An Introduction to New Media and Cybercultures by Pramod K. Nayar is what this week's blog will be about. The chapter begins by saying "cyberspace" is literally "navigable space." An example that allows me to picture this statement is simply surfing the web. You are "surfing the space." You can type in anything, go to different pages, and post whatever you like, anywhere you like. It is space that is free to you to do whatever you please and go in whichever direction you want.
      "It is the product of social interactions and relations, generating its own forms of identity and politics, and embedded in local, historical, and global cultures/contexts."

      "A public sphere is a space of community and social interaction in cyberspace," Which translates just as a community such as a neighborhood but just online.They also say, "that cyberspace is a fiercely contested zone, where ideological battles are played out between commercial interests and justice movements, neo-cons, and radicals, businesses and environmentalist, the state and civil society." For example, Linkedin is a social networking site that allows people in professional occupations to build a list of contacts and compete with one another. Youtube, would be another example of how people insert their opinions and battle with others. These two sites have taken the internet into a field where one's opinions become fact in their own eyes. 

      I think the fact they bring up about how cyberspace "co-evolves with every material, bricks and mortar-spaces. Thus, cities are increasingly structured to accommodate cabling, wired sections, transmission towers." Today, it is a necessity that every building has Wi Fi. People will choose one hotel over the other just so they can have internet access. We are redesigning buildings and cities so we can tap into cyberspace.

      Global communication has united far spaces and brought the unknown into the world of the known. Religion has done this greatly, which can be seen in Christianity. This religion used the benefits of printing to make cheaper copies of the Bible. This then allowed news to travel, leading to the alteration of people's faith. The age of digital technology and computer networks has weaved its way in, allowing temples in India to text prayers, as well as Jews to download prayers onto their phones by a service called "Psalms in His Palm."

       Cyberculture exists because of areas such as: engineering, labor markets, and technological construction enables it to exist. Stated earlier, " cities are reorganized to enable new technologies and new corporate entities to emerge and differential salaries alter consumer patterns, rentals, real estate markets, and social relations." Our society now functions and bases it's core decisions on cyberspace, which places a lot of weight on this digital culture.

       The technology of e-mail is brought up as well. It began in 1970 and is a social process; a mode of interaction. The amazing thing about e-mail is that people do not need to be online at the same time in order to communicate, but it is at their disposal to check and reply at their convenience. E-mail has changed the way people communicate all over the world; From business to relationships, E-mail has changed the ways that ideas are presented and ideologies invented. It's free, convenient, efficient, can be archived, and can address many people at once. E-mail can also be linked to your smartphone, making it all the easier to use. So you can reply to emails while in the car, on the bus, or sitting at home in front of the television. Think of how many emails are sent daily; 249 billion a day, meaning that 2.8 million are sent per second. Email Facs

Those that are very fond of cyberculture see the virtual communities as an answer to what they think is the public interaction dying out in this modern era. People see that it could possibly get back to how it use to be with returning to sharing common values but many believe that the online discussions and arguments are what make the progress on the ground. I do think it is sad that people go to the internet to solve problems when they work in the cubicle beside the person that could solve the problem. Why is this digital culture the tool that actually makes things happen?