WESTERN CULTURE AND THE DIGITAL: FROM POLIS TO VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
This analysis covers certain aspects of the development of Western culture from its beginnings in Ancient Greece to the contemporary tendencies expressed through digital technologies. The authors point out the possibilities, which are arising from ubiquitous use of modern digital technologies, for modification of contemporary Western culture framework and its adaptation to the now suppressed traditions inherited from the ancient times. The important aspects of development that had crucially defined the phenomenon of the Greek polis and set up permanent foundations of the Western culture are identified. Also, similarities and differences are discussed, along with the social innovations brought about by the widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies at the beginning of the 21st century. We have specifically analysed the processes of creation and functioning of a community and compared values based on which the Greek polis functioned with the values of today’s virtual communities. The phenomena of the feelings of belonging, mass participation, influence of the community on an individual and the importance of amateurism are explained as they originally appeared in the framework of polis. Finally, the potentials of revival of these phenomena are analysed in the context of the widespread use of digital technologies today.
