The idea of the Internet as Cyberspace has been a part of our contemporary culture for some time, particularly in the popular medium of film. But is the concept of cyberspace still relevant to our contemporary society? Discuss with reference to your own experience of contemporary media.
Cyberspace is a relatively new term used to describe the Internet and is defined in The Macquarie Dictionary (1985, p. 108) as, ‘a world created in virtual reality.’ This concept is very relevant in today’s society as more and more aspects of our everyday life are becoming entrenched in the Internet. Different services offered from a variety of sectors are now available online, with many options of things to do on their websites. This has led to an increasing number of multi-functional websites like Google. Cyberspace is changing the dynamic of a society. In this age of technology, research into the sociology of this frontier, notes the changes it has created. These include the opportunity to change and/or alter one’s own identity, and giving voice to any everyday person and their opinions, whether it is warranted or not.
Many companies now have websites and offer online services, with more of our everyday errands now available to do in the comfort of our own home. What once could have taken a day of driving here, there and everywhere, it is now accessible at the easy click of our mouses on the Internet. There is a very broad spectrum of things available to do and range from; banking to shopping to job hunting. The list of services now accessible online is almost endless.
(Photo courtesy of eBay Australia)
(Photo courtesy of Seek)
With the use of the Internet and number of services available online increasing, we are beginning to see a rise of what can only be described as super websites. They are multi-functional and offer many different things all at one convenient website. What department stores are to retail, these websites are to the Internet. There are many examples of these websites that offer a variety of options and various features. I have chosen the following five to show in more depth. Ninemsn’s features include; news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, hotmail, as well as many more. Some of the many things to do on Facebook are; adding friends, instant chat, sending messages to friends and uploading photos. The different components of Wikimedia include; Wikipedia, Wikitionary, Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wikinews, Wikispecies, Wikiquote and Wikisource. Google has many features apart from the general search engine such as; videos, maps, news, Gmail and blogs. The website Sensis consists of; Yellow Pages, White Pages, Trading Post, Whereis, Citysearch, GoStay, Telstra plus many more.
(Photo courtesy of Ninemsn)
(Photo courtesy of Google)
As we use the Internet more and more and become dependent of it in our daily lives, it in turn affects the dynamic of how we function as a society. Howard Rheingold coined the term ‘virtual community’ to describe the rise of the Internet and the deterioration of real community life. The age of technology has in turn distanced us as a society from reality. When catching up with friends, once entailed meeting up over a meal or drink, it is now more likely to occur using Instant Messaging over the Internet. People are becoming less involved in real life community groups, in favour of those that exist on the Internet.
Cyberspace and its virtual reality offer many things; among those is the opportunity for people to change their identity. It may be as simple as editing a photo of yourself before uploading it on Facebook, or in an extreme case, a sexual predator pretending to be a different person to lure victims. The ability to alter our true identity further emphasises the concept of a virtual reality and in turn has good and bad effects. In some ways it may be invigorating to be able change and conceal parts of our identity in this alternate universe. Though there are serious consequences from this. Social theorists, Mead, Berger and Luckmann (Gibson, S & Ovledo, O 2000, p. 170) state;
Physical bodily interaction with objects and people is necessary to develop a sense of self. Therefore eliminating physical contact by socially interacting in electronic space raises the issue of how people present themselves to each other.
As society becomes more and more embedded in Cyberspace, anyone’s unprofessional and non-expert opinion can potentially be voiced to millions of other people. Cyberspace allows any person the chance to have their opinions heard whenever they choose through creating a webpage or posting a blog. Unlike traditional media, the Internet does not allow censorship nor any form of required skill for a person to submit something. Anyone is able to write whatever they want without the editing and publishing that would normally exist in traditional forms of media. In this virtual reality, issues or opinions are being voiced whether they deserve to be or not, and in most cases, are those that wouldn’t normally be if they had to go through the procedures required in traditional media.
(Photo courtesy of Blogger)
It can evidently be seen that Cyberspace is very much a concept relevant in today’s society. Our everyday life and the errands we partake in, are becoming more centred on the use of the Internet, as aspects of our everyday are more readily available through the Internet. We are able to do our grocery shopping, pay our car registration, book our next holiday and find a new house, all without even leaving our own home. With the popularity of the Internet increasing, it has given rise to the super website. These multi-use websites that have been created offer numerous types of options all on the same website. Cyberspace, in creating a virtual community, has led to a change in the way society functions. This has allowed the opportunity to change one’s own identity; with its good and bad consequences. The age of technology has also allowed anyone the chance to write what they want, whenever they want with the potential of millions of other people able to read it. The concept of Cyberspace may not have all positive outcomes, but it is very significant in our society today and for the foreseeable future.
BIBILIOGRAPHY
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· The Macquarie Dictionary 1985, 3rd edition, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, Macquarie University.
