In the last couple of decades, we have seen the rise of cyberspace, through new technologies and the advancement of the Internet. Over the years we have developed a dependency on cyberspace, through various social media outlets. None can be more apparent than the emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook, or Myspace. However, as we move forward in the 20th Century with other developments in technology, is cyberspace still relevant in contemporary society? This essay shall explore the relevance of cyberspace in contemporary culture and its impact on society through its everyday usage and the subculture of the internet as a result of its existence.

Brief History

The term cyberspace was first used by writer William Gibson in his story 'Burning Chrome', which described cyberspace as a virtual world where anyone was allowed to access and share knowledge. The word stuck and was soon used as an illustration to describe the virtual space of the World Wide Web. By the mid 90s, cyberspace had gained popularity as a useful outlet, with the introduction of the Internet to the general public. For a while, the term cyberspace was used to refer to the Internet itself, though the Internet and cyberspace are completely different to one another.

Online Social Networking

With the introduction of the Internet, cyberspace was soon used as social media outlet. The late 90s saw the rise of social networking sites, many of which are used today. By the turn of the century, social networking sites had played an important role in the lives of many people. A recent survey on social networking sites showed that 68% (out of 752 people) had an online social network profile, most of which purpose of having one was to 'have an invitation from others'. While online social networking sites give people the opportunity to engage and communicate with people around the world, it can potentially cause one to engage in antisocial behaviour real life. Disorders such as Internet Dependence and Internet Addiction Disorder are common disorders directly related to usage of the Internet, particularly through social networking. Internet Addiction Disorder, for instance, occurs in various phases an the individual progresses from discovering new resources on the Web, to fully engaging themselves in online social activity (Duran, 2003). Instances such as these are proof that cyberspace still affects contemporary culture.

Internet Hate Machine

With the rise of the Internet, comes a new wave of social culture; the subculture of the cyberspace. The introduction of the Internet to the general public in the 90s saw can be described as a post-hacker community where many come to congregate and plot schemes targeted entirely on innocent bystanders. In other words, the Internet hate machine. While having a great aversion and disagreement towards a particular individual online can only go as far as the virtual world, many members in society that are identified in anonymity are cunning enough to wage war on the individual and at many times even able to ruin an individual's life in real life. Such individuals belong to various online communities and can be found on different Internet forums. The most well known and notorious underground movement on the Internet are better known as Anonymous. While many have scoffed them as just another group of teenage pranksters incapable of causing a real impact on society, their dispute with Scientology (the group's sworn enemies) has caused the religion to be exploited in more ways than one. In 2008, Anonymous led protests against Scientology sprang up worldwide which caused global media coverage and awareness of the religion's scams. Thanks to cyberspace, viral videos that expose Scientology truths can be found easily online.

Lrn2intehnetz

Along with the subculture of cyberspace comes an Internet slang that many call 'Lolspeak'. Simply a bastardised version of the English language, it is the most common slang used by Internet users while engaging in various conversations. An example of Lolspeak (also known as Lolcat amongst older users) is 'teh internetz', meaning the Internet. Catch phrases that often do not make sense and pictures with witty one-liners in them are often accommodated with the language. While the language has predominantly been created literally through typing errors, many young people have adopted several variations of the language into their everyday vocabulary in real life (or IRL). Words such as 'epic failz', 'pwnd', and even 'lulz' have been incorporated into the everyday language of the youth. This is further proof that cyberspace is still making an impact in contemporary culture.

The Conclusion

With the rapid change of social culture influence mainly by the mainstream media, there is no doubt that cyberspace is still makes an impact on society. From the world of online social networking, to the vast subculture of the Internet, it is evident that cyberspace still makes an impact in contemporary culture. One does not need to browse deep into online Web pages to find proof of this, but can observe the rapidly changing cultural assumption and language of the younger generation. If anything, cyberspace has proven itself to play a major role in contemporary culture.

