The notion of cyberculture is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). The concept, however, is frequently used to refer to the culture that develops in cyberspace : an artificial environment developed using computer tools.
It is important to know that the term cyberculture has its origins in the 1940s. Specifically, it was in 1942 when the American mathematician Norbert Wiener proposed the word cybernetics, from which the word we are now dealing with is derived.
Cyberculture, therefore, is linked to computing and the Internet . These are knowledge, customs, ways of life and expressions arising from the use of computers (computers), cell phones (mobile phones) and other technological devices.
Starting from all of the above, we have to establish that, therefore, cyberculture can be analyzed and appreciated from three different prisms:
-Hypertextuality, since it involves interactive access from anywhere and to any subject.
-Interactivity, since it is a relationship between the digital environment and a person that, in addition, will allow the person's relationship with more people.
-Connectivity, which is what the Network offers.
The manifestations are shared in cyberspace, being accessible from anywhere in the physical world. Furthermore, it is common for people to collaborate with each other to modify or update the contents of cyberculture.
Thanks to its characteristics, cyberculture is built by individuals from all over the world. However, despite this apparent inclusion, it establishes several obstacles that not all subjects are able to overcome: it requires, for example, having technical knowledge and means. A man who does not have access to computers or telephones, or who does not know how to use them, cannot be an active actor in cyberculture.
Websites , social networks, online games and interactive television are some of the manifestations of cyberculture. It should be noted that cyberculture and “conventional” culture tend to mix and combine in different ways: young people can meet in person after having interacted on social networks, then alternating between face-to-face meetings and virtual meetings.
There are many scholars about cyberculture and, above all, the way in which it is changing our lives. In this sense, we can highlight that it has modified it in several ways such as the following:
-By using social networks or various audiovisual platforms, any ordinary citizen can become famous and even a celebrity capable of generating trends and becoming a reference for a sector of the population.
-It has given rise to the existence of what is known as cyberactivism, which means that more and more citizens express their opinion about all types of important issues for the country or the world and initiate actions to, at least, call into question trial instituted issues.
-New words have emerged.
-There are people who create a “new life” on the Internet, which has nothing to do with the real one.