The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)

The Center for Education and Research in
Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)
Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security

From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Virtual Community Discourse and the Dilemma of Modernity

Author

Sorin Adam Matei

Entry type

article

Abstract

Virtual communities are discussed as expressions of the modern tension between individuality and community, emphasizing the role that counterculture and its values played in shaping the virtual community project. This article analyzes postings to the WELL conferences and the online groups that served as incubators and testing ground for the term "virtual community," revealing how this concept was culturally shaped by the countercultural ideals of WELL users and how the tension between individualism and communitarian ideals was dealt with. The overarching conclusion is that virtual communities act both as solvent and glue in modern society, being similar to the "small group" movement.

Date

2005

URL

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/matei.html

Journal

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Key alpha

Matei

Affiliation

Purdue University

Publication Date

2005-01-01

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