Social transformations through spatial transformations: from geospaces to cyberspaces

In recent years there has been a global growth in cyberspatial technologies accompanied by increasing speculation from academia and the media concerning their effect on social activities and relations. This article considers the role of cyberspace upon conventional Cartesian notions of space-time relations and evaluates its potential as a new social space. As such, the contention that cyberspace is radically transforming and restructuring social, cultural, political and economic aspects of contemporary, western society is critically reviewed. In particular, the changing nature of identity and community is explored. It is suggested that many of cyberspace’s effects on social relations can be understood within the context of spatial transformations. However, much current analysis is over-hyped and utopian, and needs to be re-situated within the ‘real’. In effect, the implications of cyberspace have to be placed within the context of broader social and economic processes taking place in the world today