Nations and the Internet

Abstract

With the growth of electronic communication systems such as the Internet it is now possible to imagine communities built by and around the discourses produced and exchanged on such systems. The distinctiveness of these emergent systems lies in the interactivity and the user-empowerment that such systems provide. Simultaneously with the emergence of electronic systems such as the Internet, there has also appeared a bloc of people whose traditional national identities have been disrupted by the process of migration and immigration. These diasporic communities are increasingly embracing the Internet system to produce a new sense of community where they can textually create images of their own national and tribal communities. This paper examines the uniqueness of the Internet and its structuration, and then demonstrates the ways in which the technological tool is being used to produce specific community images. Illustrations from the national Indian discussion group are used to examine some key aspects of the community building process.