The effect of the Internet on the growth of subcultures

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As I sat in bus shelter at my local mall this yesterday, I could not help but wonder about the many subcultures we see around us. I asked myself about the people I know and talk to who are "different" from your average Joe. I wondered at how their lives would be without the internet. To me, the Internet allows people widely dispersed, geographically and sociologically speaking, to communicate with each other. I think that the internet may act as a "reminder" that no matter how lonely you are, there are kindred spirits at some location in the world. The internet even connects people in the same town who may have never met each other.

Take me personally, I am a member of the Anime fan community or an "otaku." Now, I usually meet several people (or more) every day who are ardent anime fans, and some share my Japan interest. It is not hard to run into people who share my interests and even people who have Aspergers. Now, I moved to Idaho from Montana in 2009. Before moving, I frequently talked to people down here on Facebook, and consequently, I know a lot more about the anime fan community here in Idaho than I would if I just came down here. I may not have even known about the college organizational fair had it not been for a post on Facebook.

But to get back to my original point, my question regards what subucultural communities would look like without the internet. I wonder much about what my personal life would be like without the internet, who my interests would differ and how my view on anime fandom would be different.

So, I pose these questions.

How much do you think that the internet has affected the growth of various subcultures?

What do you think the subcultural scene (for any subculture) would look like without the internet?

How would the absence of the internet affect you personally? Would you be more alienated/involved, psychologically stable/unstable?

Do people change their interests more often because of the internet? Or does it affect people's personalities?

Not going to give this much thought, but I'll say that I would likely be more alienated from the world around without the network.

Agree.

But I would like to add - it's not only subculture, rather culture itself, perhaps. I think people can hold few different identities at the same time, without having to choose one.

I admire different cultures, because I like their traditions. I also like my different cultural heritage - I feel Israeli/Judean/Aaronite/Spanish at the same time, and even have an affection to my family ties with the Kemalist Turkishness, and relate to Samaritans. I do feel closer to Arab Israelis than to non-Israeli Jews sometimes.

I like culture more than genetics - and so, I feel the autistic community is part of my cultural identity as well, for example. Not because of genetics - I don't feel an ADHD culture... I even see my football club's support as part of my idiosyncratic cultural identity.

The role of the internet, besides helping me as an aspie to form relationships, is with helping me to explore and learn things, find people who are "like me", and see more than propaganda and brainwashing.

How much do you think that the internet has affected the growth of various subcultures?
Hugely. Through connecting more people, and media, more of which is experienced through the internet.

What do you think the subcultural scene (for any subculture) would look like without the internet?
Emo wouldn't have existed, and so Scene wouldn't have existed. Weeaboos would never exist. Or furries. This is starting to sound good.
Otaku wouldn't have such a vast library to draw upon. I'm sure a lot of music wouldn't have happened without vast music collections that inspire people today, brought to them through the net. Not the best examples, but the genres Chap hop and Nerdcore wouldn't have existed without the internet.

How would the absence of the internet affect you personally? Would you be more alienated/involved, psychologically stable/unstable?
I lost the internet once, for over a month. I began acclimatizating to the outside. You can't imagine. People die out there. They don't think before they act. All crawling over one another in these "shopping centres" like filth-laden insects in the meatspace. I'm lucky I didn't take my own life, or worse; go into HMV.

Do people change their interests more often because of the internet? Or does it affect people's personalities?
Strongly. People used to do whatever tv told them. Now they do whatever facebook tells them. This time around people aren't aware of the puppeteers.