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Cyberculture

As with many similar new words coined to deal with the expanding use and influence of computers, the exact definition of cyberculture varies. In some accounts, nearly any social phenomenon that somehow combines computers and culture might be referred to as cyberculture. Most frequently, however, cyberculture refers to cultures formed in or associated with online social spaces.

Origins of the Word

The prefix “cyber” comes from the word cybernetics. Norman Weiner created the modern definition of cybernetics in 1948 as “the science of control and communication in the animal and the machine.” While Weiner is often credited with coining the term, the word cybernetics (from a similar Greek term meaning “steersmanship,” or to steer or govern) appeared prior to his usage, and most notably was used by the French physicist André-Marie Ampère in the 1830s to describe the science of government. Modern cybernetic theory has been particularly concerned with artificial intelligence (computer programs that think and are self-aware), and with communication and control interfaces between humans and computers.

Interest in the relationship between humans and computers has led to the creation of various other words derived from cybernetics. The most familiar of these is probably cyborg, from cybernetic organism, which refers to an animal/computer hybrid. Examples of cyborgs in popular culture include Robocop and the Borg characters from Star Trek. Other words have been formed by combining the root “cyber” with commonplace words to add a computerized context. The resulting neologisms essentially drop the “steer,” “govern,” and “control” meanings contained in the word cybernetics, and refer merely to various types of computer-mediated social relationships.

The first of these words to enter popular usage, cyberspace, probably influenced the creation of the others. Cyberspace refers to the Internet and the World Wide Web, or to any similar shared interactive computer-mediated environment. The term was coined by science-fiction writer William Gibson, in his depictions of a future world in which people can immerse themselves in graphical representations of information. The use of the term cyberspace to refer to the Internet has led to a whole host of “cyber-” words to refer to activities that people engage in on the Internet, including cybersex, cyberdemocracy, etc. In this sense, cyberculture refers to the culture of cyberspace.

Internet Culture

There are so many different people from different countries, cultures, and subcultures who interact on the Internet that it doesn't really make sense to say that there is one single Internet culture. However, there are many cultural elements that originated online, and that continue to be widely known and used both online and offline. These include specialized terminology, patterns of language use, and standards of etiquette.

Terminology. In addition to words with a “cyber-” prefix, use of the Internet has generated a host of terms with an “e-” prefix. The “e” stands for electronic, and first appeared in the term email. In recent years, other words have followed, especially those referring to online transactions, such as e-commerce, e-business, and e-cash. As indicated by these examples, “e-” words tend to refer to the commercial end of the Internet, while “cyber-” words tend to refer to more social and cultural aspects.

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