An Introduction to Cybercultures

Citation

Chan, M. (2002), "An Introduction to Cybercultures", Foresight, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 44-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/fs.2002.4.1.44.2

While An Introduction to Cybercultures does introduce the cultural issues which are central to cyberspace, it is also wide‐ranging in scope, covering such issues as virtual communities, multi‐user domains, the post‐biological body, cyborgs and virtual reality. Bell states that the book could be considered as an accompaniment to The Cybercultures Reader (Bell and Kennedy, 2000). Bell provides a useful framework for the understanding of the main issues arising from cyberspace and cyberculture, indicating that it would be misleading to separate the two terms, since cyberspace is culturally produced and in turn also contributes to the meanings circulating in culture. He states that cyberspace “is lived culture, made from people, machines and stories in everyday life” (p. 2).

During the course of the book, Bell refers to a variety of technologies including the Internet, computer games, e‐mail, cyberpunk and science fiction. Futures issues are mentioned throughout the book, when Bell tackles such issues as the possibility of digital immortality, genetic manipulation and the future of social relations. Bell grounds his discussion of futures in humanities‐based research rather than referring to specific Futures and foresight literature; however, the issues he raises are pertinent to the futures research community.

Bell’s writing style is very accessible, so he manages to discuss complex issues without baffling the reader. He often uses acronyms and colloquial phrases from within cyberculture and provides a list of them, complete with an explanation of what they mean, in a glossary. These include such acronyms as RL (real life), IRL (in real life), F2F (Face to Face), NITs (new imaging technologies) and FAQs (frequently asked questions). The beginning of each chapter provides readers with a basic outline of what will be discussed and the kind of approach that will be taken. At the end of each chapter there is a summary of what has been discussed along with some tentative conclusions.

The first chapter provides readers with a social and cultural history of cyberculture in order to provide a context for the debates that follow. Chapters two and three provide a discussion of the material, symbolic and experiential issues arising from cyberspace. Bell says that the material aspects of cyberspace include screens, wires, programmes, code and networks, whereas the symbolic refers to the visual form and structure of the World Wide Web and so forth. Bell also admits that the material and the symbolic are intertwined, thereby producing our experiences of cyberspace.

In Chapter four, Bell displays his knowledge of the main theorists whose work either provides a useful framework for understanding cyberspace or explicitly comments on it. He manages to neatly summarise the work of Paul Virilo, Jean Baudrillard and Michel Foucault and shows how their work provides a framework for thinking through the issues arising from cyberspace. He admits that there are many other authors who could have been mentioned and that issues such as subjectivity, gender relations and sexuality are also central to these debates. Throughout the book he also mentions the importance of the work Turkle (1997) has undertaken in relation to identity and multi‐user domains (MUDs) along with the work on cyborgs by Haraway (1991).

Chapter five explores the issues surrounding on‐line or virtual communities. Bell asks his readers to consider how they define the term community both IRL (in real life) and online. He considers the debate that online communities are replacing a lost sense of community in real life. On the other hand, he also considers whether online communities are actually contributing to the erosion of real life communities. It would seem that Bell takes the middle way, between these two extremes, by suggesting that online communities augment or exist alongside real life communities rather than replacing them.

In Chapter six Bell explores issues of identity in cyberspace, paying particular attention to such categories as race, class, gender and sexuality. He asks whether online communication in multi‐user dungeons, for example, really does enable us to “jettison” (p. 3) certain aspects of our real life identity. Moreover, could our real life identities be just as culturally constructed as those which are accessible online? Following on from the discussion of identity, Chapter seven looks at the complex debates arising from embodiment in cyberspace. Bell states that there are many “new figures on our cultural landscape: post‐humans, cyborgs, digital corpses and intelligent machines” (p. 3). Bell points out that these figures are raising ethical issues about what we mean by the terms human and life. He also traces these debates to cyberpunk fiction, particularly the novels of William Gibson, in which the body is considered to be “meat” (Gibson, 1984, 1986, 1988).

Chapter eight explores the relations between sub‐cultures and cyberspace. Bell says that some existing sub‐cultures or fringe groups have used cyberspace to extend their existing discursive framework. One group which is mentioned is Star Trek fans, colloquially known as Trekkies but within their own sub‐cultural peer group known as Trekkers. Bell states that there is a plethora of Web sites and discussion groups based on Star Trek that complement the existing fan‐based activities such as conventions. Cyberpunks, hackers, MUDers and neo‐Luddites, however, are sub‐cultural groups which have arisen from the use, practices and meanings of cyberspace itself. Bell considers the ways in which these sub‐cultural groups generate meanings amongst themselves and contribute to the wider cultural landscape.

The final chapter discusses the ways in which researchers conduct investigations into cyberspace and cyberculture. In particular, Bell discusses the arguments for and against online ethnography. He says that some researchers claim that in order to study online groups it is necessary to conduct ethnography in this way. Other researchers are arguing that F2F (face‐to‐face) interviews are also necessary in order to examine the relationships between online identity and real life.

In conclusion, Bell’s book is very much of the moment, a fragment of cyberculture in the year 2001. Most of the references in the book are from the late 1990s, 2000 and 2001. Bell also provides a list of accompanying Web sites at the end of each chapter. He admits that “the sites were all up and running in January 2001 but, given the ephemerality of the Web, I can only apologise, if any of them have vanished by the time you try and visit them” (p. 5). Bell’s book seems to provide a similar experience to listening to a good lecture, because it is thought‐provoking, stimulating and gives an indication of where to find out more information or undertake further studies.