The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online

5. Grasping the technology and culture of the Net
The technology of the web has introduced a new culture – a culture of communicating at
high speed, a culture of interactivity and a culture of hypertexts, a culture of ‘wandering self’, and a
new religious culture. It is a mediated communication – which one can identify as e-communication
or Web Mediated Communication (WMC). Those who engage in such communication have
allowed themselves to be influenced by the culture of net. At first the WMC influences people’s
perceptions, attitude, faith and worldview and enables each person to discover one’s self in one’s
own way. Secondly it makes an impact on the relationship between persons – at interpersonal
level and enhances the relationship to grow at the speed of the light or break it at the same speed.
Through such interpersonal relationship people discover a virtual friendship, relationship and also
communities with which they can affiliate themselves. Thirdly WMC influences the social,
economical, political status of the people. The following section will highlight a few issues in the
culture of Internet which needs to be recognised before we consider some of the efforts of mission
and ecumenism in and through the Net.
In the culture of interaction people began to look at the way the religion itself begin to
change. People from different religious communities use net for different purposes. Their religious
faith is also being influenced by the Net. Fabio Pasqualetti 22 argues that the new Internet culture is
challenging the global and local discrimination of the people. It has moved the users from their
institutional affiliation of a religion to seekers of personal spirituality. The Net users changed their
affiliation from believing traditions to affiliation of meanings. They are seekers of subjective truth
rather than objective truth. Their language is of a cultural language rather than of a technocratic
language. Thus net users form their own relationship with others. They search for God and for
meanings in their own way. God is the one of the most popular searched subject of the Internet 23 .
The culture that has emerged in the net is a complex as well as post modern type of culture.
a. High Speed and exchange of information
In the interaction between human beings and the Internet we need to identify the way the
new technology differs from the old media technology. People often emphasise the high speed with
which they can access enormous quantities of information. With telephone facilities we speak with
other person or send faxes, which depend on the availability of the other person. But here we can
send any texts with nearly the speed of the light to the other person. We write and receive the reply
at high speed. It brings people closer in terms of sharing information, resources and opinions.
Through email and e-groups people interact with each other at a great speed (chat mails are
banned in some countries). At times major decisions are taken and many programmes are
broadcast using fast interactive services. The communicators feel the presence of the other in the
net, but virtually. Using the File Transfer Protocol, one can change any text of their website at any
place of the world if one has the username and password of the site. I can also have access to my
e-group from any part of the world and moderate the discussions.
b. Interactive Net
Mail can be sent in seconds from one part of the world to another. It will include material of all
kinds: information, pictures, educational material, entertainment programmes, knowledge banks,
along with junk mail. It is proving difficult to screen or control unwanted or unsolicited information.
One can ‘post’ useful information on the websites. Instantaneously one can have access to any
government or non-government website and send mail to ministers about any issue. Because both
the communicator and receiver can play an alternative role of sending and receiving, a new culture
has evolved in the use of Internet which is interactive in its nature. In such an interactive culture the
22
Fabio Pasqualetti, Characteristics of Digital Culture – A Challenge For Education
http://www.jmcommunications.com/english/DigitalCulture.html
23
The search engine Google has 32,500,000 sites talking about God.
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