Психология на човека във виртуалния свят

Abstract

The information revolution and the creation of the global virtual space laid the foundations of a new type of human culture. Changes occur in the forms, means and volume of the cultural content generation and conservation. The most notable change concerns the information accessibility ranging from instant access of all on-line content to the opportunity for any single person with minimum equipment and Internet connection to join the culture creation and consumption on daily basis. In this environment the human psyche meets new challenges causing it to accommodate new ways of information processing, new forms of communication and selfpresentation, to navigate in collapsed contexts marked with high uncertainty, to adapt to a new virtual work organization. We expect them to become more salient in the future generations that are born and formed in both the real and the virtual world. In view of the profound changes in a number of fundamental ways of the human psychological functioning in the virtual world, the authors envisage creation of a new psychological discipline – Virtual World Psychology.