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Anthony Falco
Professor Ristow
WRRH: Digital Rhetoric
Critical Reflection Response #3 (revised)
March 13th, 2015
Nayar Chapter 1+2
What Pramod Nayar does with the introduction of his work is relatively
interesting. The first two chapters are about acknowledging certain areas of the cyber
world and of cyber cultures. In those chapters he defines multiple significant concepts,
which serve as the foundation of his insight. What really resonated with me from the first
chapter were a few concepts and ideas. First of all is this idea of the avatar, an online
identity. This can be an identity completely performed in cyberspace and is or can be
extremely different from the physical identity we have created for ourselves in the
material world. What is fascinating about this is the fact that we may not have the time,
place or even space in the physical world to be who we want to be or see our own selves
as. The avatar enables us to escape the social and cultural constructs of the world and
reinvent our selves. Cyber space is unlimited and we could theoretically become anyone
we want to be at our own digression. Nayar tries to convince us that cyberspace is not to
be treated as an independent entity but as one that is connected with the material world
and its attendant problems and concerns. In todays world cyberspace is a prominent part
of the culture but not a separate part, they coexist.
Part of todays world relies heavily on the information society. Basically a
concept coined by Nayar that serves to function similarly to the Internet. The information

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society is a term that captures the sole purpose of the cyber world and cyber space.
According to Nayar, in todays world information is money. Wasnt it always like that?
Reflecting on this it seems that throughout history the person with the most credible
information becomes the most successful. This makes sense if we realize the significance
of early philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, both extremely brilliant; both were placed
at the top of the charts in their cultural hierarchy as well in other societies where the
scribes and other councils received authority from their knowledge. The only difference
today is that knowledge is not limited. Education is not only for those who are deemed
worthy to receive it, it is granted for anyone with access to the public network Nayar calls
the information society. Anyone can learn anything at any given moment now just by
searching the archives of the Internet. This knowledge is valuable, it is empowering. We
as individuals become independent of seeking physical professional help because the
information society has the tools we now need to substitute for it.
Following his segment on avatars and their existence in cyberspace and the
concept of the information society, Nayar discusses the role of gender, class, race, and
power amongst all of this. With the ability to change avatars and choose our (e)dentity
wouldnt you think that would conquer gender norms? Unfortunately it does not diminish
the separation of genders and in fact may elevate the differences and emphasize socially
constructed gender norms according to Nayar. With this text Nayar opens my mind to this
idea of how cyber space is genuinely male dominant, and how the male gaze constructs
it. He talks about the techno language of the computers and how they are primarily in
terms men would understand. This is an effect of the lack of women participation in
creating new software, or online designs. It is complications like this that lead class

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distinctions and power distribution from the material world into the cyber world. Nayar
describes the people with a better understanding and overall control of the online
domains as the higher ups in the hierarchical cyber society. They have the control of what
is going to pop up on the page and what is not. From there is the giant middle class,
basically anyone who is Internet savvy with access and the will to enact participation.
Then the lower class becomes those not privileged enough to have access to the Internet
or the skills to use it. This is interesting to me, because in a place where you are able to
control your identity you still cannot defeat class, gender and racial norms. In chapter two
Nayar talks more about the existence of these norms on the popular cyber cultures. This
chapter resonated with me mainly because of its current relevance to the culture I live and
participate in. Nayar knows what he is talking about here in his analysis of every day
cyber space participation. He starts out by defining cyber cultures as a formation that
emerges in the intersection of technical, social, economic, and social contexts. He then
proceeds to talk about what constructs that. Out of the four key terms he mentions I find
the concept of interactivity to be the most significant. Being interactive enables us to
change roles and switch subject position as an audience and user. This enables us to
experience parts and aspects of the world we might not have experience in our material
world.
It is an interesting concept especially when thinking about the end of the chapter
and Nayars perspective on social networking. This was easily the most relative piece to
me. Social Networking is more prominent in todays society then physical networking. It
comes at a higher risk though. To participate in social networking means to make our
personal lives vulnerable to an audience. Privacy is an issue. This is a main issue with the

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youth in our country. Nayar talks about the effects of privacy on the youth culture and
SNSs, which I would love to talk about another time. Overall the first two chapters were
very dense with great interesting information. I appreciate how simple he makes it for
readers by his choice of diction. The format also helps break up the information and
makes it easier to digest especially when the terms are laid out and defined on the side
column.