HOTCOPPER GOING COLD VERY QUICKLY!!..COMMENTS??, page-16

re: HOTCOPPER Cold Shrinkage, Hot Copper the Cyber Society

The nature in which cybersocieties are generated has a tremendous influence on how behavioural protocols are developed within them. A cybersociety cannot exist without interaction between its participant members, therefore the conventions which arise are a result of that interaction. They are generated in perpetuity, rather than being pre-established.
The process is fluid, the conventions constantly changing, being updated to suit the requirements, personas and even morals of those currently taking part.



There are, however, certain ‘criteria’ that need to be met before any kind of social evolution can occur within a cybersociety. It is not sufficient to simply have a meeting place in which computer users can go to exchange views with each other - a more regular input is necessary. As suggested by McLaughlin, Osborne and Smith (1996), writing on the subject of newsgroups, the generation of a cybersociety is partly attributable to the rate of visits by the users:

"The frequency and regularity of contributions by a proportion of newsgroup readers further distinguishes this form of social interaction as a more stable and enduring aspect of community."


The structure.
If a cybersociety can exist only through the regular input of a select number of members, it gives rise to the notion of hierarchy. The development of the cybersociety and the conventions which it adapts are a result of the input of those who feature within the categorisation of regular and frequent users. Naturally, the conventions and viewpoints expressed by the most frequent users will become the more dominant simply through their volume and presence. The most frequent users can be seen as the leaders, the ones from whom the others take their cues as to the levels of acceptable behaviour. Codes of conduct are therefore developed not through a set or predetermined guidelines but through the constant application of a set of personal and interpersonal standards, which tend to be reflected throughout the demographic of the group. The social conventions which arise from the interaction of the group dynamic will found the basis for these codes of conduct.
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Un Moderated

The informal, unwritten nature of the codes of conduct gives rise to one of the main problems within cybersocieties: what can be done when the codes are broken, the boundaries transgressed. Since there is usually no formalised hierarchy or administrative structure the adherence to the codes of conduct must be done on a voluntary basis by the individuals within the group, since no one individual can take responsibility for their enforcement. Therefore, when a transgression occurs, there are no existing protocols which can be drawn upon in order to deal with the situation. Transgressions have to be dealt with within the society in an autonomous manner, thereby pushing the cyberspace model of society back towards the Dark Ages. Case studies of such occurances have been published, for instance Dibbell’s (1994) "A Rape In Cyberspace" (38), which illustrate that when confronted with a transgression of the unofficial codes of conduct within a cybersociety, the resulting processes can either serve to strengthen or destroy the notions of community that exist within. The medium itself, with its physical separation of its users, can facilitate transgression, as the absence of actual personal contact can allow the users’ emotions to be vented to a greater level. As one user puts it:

"Sometimes it is easy to be more aggressive on-line than you would be in a face to face confrontation." (39)

Conventions of behaviour within cyberspace are evolved in response to the events that occur there. Whether they are conventions as to levels of acceptable use of foul language and content or simply patterns of sociable behaviour, they generally evolve as responses to situations that arise. As an example, users of the Manchester Storm Message Forum (a bulletin board) now have established protocols to use for posting material that bears no direct reference to the main topic of the website, which in this case is the sport of ice hockey:

"Due to complaints about the clutter on the Forum from people posting off-topic information, PLEASE use the subject line to say when the post is off-topic, and please change the subject line to reflect any changes in subject! This will give those who have to pay for their Internet connection an idea as to whether to spend their money reading it or not." (40)

The resultant convention is now that posters using the website included the words ‘off-topic’ within their subject heading, thereby delineating their message as not being directly concerned with the main topic of the website, and thereby giving other users a greater indication as to whether the thread is worth perusing. Such conventions serve as guidelines for the general use of the website, and although formulaic in their design, they all facilitate the evolution of the cybersociety.

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Hotcopperites may consider the Off Topic Header.
or the Off the Head (Ignore)

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Problems at HotCopper
Apart from the basic use of good manners
I believe the speed of the new HC site has enabled far more frequent postings of a spontaneous nature. This is greatly different to the sometimes reference source that it was. With increased dynamics the risk of "The Printed Word" being well researched diminishes.
I should know

john