space

Cyberspace has several building blocks that allow us to define and better understand it. Looking behind the physical cyberspace that deals with wires and monitors and allow us to equate it to something tangible, the conceptual cyberspace is more difficult to grasp, but rather interesting to explore. Conceptual cyberspace can be explained through a wide range of metaphors, but I personally liked the comparison to a place; although we are not physically transporting ourselves somewhere, we are attempting to reach some sort of destination. Mentally and emotionally we are invested in a a phone call, or a chatroom or skype session with a counterpart, and that live interaction connects us in a way that we are no longer individuals in different rooms or separate cars; we are bound by that means of communication, this particular transaction that creates a very real space between once were moments before, two entirely separate entities. For a certain amount of time that elapses, validating that space on an even greater level, you are coexisting with that person, just as if you were conversing with them next to you, in your personal space. This idea may be better categorized in interactional, or relational cyberspace, but they are all inter-related.

http://www.cybertherapy.info/pages/cyber.htm

I found this psychology article online that defined cyberspace as " the fertile ground for new social, relationships, roles, and a sense of self," which I particularly liked because it specifically deals with this type of interactional cyberspace. I believe it has played such a pivotal role in defining and altering the way we view the internet, and where we place ourselves and others in it. It has changed the dynamic of social interaction and relationships, and broadened our networks so immensely. And I think looking at this relational component of cyberspace gives it much more clarity; recognizing the metaphorical space created between people, makes it seem that much more remarkable.