbone of the internet historically rests on the U.S. government sponsorships (ARPA and NSF) and collaborative efforts between various government branches and industries. Yet, there is no real prevailing governmental authority overseeing and directing net activity. Technical management, direction and standards are defined and implemented through the Internet Society (ISOC), a voluntary membership organization. Concerns of the role of government and the limits of Constitutional rights in the internet in regards to security, censorship and regulations have led to the establishment of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF is a self-proclaimed civil liberties organization whose goal is to protect the Constitutional rights of the "citizens of cyberspace." This group of internet bigwigs -- mostly ex-hippies and ex-druggies now riding on the new trip of virtual reality as presidents, CEOs and big names of computer-related industries and media -- make the distinction that they are "not concerned with federal policy, just information policy."
It is no surprise that this group preaches decentralization of power as government regulation against commercialization of the net has prevailed -- after all, the government has been the main source of funding for the internet. Now, as NSF announces that it will no longer sponsor the net, commercialization is viewed as inevitable and the fate of internet politics is uncertain.
The on-line community seems to be divided into two camps in regard to the issue of commercialization: those who are for limited commercial access, for fears of the fate of other media -- low quality programming and the clutter of junk mail -- and those who are for full commercializing. The internet is a marketer's dream: relatively low-cost, quick and accessible by an audience of millions. Loose regulations on commercial access could easily lead to chaos, especially when it comes to advertising. "Everyone wants to look smart but no one knows what to do with these new technologies." (HotWired94)
Many network newbies do not realize that the internet has developed its own system of values and socially-accepted behavior, otherwise known as "netiquette." They make the mistake of imposing their own culture upon netters instead of recognizing and adopting the distinct electronic network culture. The Constitutional freedoms that users have come to expect with their electronic empowerment include freedom from useless drivel: information they have not actively sought out. Advertisers can only "put out the welcome mat" through interesting network pages or sites that get referred by other users rather than engage in the usual "knocking on doors" tactic or flood mailboxes with unsolicited and therefore highly-unappreciated junk mail.
Internet communication is typically uninhibited and often relations become more intense than normal person-to-person contact in either positive bonds of friendship or extremely negative "flames" of insults and harsh criticism crossed and dotted with obscenities. Netters tend to voice opinions more often and more quickly than they would in situations involving other means of communication, perhaps because of the anonymity and depersonalization of the internet. Those would-be solicitors who take the wrong tactic by infringing upon (or rather violating) the personal space/accounts of netters will inevitably be barraged by email filled with such biting language and flaming words, coming out of the verbal fray battered and with extremely negative results. The challenge advertisers face is figuring out how to stand out in the noise and complexity of the web to attract a necessary "critical mass" audience.
Meanwhile, as a new form of mass media, the internet has forced a redefinition of the term as well as a reshaping of other existing forms of media. For centuries, media has played an instrumental role in the shaping and reshaping of "imaginary" communities by organizing and making sense of life: identifying common interests, propounding ideals and publicizing philosophies. It has also been a means of manipulating a navvvve public who tends to believe and interpret everything it sees and hears is Truth. Mass media is the embodiment of power and control as it serves as the primary means towards obtaining knowledge and information in this, the Information Age. The internet fulfills these basic roles with regard to the building of the new virtual community, but it also empowers the public against manipulation by the media by giving them a voice to fight back and to question media, and especially advertisers, who barely ever have in mind the best interests of society.
The traditional definition of "media" entailed a one-way flow of information, involving specialized operators, thus ensuring that the media was not available for use by private individuals. While production still entails costly and complex technology (computers and the software applications), remains relatively inexpensive to buy or receive (as long as one has a computer and access) and users are still basically physically separated, the internet has introduced radically new concepts of mass communication.
The internet has reshaped the concept of mass media by handing control to its users unified through previously unrealized time, virtual public space and interactivity. People play a more active role in seeking out what information they want when they want it. The capability of any user to utilize the media empowers the public with a louder voice and instills a universal social responsibility. "No other medium has ever given individual people such an engaged role in the movement of information and opinion or such a proprietary interest in the medium itself." (J. Katz, HotWired: Oct 94)
As a result, other forms of media have had to edit their content, goals and philosophies. While current technology is still behind in computerizing audio and video recordings so as to be competitive with the conventional forms of media, the concept and importance of interactivity and synchronic communication (instantaneous feedback) has grabbed hold of radio, television and print media. Many television and radio stations, newspaper, magazine and multimedia publishers have their own email address, and a few even have pointers (Universal Resource Locators, or URLs) to their own Web home-page.
Radio and television, whose strategies are building up "awareness, awareness, awareness" (NYT, 9-20-94:C18) have employed both promotional CD-ROM and Web pages. Interspersed with ads, on-line radio provides access to feature stories that might otherwise only be accessible via short-wave radio. Television and movie production studios' more effective multimedia set-ups provide arrays of clips and trailers, movie previews, biographical information on actors and movie tidbits and trivia from which users may select. It also includes, of course, the essential internet option for submitting comments. On the whole, the internet versions encourage viewership rather than replace the existing forms.
