Trust, Authenticity, and Discursive Power in Cyberspace

摘要

Converging technologies such as those of the digital cell phone, handheld Web browsers, and ubiquitous Internet have opened up a world of information at a relatively low cost. As a result, the definition of the globe has been transformed. Space is constantly being redefined as we experience a process of "space shrink," where distances become irrelevant. Clicking on a Web browser carries little implications about where a particular Web site is located in space. Distances matter little, and traditional boundaries and hurdles to information availability simply evaporate as we seamlessly click through Web sites and explore obscure news events that might have unfolded only hours ago at a distant location. Simultaneously with space shrink, we are immersed in a "time warp" as global information becomes instantly available to us as bits and bytes on the Internet. Using a digital cell phone it is now possible to read and respond to an email message that originated minutes ago at a computer located thousands of miles away. In the emerging "right here, right now" culture we are always connected, literally "jacked into," a discursive space where waiting for information has become an unacceptable phenomenon. In short, we have created a new globe where we want to be heard immediately and we expect an immediate response.