Internet Culture
How digital spaces shape who we become
Internet culture is not a niche interest. It's the water we swim in — the norms, practices, and power dynamics that shape identity, discourse, and democracy in the 21st century.
What This Is
This Grove gathers frameworks for understanding how digital platforms shape human behavior, identity formation, and social dynamics. The focus isn't technology for its own sake — it's about recognizing the cultural patterns that emerge when human interaction is mediated by algorithms, architectures, and incentive structures.
Understanding internet culture is a literacy skill. Without it, educators can't teach media literacy, organizers can't navigate platform dynamics, and researchers can't study digital life honestly.
Core Frameworks
Cultural Analysis
- Digital Literacy Framework — Foundation for critical engagement with online spaces
- Extremely Online Culture — When internet participation becomes primary identity
- Digital Identity Construction — How people build identity through digital participation
- Digital Engagement Spectrum — Framework for understanding levels of internet participation
- Posting Publicly Online — Identity construction through digital sharing
Power Dynamics
- Gamergate as Digital Misinformation Blueprint — Coordinated manipulation tactics that became a template
- Online Harassment and Activism — Intersectional analysis of digital conflicts
- Misinformation — Information warfare in digital environments
Platform and Communication
- Platform Culture Analysis — How platform architectures shape cultural norms
- Meme Culture and Meaning-Making — Cultural communication through digital artifacts
- Parasocial Relationships in Digital Spaces — One-sided emotional connections online
Platform Studies
Platform-Specific Cultures
- Twitter/X — Quote tweet discourse, ratio culture, trending dynamics
- TikTok — Algorithm optimization, trend participation, niche communities
- Reddit — Subreddit specialization, karma systems, collaborative investigation
- Discord — Private community formation, real-time coordination
Cross-Platform Dynamics
- Identity management — Maintaining coherence across different platform norms
- Community migration — How groups move between platforms during changes
- Cultural translation — How ideas and practices spread across platform boundaries
Institutional Impact
Media and Journalism
- Platform manipulation and its effects on news coverage
- Verification challenges — distinguishing authentic from manufactured controversies
- New dynamics between reporters and online communities
Education
- Digital citizenship — teaching healthy participation in online spaces
- Media literacy — pattern recognition for manipulation and harassment
- Identity formation — supporting healthy digital identity development
Democratic Discourse
- Information warfare — state and non-state actor manipulation tactics
- Civic engagement — how online culture affects political participation
- Deliberative democracy — challenges for reasoned public discourse online
Learning Pathways
Beginner: Understanding Online Spaces
- Digital Literacy Framework — Foundation concepts and critical thinking
- Digital Engagement Spectrum — Levels of internet participation
- Posting Publicly Online — Basic framework for digital identity
- Extremely Online Culture — Deep internet engagement patterns
Intermediate: Analyzing Cultural Dynamics
- Platform Culture Analysis — How platforms shape behavior
- Digital Identity Construction — Psychology of online identity
- Meme Culture and Meaning-Making — Digital cultural production
- Parasocial Relationships in Digital Spaces — One-sided connections
- Online Harassment and Activism — Power dynamics online
- Gamergate as Digital Misinformation Blueprint — Coordinated manipulation case study
Advanced: Research and Application
- Theoretical framework development
- Intervention design — creating positive change in online spaces
- Policy and governance — informing platform and regulatory decisions
Future Directions
- AI and algorithm culture — How artificial intelligence shapes online behavior
- Virtual reality communities — Culture formation in immersive digital spaces
- Global internet culture — Cross-cultural analysis and non-Western platforms
- Digital archaeology — Preserving and analyzing internet cultural history
Related Groves
- Digital Resilience — Sustaining yourself in the spaces this Grove describes
- AI Literacy — How algorithms shape the culture documented here
- Digital Self-determination — Agency within platform-mediated environments
- Security Culture as Digital Literacy — Shared norms as protection from the dynamics mapped here
You can't teach media literacy if you don't understand the media. Internet culture is the required reading.