New Insanely Interesting Word? .............
"Cyberbalkanisation!"
"Cyberbalkanisation!"
Wow! What a word – “Cyberbalkanization”? Wonder how many you could score on a Scrabble board with that one?
Just came across the word as I was surfing more sites in relation to networking etc - “Cyberbalkanization” - with a z not an s !!! What an insanely interesting word??????
What does it mean? “It is the division of the internet into narrowly focused groups of like-minded individuals who dislike or have little patience for outsiders”.
Hmmmmmm, potentially very dangerous stuff I thought ?????!!!!
Cyber – means relating to the internet
Balkanization – takes its name from the Balkans, a part ofEurope that was historically subdivided by languages, religions and cultures.
Hmmmmmm, potentially very dangerous stuff I thought ?????!!!!
Cyber – means relating to the internet
Balkanization – takes its name from the Balkans, a part of
Controversially themed groups, either in listserves, chats, blogs or other Internet manifestations might specifically attempt to project hatred or anger about other groups and to keep the group from gathering information that could be contradictory. They also may discourage outsiders from joining.
Political groups of all persuasions have a tendency to practice this form of cyber balkanization and may only reference the work of people disagreeing with them in order to criticize it. Such groups can have tendencies toward repeating stories that aren’t true or that are told from a specific slant, and this can whip up resentment toward others instead of a desire to understand things from an objective perspective.
Political groups of all persuasions have a tendency to practice this form of cyber balkanization and may only reference the work of people disagreeing with them in order to criticize it. Such groups can have tendencies toward repeating stories that aren’t true or that are told from a specific slant, and this can whip up resentment toward others instead of a desire to understand things from an objective perspective.
Similarly, many religious online groups practice forms of cyber balkanization, especially when these religions are rigidly constructed. Many of these groups aren’t interested in exploring the way their faith differs from other faiths and can respond hostilely if commonly held opinions are attacked or even mildly questioned. The goal is not to learn but to affirm beliefs and to eliminate information that doesn’t serve affirmation goals.
I think young people in particular could be easily recruited to these sites and become brainwashed especially if they are lonely and vulnerable and feel a need to belong to a “cause” and I think this is an area of “cyberness” which I would condemn and think needs regulating as it could be very dangerous indeed – the manifestations from such on line activity are very disturbing!!! I’m thinking fundamentalist and religious sects, terrorism, paedophiles etc.
I think we just need to be aware these sites do exist and be cautious of those that advertise and what we access on the web and alert people to the dangers !!!!
I think we just need to be aware these sites do exist and be cautious of those that advertise and what we access on the web and alert people to the dangers !!!!
what a brilliant concept. Are there networks for which there is no way in? If the web continues to fragment into micro-communities for which there is no way to find them, put them in a directory or even share a common language or glossary to talk with them, how do other people join the network? Will it eventually stagnate?
ReplyDeletewhen people discuss the concept of file sharing, the professionals 'in the know' talk about this thing called the darknet, which itself is similar to the idea of the deep web (the deep web is the web that search engines cannot identify and therefore no-one can find unless they know how - the deep web is estimated to be up to 10 bigger than the net we know about)
The darknet is about file sharing, where people get together and share files without the use of a central server or platform. It may be as simple as a group of people getting together in a room and sharing hard drives. Is this person-to-person interaction the future of the internet? What will we lose if it becomes as you describe 'cyber-balkanized'?
great discussion!