The Internet Culture: Transitions and Problems.

Originally begun as a government-sponsored project for scientists, engineers, and military personnel to exchange information with great speed and efficiency, the Internet has become a virtual community, an online culture arisen from the depths of computerized networking and communication. This paper presents positive and negative aspects of the Internet culture, and the issues surrounding it. The Internet has spawned a new culture with ideas, mores, and modes of communication unique to itself, but it is far from perfect. Only time will tell whether or not the Internet will bring us closer together through communication. Online culture mirrors "real" society; the human beings that make up the Internet behave like human beings, but through a new, "virtual" medium. The Internet culture will continue to evolve, mutate, and change as technology and as society does. The paper discusses characteristics that make up a culture; the anarchistic nature of Internet culture; the Internet culture as it benefits classroom instruction and communication; the language, manners, and mores of Internet culture; navigational difficulties; interaction between new and experienced users; treatment of women; Internet addiction; the effect of Internet use on reading and writing skills; accuracy and quality of materials on the Internet; and commercialization of the Internet. (Contains 26 references.) (Author/SWC)