"Mass Psychology of the Net" 1/26/11

Out of all the readings for tomorrow’s class, the one that resonated with me and made me think long and hard was "Mass Psychology of the Net". In the beginning of the article, the reader learns that universities, research centers, the military, and big computer companies developed the Internet. These different institutions made it possible for the Internet to then be discovered by the "young white boys" in the late eighties. 

These so called "young white boys" were predominately made up of hackers and small entrepreneurs. The youngsters were still committed to the past of the academic computer networks. They supported the old rules of ‘netiquette’ and practiced the Unix code cult. The age in which these youngsters put their spin on the growth of the Internet was known as the golden age of cyber culture. The work this people were doing was determined by the individual psychology of the user. 

This idea of these "young white boys" really got me interested in the topic. So there were people just like me putting their touch on what the Internet is today? I got very intrigued and took some time to find out more about these groups. 

I found some very interesting things about some different hacker groups during these late eighties to early nineties time period. The name of one hacker group I came across was "Skism" and they existed from the late 80's to early 90's. They worked jointly on an e-zine with Phalcon called 40hex, a newsletter dedicated to the study, dissection, reconstruction, and development of computer virus programs. Another hacker group that I found was LOD, which is short for the Legion of Doom. They were one of the most influential hacker groups of this time period. The legion of doom does not still exist today, however the vital knowledge they left behind is.

These groups were made up of people not to much different from myself and that is why I drew such a liking to this topic.

The second Internet development that was made by these “young white hackers” wasn’t the last major Internet development. The third phase is the Age of the Online-Masses. Both the old-style informaticians and the new, freedom-loving visionaries of cyberspace are not equipped to deal with the mass-scale incorporation of computer networks into society. This third phase also requires a deeper understand of the “mass psychology of the Net”. Which means that these masses of people who do not fit into social norms are all surfing the web for the ultimate experience which in turn massificates the Net.

 

The article caught my eye and made me truly think about the true history of the internet and how in fact the internet that I am using this very moment actually came about…