Netizen

{{Short description|"Internet citizen"; a person involved in Internet communities}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2019}}

{{Wiktionary}}

The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen,{{cite book|author=Tyler Vendetti|title=The Illustrated Compendium of Weirdly Specific Words: Including Bumbledom, Jumentous, Spaghettification, and More|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FabODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70|date=3 March 2020|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-73251-266-5|pages=70–|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507032245/https://books.google.com/books?id=FabODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70|url-status=live}} as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen".{{cite book|last1=Seese|first1=Michael|isbn=978-1600051326|page=130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&q=citizen+of+the+net&pg=PA130|title=Scrappy Information Security|year=2009|publisher=Happy About |access-date=5 June 2015|archive-date=September 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905151414/https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=citizen+of+the+net|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael|title=The Expanding Commonwealth of Learning: Printing and the Net|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/CS/printing.txt|website=columbia.edu|access-date=5 June 2015|archive-date=May 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501082710/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/CS/printing.txt|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael F.|title=The Netizens and Community Networks - Presented at the Hypernetwork '95 Beppu Bay Conference|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/bbc95spch.txt|access-date=6 June 2015|date=24 November 1995|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009111930/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/bbc95spch.txt|url-status=live}} It describes a person{{cite web|last1=DeLoach|first1=Amelia|title=What Does it Mean to be a Netizen?|url=http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/callnet.html|access-date=6 June 2015|date=September 1996|archive-date=January 11, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970111062019/http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/callnet.html|url-status=live}} actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen netizen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421223939/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen |date=April 21, 2012 }}, Dictionary.com[http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01 The Net and Netizens by Michael Hauben] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214312/http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01 |date=June 4, 2011 }}, Columbia University.

The term also commonly implies an interest and active engagement in improving the internet, making it an intellectual and a social resource, or its surrounding political structures, especially in regard to open access, net neutrality and free speech.{{Cite web |url=http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212636,00.html |title=What is netizen? definition |access-date=October 2, 2011 |archive-date=April 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429115816/http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212636,00.html |url-status=live }} The term was widely adopted in the mid-1990s as a way to describe those who inhabit the new geography of the internet.{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Steven John|title=Global Issues and Ethical Considerations in Human Enhancement Technologies|date=April 30, 2014|isbn=978-1466660106|page=4|publisher=IGI Global |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBGXBQAAQBAJ&q=netizen+inhabit&pg=PA4|access-date=6 June 2015}} Internet pioneer and author Michael F. Hauben is credited with coining and popularizing the term.{{cite web|last1=Butler|first1=Simon|title=Michael F. Hauben|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/your_columbians/michael_hauben.html|website=c250.columbia.edu|access-date=6 June 2015|archive-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814060737/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/your_columbians/michael_hauben.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Hauben|first1=Ronda|title=Internet PIONEER Michael Hauben|url=http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/IEC/hauben.html|website=edu-cyberpg.com|access-date=6 June 2015|archive-date=January 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122200440/https://edu-cyberpg.com/IEC/hauben.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Horvath|first1=John|title=Death of a Netizen|url=http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/9/9180/1.html|publisher=Heise Online|access-date=6 June 2015|date=27 July 2001|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924162800/http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/9/9180/1.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Orlowski|first1=Andrew|title=Michael Hauben, Netizen mati, dies|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/30/michael_hauben_netizen_dies/|publisher=The Register|access-date=6 June 2015|date=30 June 2001|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810133714/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/30/michael_hauben_netizen_dies//|url-status=live}}

==Determining factor==

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.

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.{{Cite web |title=What is a Netizen? |url=http://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-a-netizen.htm |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Easy Tech Junkie |language=en-US}} Netizens are not individuals who go online for personal gain or profit, but instead actively seeks to make the internet a better place.{{cite book|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael|last2=Hauben|first2=Ronda|title=Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet|isbn=978-0-8186-7706-9|pages=2–3|url=http://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/66/08186770/0818677066-1.pdf|chapter=Preface: What is a Netizen|date=May 11, 1997|publisher=Wiley |access-date=June 6, 2015|archive-date=February 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212194809/http://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/66/08186770/0818677066-1.pdf|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|last1=DeLoach|first1=Amelia|title=What is a Netizen?|url=http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/netizen.html|access-date=6 June 2015|date=September 1996|archive-date=July 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710233024/http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/netizen.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=The need for a Netizens Association|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/netizen-a-call.html|access-date=8 July 2015|date=March 1996|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924053200/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/netizen-a-call.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael|last2=Hauben|first2=Ronda|title=What is a Netizen?|url=http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/606/527|journal=First Monday|access-date=8 July 2015|date=November 1995|doi=10.5210/fm.v3i7.606|archive-date=July 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709182603/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/606/527|url-status=live |doi-access=free |url-access=subscription}}

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=Jiawen |last2=Dawson |first2=Kara |date=2023-04-05 |title=Differences in sense of community and participation between lurkers and posters in informal online education-related communities |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2023.2196571 |journal=Behaviour & Information Technology |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=929–942 |doi=10.1080/0144929x.2023.2196571 |s2cid=257993277 |issn=0144-929X|url-access=subscription }}

==In China==

{{See also|Internet in China}}{{Expand Chinese|date=April 2024|topic=cult|section=yes}}

In Mandarin Chinese, the terms wǎngmín ({{zh|t=網民|s=网民}}, literally "netizen" or "net folks") and wǎngyǒu ({{zh|t=網友|s=网友}}, literally "net friend" or "net mate") are commonly used terms meaning "internet users", and the English word netizen is used by mainland China-based English 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.Brian Fung, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/netizen-why-is-this-goofy-sounding-word-so-important-in-china/263245/ 'Netizen': Why Is This Goofy-Sounding Word So Important in China?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116002158/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/netizen-why-is-this-goofy-sounding-word-so-important-in-china/263245/ |date=November 16, 2017 }}", The Atlantic, 11 October 2012Matt Schiavenza, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/enough-with-the-word-netizen/279969/ Enough with the word "Netizen"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729043129/https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/enough-with-the-word-netizen/279969/ |date=July 29, 2018 }}", The Atlantic, 25 September 2013