KTub8

Structural Transformations
construction of contemporary individuality shifts from
being rooted in the private realm to being based in
networking.
Sociability in this new environment is starkly
different from earlier forms. In order to create sociability
in networked, communicative environments people
first have to make themselves visible, that is, they have
to create their (re)presentation through expressive acts
of communication. Simply being present, passively,
is not enough. In order to connect to such networks, a
person also has to be suitably different, that is creative
in some recognisable fashion, and abide by the social
conventions that hold a particular network together.
Thus, there is a particular type of individuality emerging.
One must combine the expression of differences and the
acceptance of certain types of conformity. This has to do
with the character of digital social networks. In a context
where information can be easily copied, networks gain
value by connecting differences to one another, thus
realising the promise that resources one does not possess
can be found within the network. But these differences
need to be of a certain kind; they need to respect, even
actively reproduce the protocols, both technical and
cultural, that make the connecting and exchanging of
flows possible in the first place. Because networks are
defined by protocols, that is, by ‘rules of engagement’
and a network extends as far as its protocols are shared. 23
In many ways, the best definition of the internet is
‘anything that runs on TCP/IP’, that is, the space built
on top of a particular protocol. 24 Without the acceptance
of the defining protocol(s), one cannot access a network
and the resources it provides. Without accepting the
rules of engagement, there cannot be any engagement.
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