Cyber-us

You might be an American, you might have Serbian family lines, or you might be half Italian-half Russian. On Christmas Eve you might tell your kids that Santa is on his way, or perhaps you do not celebrate Christmas. Regardless, your traditions, and your beliefs, have been influenced by your culture. So, what if I told you that by reading this blog you were part of a culture more populous than the United States?

This culture is called cyberculture. Until reading "Why Cyberculture?" by David Bell, it never occurred to me that the cyber world, and the way it influences us, and we change it, really is culture.

Prior to reading this article I would have defined cyberculture as all cyber media. Frow and Morris were quoted in the article for defining culture as "a network of embedded practices, and representation that shapes every aspect of social life." This being said, cyberculture is far more than what is written. It is also how we influence the cyberworld, and how we are influenced by it.

Later, the article explains that understanding material culture is also more than the item or idea itself: "for to understand material culture we must mean to also understand uses, interactions, the thoughts, and feelings that our relationships invoke.

So, being linked to the cyber world, having an email account, shopping online, skyping, surfing the web, makes you a part of cyberculture. Your interactions change, your feelings change, your relationships change, and even your work environment changes. Just think, without cyberculture we wouldn't even have the word 'facebook', or 'youtube'. The expression 'Google-it' would not exist.

Language is part of your culture. The fact that you understand the word 'instant messaging' as it is colloquially understood in cyberculture means that you have been influenced by cyberculture. It is simply who you are. Every American knows what pizza is because they have probably tried it- it is a popular part of the American culture. You know what 'email' is because you have probably tried it- it is a popular part of cyberculture.

Article: Williams, kevin. A media studies reader. Breinigsville: University Readers, 2010. 59-69. Print.
Photo: "http://edc.education.ed.ac.uk/week-by-week/block-1-popular-cyberculture