As a means of sharing communication and technology, the Internet has become a powerful force that is difficult to control. According to Castells the Internet has become a center of libertarian value …
As a means of sharing communication and technology, the Internet has become a powerful force that is difficult to control. According to Castells, the Internet has become the center of libertarian values of privacy, freedom and openness. Castells believes that the interaction between four types of culture produces this: ‘techno-meritocratic’ culture, ‘ethical hacker’, ‘virtual community’, and entrepreneur. The authors believe that over time the flexibility of the Internet will be used for commercial purposes in order to turn a culture of Internet openness into a culture of control.
Virtual Communities or Networked Communities
Castells in the chapter “Virtual Communities or Networked Communities” reflects how the internet has changed the way people communicate with one another. The author talks about how the social interaction of most people increases, rather than decreases, which is the general opinion of the internet. The big criticism of communication over the Internet is that there is little time for communication in real time. According to Castells’ study this fact is false and he rejects it. Then the author cites ideas such as ‘networked individualism’. This means that people build their networks with their own interests. In other words, the authors point out that today society is no longer organized according to geographic location but on the choices people make via the Internet.
Castells reflects on the relationship between the Internet and government, in civil society, democracy in society in the chapter “Internet Politics: Computer Networks, Civil Society and the State”. The author raises aspects of the relationship between the government and the Internet as China. In this chapter he tells about a new version of the search engine created especially for China by Google. In addition, this article discusses the role of the government in the aspect of absolute freedom of communication.
When developed countries with technological infrastructure joined the internet, developing countries began to experience a digital separation that separated them from the Internet. China then made its first global Internet connection in 1994, between the Beijing Electro-Spectrometer Collaboration and Stanford University’s Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
The Digital Divide in a Global Perspective
In the chapter “The Digital Divide in a Global Perspective” Castells provides a detailed analysis of worldwide Internet use. Then the author examines the separation of digital and Internet connections. According to Castells’ research, connectivity is a mandatory element of economic development and netiquette is the code for effective communication over the Internet.