Cybergesellschaft (English Cybersociety) is in the sociology the name for the social order in the virtual areas of modern computer TZE - in particular the Internet. This concerns an extension of the human society - at least until thinking and acting machines will participate as subjects in it. The Cybergesellschaft is rooted partially in the world-wide subculture of the net culture.

The sociology of the Cybergesellschaft is only in the structure understood. It examines the interactions of the participants, grouping, control, competition and displacement problems and the effects of new resources for the past society. She tries to understand, how the technology affects an acting of humans and groups. Formally the structure or semantics can be examined; typical connecting factors of the sociological studies the symbolic generalized media are contentwise such as property, work, power, love, knowledge etc.

Introduction

With the development of the computer TZE developed new communication medium, which are usually called computer-obtained communication (computer mediated communication, CMC). It is obvious that the entrance to these new interaction forms is to everyone and not at all places equally at the disposal. The participation demands often sufficient economic and intellectual resources as well as an intact totalsocial and supply-technical infrastructure. Then however the possibilities of the CMC go beyond the conventional communication ways far. First only in the close military and scientific context, then limited to the information elite of the industrial nations, finally however the everyday life of broad social classes that takes over Internet increasingly the tasks of letter post, telephone, and physical meetings. In states like the USA and Western Europe in the meantime (2005) more than 50% of the households are connected with the Internet. In the measure, in which speed, stability, and user friendliness of the technology increase, develop themselves in these regions new aspects the society with groupings and communities, whose members predominantly or exclusively hold over its computers connection.

The sociology examines the mechanisms of the grouping, it asks, in what respect in the computer nets new behaviors, hierarchies, Moralkodizes and value systems develop, and as the political and social public under the influence of the new medium changes. Some aspects are to be exemplarily called:

Aspects of the Cybergesellschaft

Power

Basis of a special net company is the community pin end function of the new infrastructure. At first sight hierarchy-free, organized structure of the Internet and its forerunner (e.g. Fidonet) gave links and anarchist authors to hope cause to be able to break the power (understood here as penetration strength) of the conventional states and companies thereby at least in the area of the public forming of an opinion. Example for this is the Declaration OF Independence of John Perry Barlow, 1996. On the other hand that was real never Internet an anarchist thing; rather from the dependence on technical standards and rules an absolute, democratic power of new type did not develop: "„Code is Law "“(Larry Lessig). As a rifle only a certain use or forces like the possession of a clock to on-time departure performance, preset programmes, devices and standard permits us the action options in the Cybergesellschaft. The technical-hierarchical structure produces scarceness and thus a lucrative market (Hutter 2004) on the highest level. It comes inevitably to arguments as e.g. over the name sovereignty in the Domain Name System. Carriers "„of old "“political and economic power reach increasingly into the Cybergesellschaft (see ICANN).

International law

In the last years structures also the governments and international organizations have themselves switched on into those originally purely technically and economically oriented. Admits is international the controversy between the US Government and that Telecommunications union around the regulation sovereignty in the Internet. Numerous intergovernmental centers of conflict formed within the ranges free speech, data security, mental property, computer criminality, mark and patent protection etc. The United Nations try to increase their influence. 2003 were created the United nation Taskforce on information and Communication Technologies. The next world summit to the information society (WSIS) is to take place in November 2005 in Tunis. The formula of the proponents of democratically legitimized institutions reads in modification of Lessig (S. o.) "„Law trumps over code "“.

The most important characteristic of net communication expected by Barlow is their independence in principle from the usual power structures; i.e. the of the participants.

Money, power, influence, also personal Charisma of the Diskutanten are first insignificant. Typical status-justifying characteristics such as sex, occupation, age can be used in the Internet not to affect the opposite. Mimik and gesturing, skin color, attractiveness and physical handicaps are invisible. This equalizing moment is often regarded as the largest advantage of the Cybergesellschaft. In many Communitys (net-based, virtual groups) an elite formation can be quite observed, because some participants get along better than others and therefore control communication of the others (in large firms these persons as CHANGEs agents designation). Depending upon arrangement of the group technically untrained members can be more or less marginalisiert, because they do not have a possibility for personal statements and no formal right to vote. It however predominantly concerns unstable, small secondary elite out of persons with above average computer literacy (Meritokratie, also jokeful: "„Geek adhocracy "“, Lee 1996), which can stress only occasional opinion leader shank, whose material power is however limited.

In addition steps the economic advantage of the new systems, which can transport information more cheaply and faster than postal services, telephone, or personal meetings. The entrance to groupings is spatially and personnel relieved, new groups is easy to form (e.g. groups of self-helps, citizens' initiatives, damage actions etc.). Apart from the conventional expression possibilities (speeches, publications, demonstrations) the participants have in addition now new technically oriented weapons (electronics disobedience) in the hand, e.g. Mailbombing or Denial OF of service attacks.

On the other hand groups with informal or undefined guidance structure are less effective. Interlocutor purely verbal to convince or to a certain behavior arrange, is extraordinarily difficult. The used nonverbalen channels (channel reduction theory) are missing to text-based communication. Mettler Meibohm describes the spatial and temporal defects, which develop except the Entsinnlichung also, if written reports are stored and transported asynchronously. Since no social consequences are to be been afraid, participants in virtual meetings are inclined much rather as otherwise to radical, incompatible expressions of opinion. The used "“group obligation"” to tacitly carry or a hated speech contribution being silent listen to unpleasant resolutions, is void. There is no restraining threshold (see shame), to represent before an accumulation of strange humans an aggressive, standard-hurting or asozialen point of view; the social filtering of the own behavior is to a large extent waived (filter theory, 1997). Also those humans cannot now express, those physically, mentally or mentally generally life to public appearances or written statements in the situation were.

It is difficult for these reasons to develop a purely virtual group to material common actions or also only to an unanimous position. On the other hand many successful examples show like the land mine campaign of Jody Williams 1995, or the open SOURCE movement that under favorable circumstances Altruismus and high-efficient work are at the same time possible.

(reliability)

An important question is whether the public visible in the Internet agrees with that outside of the nets, i.e. whether the net public (reliabel) is reliable.

Specialists like the inhabitant of zurich sociologist Hans Geser lift out that the entrance of broad layers to the Internet strengthened in particular marginal note groups, which remained influenceless in former times from lack of organization and medium entrance. A problematic effect of this more democratic form of the entrance is that also the public admittingness rises hate so by groups with extremistic and racistic adjustment, mentioned groups, since they are the correcting and steering influence of the professional journalism subjected to no more. On the other hand the medium use behavior changes, so that on reliability lacking of the information from the Internet one counts. Internet forms as the conventional media a neutral image of the material world, but exaggerated certain conflicts (Chenault for just as few, 1998).

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