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Adding other forms of communication, human-internet interaction: An Indian
Engagement1
Santosh Kumar Patra
Communication is the process of establishing meaning in the society and found in all
social situations. With the evolution of the society and technology the concept of
communication has been again and again defined and redefined in the domain of sociocultural discourse. The primary concern of the paper is to analyse Internet as the new
forms of communication though not replacing the existing forms of communication but
adding other form of communication. Although the discussion is primarily about
relationships, the special concern of the paper is the impact of internet on the change in
the society away from groups and towards network individualism. This change is not
only occurring at the interpersonal level but at the societal, community, inter-community
and even the world system levels. As the developed world has experienced and the
developing world has been experiencing a shift away from communities based on small
groups like villages and neighborhoods and towards flexibility of partial communities,
networked communities or what we can call as e-communities and individuals. The
debate about the nature of communities under contemporary conditions has been called
community question (Wellman, 1979). This community question wonders how societal
changes such as informatization, computerization have affected community.
Reciprocally, it also wonders how the changing nature of community affects society. An
analysis of the impact of the internet needs to consider how the internet may be
contributing to new forms of interaction and community.
This article explores the human-internet interaction in the dialectic of information
revolution, tech-illusion and growth of e-communities. Though the paper reveals with the
special focus to Indian society but this change is not occurring only at a particular level.
The basic theme of the paper has global implication with a micro focus in its approach.
Key Questions
• How power has been preserved in the e-communication and evolution of World
Wide Web (www)?
• Is it integrating the people with community or creating a gap in the process of
close face to face interaction and more mechanization?
• The question of identity and identity theft in the process of e-communication.
• How the information sharing help for the public enlightenment and how it is
effective than other medium of communication?
• The growth of e-communities and the issue of social detachment?
Keywords Communication, Culture, Human-Internet interaction, computer, Internet,
Community- e-community, Community question, Technology, Identity- Identity theft
1
Santosh Kumar Patra, (Ph.D. Research Scholar), Centre for the Study of Social Systems/ School of Social
Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91- 9891915841