The term also commonly implies an interest and active engagement in improving the internet, making it an intellectual and a social resource,[5] or its surrounding political structures, especially in regard toopen access,net neutrality andfree speech.[8] The term was widely adopted in the mid-1990s as a way to describe those who inhabit the new geography of the internet.[9] Internet pioneer and authorMichael F. Hauben is credited with coining and popularizing the term.[5][10][11][12][13]
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.[12]
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.[14] Netizens are not individuals who go online for personal gain or profit, but instead actively seeks to make the internet a better place.[15][12]
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.[16][17][18]
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.[19]
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InMandarin Chinese, the termswǎngmín (simplified Chinese:网民;traditional Chinese:網民, literally "netizen" or "net folks") andwǎngyǒu (simplified Chinese:网友;traditional Chinese:網友, literally "net friend" or "net mate") are commonly used terms meaning "internet users", and the English wordnetizen is used bymainland China-basedEnglish 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.[20][21]
Digital citizen – citizens (of the physical space) using the Internet as a tool in order to engage in society, politics, and government participation[25]
Digital native – a person who has grown up in the information age
Netiquette – social conventions for online communities
Cyberspace – the new societal territory that is inhabited by Netizens
List of Internet pioneers – those who helped erect the theoretical and technological foundation of the Internet (instead of improving its content, utility or political aspects)
Participatory culture – a culture in which the public does not act merely as consumers and voters, but also as contributors, producers and active participants
