True blue net

One of the fastest growing communications tools ever, the internet is now part of the everyday lives of millions of Australians.

But what do we really know about the internet and its place in Australian culture and society?

That’s the question posed by Dr Gerard Goggin, a postdoctoral research fellow from The University of Queensland’s Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, in a new book he is hoping to get published next year.

Dr Goggin said far from being just another clone of the American internet experience, here in Australia it took on a very local feel.

“In many ways the internet has allowed us to forge a sense of national identity,” he said.

He said since its humble beginnings as an academic and government tool to network information some of the earliest commercial experiences were about building a unique community online.

“One of the first commercial internet offering was Pegasus which started in Byron Bay in 1989,” he said.

“This was started by people very much part of the counter culture who wanted to sustain a movement of environmentalism and peace.

“And rather than just wanting to be able to get information from other parts of the world, they wanted to upload their own information and be interactive.”

Dr Goggin said his research had also highlighted the important role the internet plays for people with disabilities, an area that hasn’t been properly investigated before.

He said his book, tentatively titled Networked Imaginings: A Cultural History of Australian Internet, would be the first complete history of the internet in Australia and would be appeal not only to the technical people but also policy makers and the general public.

“You’ve also got to understand that the internet has only been available widely for the past 15 years but already it is an indispensable part of people’s everyday lives,” he said.

“I’ll also be looking at the implications of that and what the future holds for this huge medium.”

Dr Goggin is also editing a collection of articles looking at the impact the internet has had on various groups and people in Australia titled Virtual Nation: The Internet in Australia, which is due to be published in September next year.

Media: For more information contact Dr Gerard Goggin (telephone 0428 668 824 or email g.goggin@uq.edu.au) or Andrew Dunne, UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2802).