"Reading" Cybercultures

In the first chapter of our reading for the week, there was a general introduction to what a Cyberculture is. Even though this was a sort of overview for us, It still gave me a deeper understanding into cybercultures. I think one main idea that I got out of the reading is the understanding of how cyberspace is developing and changing the way we access the different cyber cultures we might affiliate ourselves with. In our reading it says that "Cyberspace is also produced by multimedia applications such as mobile phones, electronic surveillance, and video conferencing." Cyberspace is also called the "information space" the place were most Americans get theirs news, how to recipes, and even their horoscopes.


According to Encyclopedia of New Media (Kendall 2007) Cyberculture is defined as "cultures formed in or associated with online spaces." with these spaces being found in cyberspace, and cyberspace being able to be accessed from our mobile phones in our pocket, then does this mean that our Cyberculture is actually becoming apart of our everyday culture? I chapter one Nayar argues that "There is no one Cyberculture: because it has been so normalized, appropriated, altered, and domesticated into our everyday lives, there are in fact many Cybercultures, of which the Internet is perhaps the most common" With the addition of many 3G and 4G devices that allow us to access these Cybercultures from anywhere it is no longer a far fetched idea that Cyberculture is "attached to connected with, replicates, extends, and augments real-life conditions" One example where we see these Cybercultures effect and change real life conditions is in the case of Kevin Durant and his tweets. On December 23rd Kevin Durant tweeted that he would be giving away shoes at various locations throughout Oklahoma City. These tweeted caused Traffic Jams throughout the Oklahoma City Area.

This is just one example of how Cybercultures extend real-life conditions and are becoming apart of our everyday culture. The book in general, and especially this chapter treats the cyberspace environment as "not simply a parallel universe but as an extension and augmentation of the everyday one." We not only saw this in Kevin Durants tweets, but we see this millions of times a day when someone gets an invite on Facebook for a party, or baby shower. Our Social Networks and Cybercultures even change our plans for what were doing next Friday night. Cybercultures not only exist but they affect our lives in many more ways than we think, and some would like to admit.

One main point in this chapter that really got me thinking was the quote that said:

"This book does not treat cyberspace as an independent entity but as one that is connected to the material world with all its attendant problems and concerns. While cultures determine what form of technologies develop, these technologies, in turn, shape cultures."

This may have been the most enlightening thought that i got from this chapter, mainly becuase i believe it is true or so many levels. A couple months back i got an Ipad 2, and not only is this a new technology that I'm now apart of. I realized that the apps that i get not only determined by the different Cybercultures im apart of, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but i also changes the content that i share with those cultures. A great example is Flipboard, Flipboard allows me to find interesting media, news, and entertainment from many different brands and corporations like ABC News, Men's Health, and Rolling Stones. Not only can i access this at anytime, but i can also share them immediately with friends from various Cybercultures that i have linked with Flipboard. Being able to grab information from anywhere in one application and sharing it with all my friends and followers, not only shape how i get information out, but also changes and shapes my "Cybercultures".

In my introduction blog I tried to explain the reason we better need to understand digital culture. In this blog i think that it explained itself, Cybercultures not only are becoming more and more popular, but they are becoming more accessible, and i think that is the greatest reason why we need to better understand them.