Cyberculture Asking users, what role does the internet play in shaping our sense of belonging and community? Let’s face it, the internet has shaped those parts of our lives in ways that are here to stay. During the last part of Episode 1, we discussed how much digital identity affects people regarding their experiences and how they shape their online identities.

Throughout this part, we continued the discussion into another factor that came up. Culture. But more specifically, cyberculture. This term is vague, so to start this set of questions strong, I want my guest to try and define it.

“How would you define cyberculture, and what does it mean to you personally?”

This question was the most useful one to get into how they see culture online. Let me elaborate. Not a single person defined cyberculture in the same way. Emma took a step-back approach to it where she sees it as ideas exchanges between communities. While Lance sees it as something that she was able to relate with fashion (a personal interest of hers) and how the internet is nearly impossible to avoid. Then you have DK, who is the least online, yet still was able to see it as the norms, behaviors, and ideas that are created in an online atmosphere. After that, we have Mikky who is seeing such a sharp contrast that the internet and that type of hate-filled culture is starting to feel like its own planet. But the guest who said something that rang my alarm bells was Sammy.

Something we danced around during this discussion but was a factor within his answer was the term, Cancel Culture. This term is just another facet when online, and can be seen as harmful or cause distress depending on what side you are on. But I think it’s here to stay because of the article, Why we can’t stop fighting about cancel culture. And this is because of the research provided and linking it to how relevant it is with people’s exercise of Free Speech.

However, Cancel Culture is just another factor of culture within the cyber world. So with that in mind, I wanted to dive deeper into why they defined cyberculture in that way, leading me to ask…

“How do you feel your personal identity has been shaped through Cyberculture?”

As expected, I had a variety of different answers, and all of them were super informative on how they currently view their online identities. Emma and Lance, both of whom found out more about themselves through being exposed to different sexualities and genders represented online, to Mikky, who found her niche on the internet. Then you have the two men that I interviewed, Sammy and DK, who keep their online personas close to their real-life ones.

And that got me thinking about the connection between them all,  community. Now, there is a ton of research on communication on digital platforms, but one specific one came to mind. Intercultural Communication, is the communication that is done between different cultural groups. Opening people’s eyes to different experiences and perspectives. That led me to the article Understanding Cyberculture from Perspective of Intercultural Communication, which perfectly explains what I witnessed through my interviews.

Throughout this interview, hearing about experiences and how they treat their identity and cyberculture, I realized that cyberculture is built upon different forms of culture. Like the ones I mentioned throughout this episode. But it doesn’t stop there. The term cyberculture alone is too vast for just one episode. So, as I wrapped up my interviews, I knew there was only one last question I could ask…

 “Can you share any personal anecdotes or lessons learned from your experiences navigating cyberculture that you believe could benefit others?”

From lesson to lesson, one clear thread was obvious in their answers. Keep yourself safe online. We are the ones exposed to such a turbulent landscape. I was asked during one of my interviews what my piece of advice would be, and honestly, I have never put much thought into it. But now, I think I got something.

“The internet is what you make of it. From finding new things about your identity, to the way its shapes your culture and experiences outside of your bubble. So be safe, and don’t shy away from the connections you could make. But be smart and try not to dox yourself…”

Thank you again to my guests, Lance, DK, Emma, Sammy, and Mikky for letting me interview them on these topics for episode one. I learned a lot about them and I hope they can make another appearance in the future.