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The population of Cyberspace is exploding, with more than a million new users logging on to the Internet each month.
If the current rate of expansion holds up, every person in the world will have their own e-mail address by the year 2000. This year could go down as the beginning of the 21st century. Freedland J. A network heaven in your own front room The Guardian, 30 April 1994 FEA (p23)
In the past, news travelled by word of mouth often taking days to pass from one town or village to another. The advent of penny postage and subsequently a mail delivery service made communication relatively cheap and a great deal faster. Nowadays we take for granted being able to telephone anyone, anywhere in the world at any time.
One of the main attractions of the Internet is the freedom from regulation, freedom to roam across cultural and geographical borders without passport or censure. As a consequence all sides of society are represented, from nouvelle cuisine to neo-Nazi's, Trekkies to transvestites.
Another attraction is the ability to converse with total strangers without the need to leave the comfort and security of your own home or office. You can even telework from home.
The accessibility and anonymity of the Net allows the users to express themselves freely, there is no censorship. There are however a loose set of rules or Nettiquett, these are not enforceable, but anyone who transgresses could find themselves being flamed - their electronic mailbox filled with gibberish.
There are several conferences dedicated to sexual activity, a cause for concern for some parents. Some network operators have tried to pre-empt the moral arguments, by developing software that filters foul language and requires proof of age.
There is also a danger of creating another disenfranchised minority, this has concerned the US government so much that they intend to force the large communication companies to install equipment in poorer and rural districts.
In his book The Third Wave, American Social Scientist Alvin Toffler argues that the electronic cottage will be a positive force in society. He contends that teleworking will be environmentally friendlier, cheaper and, "could help restore a sense of community belonging." (1) Families could also benefit from a more stable home life, not having the stress of moving with the job, for example.
However Forester disputes this: "There are the inevitable technical glitches and fears that home workers - who are less likely to be organized into unions - will gradually become exploited second-class citizens."(2)
I spoke to Garf Lucas , IT journalist for the Southern Evening Echo - and now our esteemed Editor - about the impact of the information superhighway on British society.
He felt that Britain was lagging behind somewhat...
"While America is talking about Information superhighways Britain is still trundling
slowly down the B2515 pointing at the cows."(3)
In this article I have tried to raise some of the issues we will have to deal with if this technology is widely taken up across society. With the amount of cross cultural references readily available via the media it is difficult to quantify the impact that computer networks will have on our culture.
Will it help the community as Toffler suggests, or will it simply attract an elite of infonauts? The infobahn may just be the ultimate in private consumption and safe sex. These are early days so it is hard to make any judgment. One should bear in mind the journalists who tell us that information is our future, have a vested interest in access to information and although 35,000,000 (December 1995 - Ed) is a large number of people, they still only represent a mere 0.6% of the total human race.
Mike Jones,Sound Engineer runs MTB Recording, based in Southampton, UK. Mike's main area of work at the moment is evaluating the impact of technology on culture, and Technical Editor for this e-zines. You can reach Mike by e-mail at: teched@garfnet.org.uk
Garf Lucas is Editor of this e-zine, a freelance journalist and an Information Technology Consultant, Return To Text
(1)TOFFLER A. The Third Wave London, Pan Books Ltd., 1981 (p214) Return To Text
(2)FORESTER T. High-Tech Society, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1987 (p164) Return To Text
(3) LUCAS G. IT journalist for Southern Evening Echo, interviewed over a glass of his favourite wallop, 21 November 1994 Return To Text
BOYLE G., ELLIOT D., ROY R. (Eds) The Politics Of Technology New York, Longman. 1987
CAREY J.W. Communications as Culture, London, Routledge. 1992
FORESTER T. High Tech Society Oxford, Basil Blackwell. 1987.
FREEDLAND J Get set to fast-forward into the future The Guardian, 01 January 1994 (p11)
FREEDLAND J. A network heaven in your own front room The Guardian, 30 April 1994 FEA (p23)
HANDY C. The Age of Unreason London, Arrow. 1990
HOUSHAM D. Television that talks to couch potatoes The Observer, 8 May 1994 (p10)
MCCLELLAN J. Netsurfers paradise The Observer, 13 February 1994 ( MAG p8)
McQUAIL D. Mass Communication Theory - An Introduction London, Sage. 1990
TOFFLER A. The Third Wave London, Pan Books Ltd. 1981