As for print media, the problem lies in not knowing what to do with the technology or how it relates to the existing form of media. In a mad rush to be hooked up to the internet , print media moguls often do not realize that net-culture does not entail a simple direct on-line version of the publications, but a demand for a completely different mode and level of interaction. In simply "shoveling" their stories on the internet, publications just succeed in removing the positive aspects of the original format: portability, physicality and aesthetic of hardcopy. The struggle of print media with the internet is, in fact, currently a hot topic of discussion on-line.
The most successful attempts to go on-line, such as Time On-line, and Wired magazine's HotWired have integrated stunning graphics and informal-sounding intellectual analyses of stories. Interactivity of the audience with the page (especially in regard to information selection), the audience with each other, and the audience with the editorial board and reporters is essential. Pages must be fresh, interesting enough to differentiate from other options (both on-line and off) and constantly up-to-date in order for publishers to retain a loyal audience, whose new role is participation rather than readership. Print media's re-defined goals include creating the best quality work for a specific audience instead of trying to appeal to as many groups as possible.
Meanwhile, dangers of a drop in quality of the hardcopy come from both the competition of internet resources as well as from bad choices made in response to them. In not reacting to the new form of media (e.g. not making any efforts of going on-line, or redefining methods and standards of the current media), various print media would certainly lose even more readership. Some armchair analysts of the situation believe that the success (or at least survival) of hard copy lies in the improvement of the quality (and personal style) of writing, more solid and well-founded intellectual critical analysis, a change in conservative outlook (especially the downplaying of youth culture and change), and a shift towards specialized topics or communities. "These two media can co-exist and complement one another." (J. Katz, HotWired: Oct 94)
The net is continuously growing without an end in sight as "millions of people worldwide are building a shared technology and shared knowledge base." (ORA.com, Fall 94). Web pages are popping up for other institutions already accessible by email, from museums (the Paris Louvre and the San Francisco Exploratorium) and libraries (the Library of Congress, the Kaapelisonu library server in Finland) to governmental offices (the White House, various branches of the United Nations) and businesses (Pittsburgh's Shadyside Inn). Home-pages have been set up for metropolitan cities, states and countries with pointers to main offices, businesses and places of general interest. Also available through various links are searchable indexes, publications and manuals, conference symposia, "original" art-work (whose concepts of "original" and "art" themselves reflect on post-modernity), help-files ("spiders" on the Web), recipe databases and "what's new" pages. One of the most talked-about events in the on-line community this past year was the live internet-cast of a Rolling Stones concert (only available live through a tool called "Mbone," since it was of very high-bandwidth, a.k.a. took up a lot of space; a "recording" was later available through regular internet protocols such as WWW or FTP, or via Mosaic).
As the internet expands and Web popularity (number of subscribers) grows, its habitualization into everyday life seems imminent. There are many seemingly non-essential aspects and frivolous Web-sites that demonstrate the internet's steady integration into common use and transformation from indecipherable enigma into necessity. Such availability and abundance is symptomatic of society's other wasteful and consuming patterns, though this will surely change when users have to start paying for the services and information.
With all this growth, there is some doubt as to whether the web can maintain its open yet unified environment and avoid fracturing into smaller communities. This entails the coordinated effort of users into enacting new standards to maintain order. But the imposition of "social order depends on the growth and extensions of social relations among individuals" (Eric Wolf). The paradox is in priorities: working together to establish systemization will encourage new competition. Simplification for universal benefit means complexity for the individual, who must inevitably sacrifice a competitive advantage. Because users are both producers and consumers, increasing accessibility and popularity means both more consumers and, ergo, more competitors. Corporations and individuals must decide their relative value as measured against the collectivity (Scheper-Hughes: 401).
As people begin to realize the merits of on-line access, the view of the computer user has been transformed from the socially deficient geek to role-model front-runner of society. TIME On-line observes how "America has become vastly suspicious of leaders," as exemplified by political elections of recent years. TIME has filtered through the populace to seek out fifty individuals who are making a "civic and social impact," labeling them the new leaders of American society. Among them is Marc Andreessen, the 23-year-old co-creator of NCSA Mosaic and it's successor Netscape (October 94). Since the internet appeals to both the need for education as well as the desire for entertainment, it follows that that one of its leading young citizens has been recognized by the media for making such headway.
The internet has emerged as a new communal institution, identifying, transmitting and sometimes even defining shared values, culture and behavior. Its incipience and development challenges existing beliefs of art, science, politics and social identities. An epitome of post-modern society, the internet blurs boundaries and causes people to rethink what is culture, what is real and what is important. As a public information system, it has come to redefine the role of media and its audience, building more interactive relation ships with a greater balance of power. It has given the public a new social awareness through the creation and realization of power through ownership of information, the exercise of choice and autonomy. Unfortunately, the uncertainty of the future of the internet due to shift in power from relative laissez-faire by the government to commercial sponsorship threatens to disturb whatever delicate balance currently exists.