"Every Home Is Wired": 1 -- The Net in Relation to Music Subcultures

"Every Home Is Wired":
1 -- The Net in Relation to Music Subcultures

Where in 'real life' the reliance on extraneous signs like clothes and hairstyle reduces the need for members to articulate their subcultural identity in words, words are almost the only means online members can use. This may mean that where offline there may be only a few people consciously aware of their reasons for membership in a subculture (these subcultural theorists are also likely to be central members of the community), the constant need to literally articulate one's subcultural identity online will therefore also strengthen the community's ideological cohesion, and in the process also remove status differences amongst the now larger number of people capable of such articulation. This, then, is one major reason why "networked communities differ in some ways from other communities ... , and are described as egalitarian" (Quarterman 48). In these communities, "people willingly help each other and work together to define and address issues important to them. These are often issues which the conventional media would never cover" (Hauben, n. pag.).	Bit 64
Notably, though, this egalitarianism only covers those able to articulate: on the one hand, it makes online communities more intellectually founded, and convictionally stronger, since "people will be more likely to find a group that fits their interests and less likely to join a group that does not fit ... . The result is a better fit from the start of their membership and a reduced likelihood that they will drop out" (Bonchek, n. pag.). This is what Marc Smith calls an intentional community: "where unintentional communities are amenable to structural explanations, [and] economic, social, and political forces are often directly evident, explaining intentional communities requires an inquiry into the motives of its [sic] participants" (n.pag.).	Bit 65

Where in 'real life' the reliance on extraneous signs like clothes and hairstyle reduces the need for members to articulate their subcultural identity in words, words are almost the only means online members can use. This may mean that where offline there may be only a few people consciously aware of their reasons for membership in a subculture (these subcultural theorists are also likely to be central members of the community), the constant need to literally articulate one's subcultural identity online will therefore also strengthen the community's ideological cohesion, and in the process also remove status differences amongst the now larger number of people capable of such articulation. This, then, is one major reason why "networked communities differ in some ways from other communities ... , and are described as egalitarian" (Quarterman 48). In these communities, "people willingly help each other and work together to define and address issues important to them. These are often issues which the conventional media would never cover" (Hauben, n. pag.).

Bit 64

Notably, though, this egalitarianism only covers those able to articulate: on the one hand, it makes online communities more intellectually founded, and convictionally stronger, since "people will be more likely to find a group that fits their interests and less likely to join a group that does not fit ... . The result is a better fit from the start of their membership and a reduced likelihood that they will drop out" (Bonchek, n. pag.). This is what Marc Smith calls an intentional community: "where unintentional communities are amenable to structural explanations, [and] economic, social, and political forces are often directly evident, explaining intentional communities requires an inquiry into the motives of its [sic] participants" (n.pag.).

Bit 65

Section 1 -- Go on to Bite:

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11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
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31	32	33	34	35