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whether you have done something wrong. This need to interpret a discourse from
multiple meanings holds true not only for abstract propositions such as ideology, but also
for technologies, which act as concrete objects, that help us learn to see ourselves as a
particular type of subject through their manipulation.
The Internet is a new technology which is quickly being adopted. It relies
principally on a network form in which computers, and ultimately the users behind them
communicate freely to exchange information and resources. In the Althusserian sense,
this network form interpellates us, asking us to position ourselves as a certain type of
subject. For example, it has been argued that standard television invites us to become
passive subjects. When we are sitting in front of the TV we may be engaged in mental
activity, however the technology itself requires us to position ourselves as spectators –we
are still just sitting in front of a the TV.
In contrast, the Internet invites us to position ourselves as active participants.
There is a wealth of information out there, but unlike flipping channels, we must let the
computer know what we are looking for. We must actively seek it out. The culture that
emerges from this type of behavior is marked by an emphasis on freedom and also of
community,
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because there is an underlying reliance on a complex network of users to
bring us what we are seeking. The network form can interpellate us as unique type of
active participant because the habitual practice of using a technology that relies on
cooperative design informs our cultural assumptions about what is acceptable when new
technologies seek to profit from the network.
Rather than rely principally on the term ‘active participants’, Castells takes this a
step further by arguing that new technological developments enhance the chances for
Convention