Architectures of the internet

In this week’s lecture, we had a look at architecture of the internet.
Online architecture can be divided into three levels that are level of the users, level of the network and level of the structure. How the architecture of the internet out of communicative network influences our behaviour and life routine in several possible ways? With particular examples of these three levels of the internet can help to answer this question; Users-Identity, Networks-Virtual Community, and Structures-Surveillance.

Identity online as users can be varied. I think that who you are, thus definition of the identity comes in slightly different meaning between real life and virtual communities. What I mean is that who you want to be in real life depends on many variables. For example, if you were a great cook, you may work at the restaurant or own your restaurant, but still you tend to keep your effort to improve your skills by doing things. You need to make an effort to spend your time to practice how to cook, search for others’ recipes, reading some cook books and go to famous restaurant to see what could be the secret recipe of the foods. You may not a famous cook among the public, but eventually your reputation will grow. At the same time, there is a guy who just enjoys cooking as a hobby and gathering all sorts of food’s recipe on his blog, comment on each recipe after he cooked, briefly explain what ingredients would be better to improve food’s taste. Many people started to visit his blog, and his identity online gradually has become a famous cook but his actual cooking skill might not be that great as many users thought, and maybe your cooking skill is better than his. In cyber communities, individual can hold various identities these days mainly depending on purpose, situation and interests. In other words, on cyber space, words make your identity. Reconstruction of identity is related to different communication process. Especially, identity is product of the interpersonal society online activity. So identity is not fixed, identity is something that we can make, shape and renegotiate in online society. It may be difficult in real life, but it is flexible in online space.

Networks are composed of rhizomic social bonds. They shared same communication system, not only language but also may a jargon or slang. I wonder how this network community comes out of ‘traditional’ community. But social bond on network community could be a temporary social relationship, or it could last longer. Dr Erika Pearson emphasized that all virtual communities are network, but not all networks are virtual community. Is it because all virtual communities are open system? (Can anybody explain the clear reason? I can’t remember what she said) How network change users gradually? If we consider virtual community as network, how would this different to face to face community?

Surveillance in internet is a structure that gives political and social control. There are two types of surveillance; top-down (most structured surveillance, involves laws, very strict rules, shape network community of users), lateral surveillance (act on each other, equal, social, informative). Surveillance shapes the network and frame social network with the control.
Internet system has three elements that are users (Identity), Networks (virtual community) and Structure (Surveillance). On superficial level, it seemed simple system for me, but in deep down, online communication system is complicated. I do know now, why internet scholars called network system ‘Rhizomic bonds’. It is messy, complicated but they do have certain pattern and rules that I am going to learn more!!