The Internet as a Supermarket for Sub-Cultural Toolkits: A Study on the Internet and Online Sub-Cultures and their Effects on Palestinian Young Adults رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

The use of the Internet has continued to expand over the past few years. During the Coronavirus pandemic, the number of those coming online has increased significantly. As the Internet is becoming more and more used, millions of people are now coming together in new spaces which is leading to changes in the way we think, the form of our communities, and even our very own identities (Turkle, 1999, p. 643). “Netizens”, i.e., citizens of the Internet, have formed their own new and unique global culture – the Internet culture (Hauben, M. and Hauben, R., 1996). Robert Weiner defines Internet culture as a culture that “is an ‘ecosystem of subcultures’” (Weiner, 1996). Each culture gives its members unique courses of actions in a “tool-kit” (Swidler, 1986). This study aims to examine the effects of Internet culture on Palestinian young adults. A study is conducted on 500 Palestinian university students ages 18-29. Respondents are classified into 4 different levels of Internet culture (none, slight, intermediate, and advanced) and the researcher examines how each level of Internet culture is affected in different social and cultural aspects.