Links & References:

William Gibson's cyberspace.

http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/cyberspace.html

Online Social Networking: An Australian Perspective.

http://www.swin.edu.au/hosting/ijets/journal/V7N1/pdf/Article4Young.pdf

Internet Addiction Disorder, Duran, 2003.

http://allpsych.com/journal/internetaddiction.html

Scientology 'raids' held in nearly 100 cities, Andrew Ramadge, news.co.au, Feb 2008.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23189971-5014239,00.html

Internet Slang, Squidoo.com

http://www.squidoo.com/internet-slang

In all forms of civilization there is always a rule govern system that extends its hands even in the dark corners of human culture. The Internet, is no exception to this. And while the Internet is supposedly a place run by Democracy, there is still the issue of censorship and freedom of speech. What is interesting is that the governments tend to dictate and limit this freedom, which many argue that it violates our human rights.

Clean Feed is the Australian government's latest scheme to censor many websites that are believed to be unfit for viewing. This scheme has caused an outcry across the country, as many believe it does violate our freedom of speech.

The blacklisted websites have recently been released to the public. I checked out the list, and found several websites which often visit to be on the list. Yeah, it did piss me off. It was like the Internet rendition of Pol Pot's reign, where people were not allowed to read books and wear glasses. I understood that one of the Clean Feed's aim was to stop the distribution of child pornography, a cause which strongly agree with. But just because child pornography is filtered off the Internet doesn't mean that it will bring a halt to child pornography. In fact, it doesn't do shit to help the children out there that are in these environments.

As a matter of fact, judging by the list of website that I've seen, the government is clueless on how to stop child porn trafficking.

Look at this boy. He could be having a better life if the government made better use of their money

Having one's usual site banned is like having this guy interrupt you from reading this blog

Bruce Lee is back! and he wants to find meaning in his life! The images in this video are partially pictures of my friends that I edited with MSPaint and some from CC. The audio is Bruce talking about water and Martin Luther King's 'I had a dream' speech. The song is 'The Package' by A Perfect Circle.

The Internet. A place so vast you can find almost everything. Its endless boundaries stretches out further into space than the moon. Its all great, its all free... wait, its not?

If there is one thing that the internet hates, its copyright. Yes, those corporations that restrict us from listening to our favorite music, and that emphasize their hate of free speech and the ability to share things.

Sometimes it just isn't fair, special when these corporations don't know shit about music. And no, their lovable Bugs Bunny cartoon can't save them from being the target of the internet hate machine. But what about the little fellas? The ones who want their works to be recognized by all as their own. Thats when Creative Commons comes in to save the day. Yes, with Creative Commons, people can use other peoples work and share it with the world, without infringing that pain the arse All Rights Reserve law. It also gives the author of the work a chance to share their masterpiece with the world.

I really had no clue what to talk about. So I decided to make a short clip about a typical Bruce Lee film narrative

This week was on Consumption and Production. The picture is related. The lecture explained that in our everyday lives, we are consumers of all shapes of media. Whether it be the television that that we watch, or the internet that we use, or even the iPhones that could feed hungry African children, we consume it. And of course, this consumption of media has a cycle that cant go round with our the help of the consumers. The more we want the more there is the need to produce. The vlogs that we upload for the sake of getting attention, the photos that we publish of us in the bathroom in our underwear (and our ex's show to the world), all these are linked to one another in this chain of consumption and production.

This week's tutorial task was to explore the many 3D chat room sites and compare them to normal chat rooms, like MSN.

So I've explored the Habbohotel.

To be honest, i prefer using MSN than 3D sites. I tried using Habbo a while ago only to realise that it was overrun by 14 year olds; a child predator's playground if you asked me. And I was right. Back in 2004 some 40+ year old dude in Habbo Finland got arrested for attempting to exploit a 14 year old teenager. For the time that I explored this site to be honest it got incredibly boring. I then proceeded to dress as Jesus just for the laugh of getting other people's reaction. I also explored the HabboHotels in other countries, and they too were no different. Infact, I found it incredibly easy to troll people to the point where they would leave the website entirely.

As cool as and innovative as these 3D chat rooms maybe, I personally would stick with my MSN. At least I know who i'm chatting to. I understand that 3D chat sites probably have a more wider range of activities, but I'm not a basement dweller.

Speaking of the dangers of meeting strangers online, it happens alot. Every year, the HabboHotel is raided by trolls who dress as black stereotypes in tuxedos and block off the swimming pool (the only entertaining bit of Habbo). This, is known as the Habbo Raid.

above is an attempt by "/b/tards" to block off the pool. They are always successful

I find myself to be more attached to MSN, probably because you can actually do more useful things with it, like send files to people, go on a webcam, or even appear offline.