Cyber Villagers
Do you feel less connected to your physical neighborhood or country and more connected to ideas, brands, and tastes on the internet?
Cyberspace, as a virtual nonplace, made the Internet so much more than a network of networks: it became a place in which things happened, in which users’ actions separated from their bodies, and in which local standards became impossible to determine. It thus freed users from their bodies and their locations.
I would say of course. Now my definition of friendship primarily revolves around sharing the same interests and being part of the same subculture, such as having a passion for a specific music group or playing the same games. I rarely care about where my friends are geographically located or what their ethnicity is, which means I seldom think about how physically close or distant they are to me. In some aspects, I feel more detached from my physical surroundings and tend to discuss issues more with online friends. It’s challenging to find like-minded individuals in real life, but online, you can quickly connect with a dozen people in a group chat and swiftly identify those who share the same perspectives and concerns.
Theoretically everybody now has access to everybody else and to their ideas but have we just increased access to people we agree with. Is it possible that the ability to talk to anyone has us just talking to people we agree with and thus less connected in the end?
But cyberspace, rather than closing off meaningful contact, can inaugurate it; rather than being the source of inequality, cyberspace can be used as a tool to fight it.
Early on, cyberspace’s supposed openness and endlessness were key to imagining electronic networks as a terrestrial version of outer space. Constructed as an electronic frontier, cyberspace managed global fiber-optic networks by transforming nodes, wires, cables, and computers into an infinite enterprise/discovery zone.
The internet has sharpened our stances and made it more difficult for us to see the bigger picture. While the internet allows people to access more information, it has also led to more misunderstandings, stereotypes, and distrust. People tend to focus on information that reinforces their own positions rather than seeking out content that challenges their viewpoints. This phenomenon is particularly evident in places like inside the GFW (the Great Firewall of China), where it’s not just the wild growth of the digital landscape but also the intervention of authorities that shape these dynamics. The internet has heightened my sense of opposition beyond what I would experience in real life.
I used to be an avid user of Zhihu (Chinese Reddit), enjoying the thrill of watching heated arguments and feeling my emotions being pulled in different directions by intense debates. But over time, I realized that the internet’s characteristic of allowing us to directly control what we see and hear has influenced me significantly. In real life, I would need to confront someone physically to prevent them from appearing in my field of vision again, but in cyberspace, I can achieve this with a simple click of a button. I can block or mute people simply because they voiced an opinion that differs from mine. As a result, I find it more challenging to engage in constructive discussions face-to-face than online.
Jia Tolentino said in the I in the Internet,
“I’ve been thinking about five intersecting problems:
first, how the internet is built to distend our sense of identity;
second, how it encourages us to overvalue our opinions;
third, how it maximizes our sense of opposition;
fourth, how it cheapens our understanding of solidarity;
and finally, how it destroys our sense of scale.”
It seems like people always think their era is radically different (and terrible) because of new technology (see Telegraph Reading) but were previous networks (eg sewers) actually more impactful?
Trying to understand cyberspace as merging space and cybernetics and then condemning it for misrepresenting ‘reality’ thus misses the point: namely, that cyberspace alters space, cybernetics, and reality.
The virtual space represents the most significant technological transformation of our era. It has shattered traditional paradigms of society, warfare, and communication, while actively reshaping our minds. The system, if we may call it that, is far more sophisticated than a mere sewer system. I do not believe the function of the internet is merely to integrate fragmented tasks, like consolidating household water discharge into a network. Instead, it offers a completely new architecture that fundamentally alters the way we do things today.
Take Shanghai, China as an example. As I mentioned before, in a system heavily influenced by authoritative power, the stress exerted on individuals is amplified hundreds of times. This is an important phenomenon I noticed after moving to New York. Although the social structures of the two cities are not directly comparable, in terms of efficiency, Shanghai has fundamentally transformed its citizens’ lifestyles due to the pervasive infiltration of cyberspace. Shanghai is a place where the boundaries between virtual and real are more intricately intertwined. Because the government regulates every commercial and political activity on the internet, it is challenging for small businesses and large corporations alike to gain power in a capital-driven environment. Yet, the network-based infrastructure continues to advance rapidly, even at the cost of diminishing the interests of producers. Cloud services like QR codes, food-ordering mini-programs, mobile payments, and online queueing have virtually eliminated face-to-face interactions with other social entities, such as waitstaff or restaurant owners, during the dining experience. One can go through the entire process—from sitting down to eating and leaving—without uttering a single word, to a single person.
Similarly, if we consider the subway system as part of cyberspace (due to data analytics, navigation apps, etc.), the reality is that the Shanghai metro, managed solely by a government-owned entity and with all data being transparently relayed to various state data platforms, is a far more precise and reliable system than one relying on multiple companies, independently operated lines, and human-mediated data integration. There are virtually no instances of trains stopping midway to let another pass at an intersection, lines switching roles, or schedules being disrupted by human errors such as drivers arriving late or signal loss in tunnels. Therefore, compared to the New York subway, the Shanghai metro is a system that has completely stripped away human presence and the unpredictability of human society, grounding itself instead in cyberspace. Commuters, influenced by this, simply look down at their phones during the ride, mechanically entering and exiting stations without needing to think about any potential changes in the metro system. Even during rush hour, there is no chaotic chatter, music, or miscellaneous noise in the stations—only the crisp sound of leather shoes and high heels clicking on the tiled floors. Authoritative power acts as a catalyst for the alienation of individuals by the virtual space or system.