Netizen

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Person involved in internet communities

title: "Netizen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["information-society", "information-age", "internet-terminology", "social-influence", "cyberspace", "hyperreality", "virtual-communities", "citizenship"] description: "Person involved in internet communities" topic_path: "general/information-society" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netizen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Person involved in internet communities ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/EA_Iusers_2008.png" caption="Area Cartogram: Internet Users in East Asia, 2008" alt="Refer to caption"] ::

The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen, as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen." It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

The term also commonly implies an interest and active engagement in improving the internet, making it an intellectual and a social resource, or its surrounding political structures, especially in regard to open access, net neutrality and free speech. The term was widely adopted in the mid-1990s as a way to describe those who inhabit the new geography of the internet. Internet pioneer and author Michael F. Hauben is credited with coining and popularizing the term.

Determining factor==

In general, any individual who has access to the internet has the potential to be classified as a netizen. In the 21st century, this is made possible by the global connectivity of the internet. People can physically be located in one country but connected to most of the world via a global network.

There is a clear distinction between netizens and people who come online to use the internet. A netizen is described as an individual who actively seek to contribute to the development of the internet. Netizens are not individuals who go online for personal gain or profit, but instead actively seeks to make the internet a better place.

A term used to classify internet users who do not actively contribute to the development of the internet is "lurker". Lurkers cannot be classified as netizens, as although they do not actively harm the internet, they do not contribute either.

Besides, lurkers seemed to be more critical of the technological elements enabling communities whereas posters appeared to be more critical of users who hampered community creation by making rude or unpleasant comments. Additionally, discussions indicate that both lurkers and posters had distinct motives for lurking and might modify their engagement behaviours based on how they understand the community from various online groups, despite the fact that engagement between those who post and those who lurk was different in the communities studied.

In China==

In Mandarin Chinese, the terms wǎngmín (, literally "netizen" or "net folks") and wǎngyǒu (, literally "net friend" or "net mate") are commonly used terms meaning "internet users", and the English word netizen is used by mainland China-based English language media to translate both terms, resulting in the frequent appearance of that English word in media reporting about China, far more frequently than the use of the word in other contexts.

Netizen Prize

Main article: Reporters Without Borders#Netizen Prize

The international nonprofit organisation Reporters Without Borders awards an annual Netizen Prize in recognition to an internet user, blogger, cyber-dissident, or group who has helped to promote freedom of expression on the internet.

References

References

  1. Tyler Vendetti. (3 March 2020). "The Illustrated Compendium of Weirdly Specific Words: Including Bumbledom, Jumentous, Spaghettification, and More". [[Simon and Schuster]].
  2. (2009). "Scrappy Information Security". Happy About.
  3. "The Expanding Commonwealth of Learning: Printing and the Net".
  4. (24 November 1995). "The Netizens and Community Networks - Presented at the Hypernetwork '95 Beppu Bay Conference".
  5. (September 1996). "What Does it Mean to be a Netizen?".
  6. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen ''netizen''] {{Webarchive. link. (April 21, 2012 , Dictionary.com)
  7. [http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01 ''The Net and Netizens by Michael Hauben''] {{Webarchive. link. (June 4, 2011 , Columbia University.)
  8. "''What is netizen? definition''".
  9. (April 30, 2014). "Global Issues and Ethical Considerations in Human Enhancement Technologies". IGI Global.
  10. "Michael F. Hauben".
  11. "Internet PIONEER Michael Hauben".
  12. (27 July 2001). "Death of a Netizen". Heise Online.
  13. (30 June 2001). "Michael Hauben, Netizen mati, dies". The Register.
  14. "What is a Netizen?".
  15. (May 11, 1997). "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet". Wiley.
  16. (September 1996). "What is a Netizen?".
  17. (March 1996). "The need for a Netizens Association".
  18. (November 1995). "What is a Netizen?". First Monday.
  19. (2023-04-05). "Differences in sense of community and participation between lurkers and posters in informal online education-related communities". Behaviour & Information Technology.
  20. Brian Fung, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/netizen-why-is-this-goofy-sounding-word-so-important-in-china/263245/ 'Netizen': Why Is This Goofy-Sounding Word So Important in China?] {{Webarchive. link. (November 16, 2017 ", ''The Atlantic'', 11 October 2012)
  21. Matt Schiavenza, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/enough-with-the-word-netizen/279969/ Enough with the word "Netizen"] {{Webarchive. link. (July 29, 2018 ", ''The Atlantic'', 25 September 2013)
  22. (11 March 2011). "World Day Against Cyber-Censorship: new "Enemies of the Internet" list".
  23. (27 February 2012). "Netizen Prize 2012: nominees".
  24. (5 November 2014). "Reporters Without Borders award Raif Badawi the Netizen Prize for 2014".
  25. Mossberger, Karen. "Digital Citizenship - The Internet, Society and Participation" by [[Karen Mossberger]], [[Caroline Tolbert. Caroline J. Tolbert]], and Ramona S. McNeal. 23 November 2011. {{ISBN. 978-0819456069

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information-societyinformation-ageinternet-terminologysocial-influencecyberspacehyperrealityvirtual-communitiescitizenship