cul·ture/ˈkəlCHər/
| Noun: | the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particularsocial, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture. |
This is what Dictionary.com gives you when you ask it to define culture. In more colloquial terms, a culture is basically a community of individuals who share similar beliefs and traditions. This can be as broad as the cultural heritage of a whole country, to something as distinct as the culture of a small village. Culture is essentially something that cannot be attributed to genetics. It is what makes us who we are, regardless of what we are made of.
A lot of what establishes a culture is defined through the environment. We pick up certain traditions and beliefs from the people around us. We become defined be our surroundings. When we are born, we are born into a context. We are born with parents who live by certain ideologies; neighbors who believe in certain things; and communities that practice certain beliefs. What makes the concept of an internet culture different then, is this absence of a physical surrounding. In a way, it is precisely this absence of physical limitation that makes the study of an internet culture all the more interesting. An internet culture does not describe cyberspace as a whole — rather, it describes the multitude of cultures found within the internet itself. The internet allows many subcultures to exist, and thrive, because of the lack of physical and spatial boundaries present. We do not have to travel hundreds of miles to find people that are different than where we live — instead, all it takes is the click of a button.
It is because of this apparent freedom that internet cultures merit further study. We are unlimited in our ability to become part of a community, to express ourselves uninhibitedly. How does this affect the way in which we communicate with each other online, and what could be the benefits (or disadvantages) of this? Can the internet provide a safe place for people to go to when they need help or want a friend? Or will society become so divided that we no longer share any common ground with our next door neighbors?
When it comes to potterheads (fellow lovers of the Harry Potter series), there resides a distinct subculture of Pottermore users that can be analyzed to learn more about the affects of the internet in regard to entertainment. We already know that Harry Potter was a great success when it came to paperback and the silver screen — but what of the internet? Can the internet itself garner just as much success as its predecessors? And how does the internet change the interaction between the users and the story?