`The Internet Spawns`
`a brand new Non-Fiction Genre:`
`The CyberCulture Fixation`

Dateline: 08/22/97

I've been online for 2 and 1/2 years, since February of 1995. I never knew a cyberworld without a graphical browser. I had heard that computer science people did strange things with phone lines and their computers, but it was beyond me and I had no interest in spending any more time with a computer than I absolutely had to. I feel a little ashamed of this now, and jealous.

In Surfing on the Internet, (Little Brown and Company, 1995), J.C. Herz describes the thrill of the underworld maze of the world wide web in the days before mosaic and Netscape. She makes staying up all night with cases of jolt cola and huge boxes of Captain Crunch cereal sound like a dream life. The tale of an anonymous internet hacker foraging an illegal connection for her when her university was planning to cut off her mainline fix -- has all the romantic appeal of Sleeping Beauty and the Handsome Prince.

Where was I when she was receiving mysterious voice mail messages via an unidentified data bank from some dude bouncing from state to state in between jail sojourns. Thankfully she offers us this edited version of the highlights so we can almost feel we've been there.

Who decides what words mean?

It's too early for the word cyberculture to appear in the dictionary. The explosion of the online universe into the mainstream over the past few years has introduced an entirely new vocabulary (vocabularies?) Who gets the job of defining these words? Do we get to vote? Is there some self-appointed regulatory body that will take it upon themselves to issue the standards of internet terms?

This is a real problem which I don't have the answer to. Precision is key when trying to marry complicated technical phenomenon with cultural and specialized business terminology. Many times people don't want to admit that they don't understand a particular word. Or two parties are equally comfortable with their understanding of a word so that they both proceed in the manner they believe is correct -- only to find out later that they have totally misunderstood each other. Its not that they neglected to arrive at agreement, it's that they didn't realize there was any potential of misunderstanding.

Since there is not an official definition of the word -- CyberCulture. Let's assume that it is all social phenomenon deriving from the internet. This would include the development of customs, rituals, deities, entertainment, commerce, community, politics, education, and other institutions which have characterized and identified unique groups of people throughout history.

The pure overwhelming amount of information available on the internet medium has spilled into other communication modes. A whole school of Non-Fiction has emerged to explain, question, and document the role and development of CyberCulture as a social force. One can learn what is good about the internet, what is bad, what people think will happen, how to make money, how major corporations are getting involved, and how children are affected by all of this. A new book appears daily. Below I have listed some of the most important ones with associated links. All of Non-Fiction is essentially a matter of opinion and these are mine. I'd love to know what you're thinking about and what books you think are important or fun and why.