Introduction

This is the age of globalization and digitalization, and we seem unable to escape from the pervasive influence of the two processes. Irrespective of whether we are at home, in the subway, on the bus, in shopping malls, schools or offices, our lives have become interconnected with the digital equipment that has brought us so close to one another. We do not seem to be able to divorce ourselves from such aids anymore, and if we did not possess any one of them, we surely would feel very lost, as we have become highly dependent on them for communication and interaction. The digital age has now made us slaves of the digital inventions that are supposed to aid us.

One of the greatest creations of the digital age has been the Internet, which allows us to reach one another with messages almost instantaneously and relatively cheaply. Chatrooms allow for simultaneous interaction between two or more individuals, and personal blogs carry personal information to the rest of the world. For the public, the Worldwide Web has been loaded with every conceivable kind of information, and information overload is available at a click, allowing us to download not only the personal but also the commercial, the academic, the political, etc. Now, as we move further into the 21st century, the digital revolution is contributing massively to the creation of a variety of new life styles that are coming into being. This is especially so with the advent of Web 2.0 where interaction among the netizens has become the norm rather than exception. With the creation of interactive websites and Web-based communities, the Web has become a platform for instant, simultaneous dialogic communication and interaction on a bilateral or group basis, expressing immediate views of various types of issues that cut across geographical and temporal space.

As the world marvels about the advantages and usefulness of this technology, there is also the flip side to this innovation. Internet abuses have now occurred at a more rapid rate than before. We hear of cyberaddiction, cyber-crime and of how the Internet is used to foster and inforce hatred, violent behaviour, religious radicalism, sexual crimes, etc.