Portmanteaux

As I toyed with whether to write about blogs, podcasts or netiquette this month I noted that each subject is a portmanteau: a compound word combining two or more words and their meanings. “Blog” is a portmanteau of “web” and “log”, “podcast” is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast” and Continue Reading

Learco Chindamo

Shetlanders are a fairly liberal bunch in my experience (liberal with both peerie and muckle Ls), but the anonymity of Internet forum opinion spoutery seems to bring out a bloodthirsty side in some Shetlink members. During recent discussions on criminality and the punishment of baddies, I was surprised to see Continue Reading

Sociological and ethical impact of Cyber Communities

Introduction  It is frequently claimed that ‘cyber’ community participation leads to a decline in ‘real’ community participation and that the growth of the Internet as a communications medium has directly resulted in a deterioration of traditional social cohesion within geographically bonded groups of people. Before evaluation of the statement can Continue Reading