netizens

Netizens are users of the Internet who participate in online communities, produce content, and engage in collective problem solving and discourse. The term blends internet and citizen to emphasize a civic or communal dimension of online life. It originated in the early 1990s and was popularized by scholars Michael and Ronda Hauben, who described netizens as members of a global information network who participate in civic discourse and voluntary collaboration.

Netizens engage in a wide range of activities, including posting on forums, editing wikis, contributing to open-source projects, blogging, and participating in social media or online activism. They often follow informal norms of behavior, sometimes referred to as netiquette, and rely on peer governance within communities rather than central authority. The growth of Web 2.0 popularized the term by highlighting participatory culture, user-generated content, and online collaboration across platforms.

Netizen culture has yielded positive outcomes such as collaborative knowledge creation, rapid information dissemination, and grassroots advocacy. It has also drawn scrutiny for harassment, the spread of misinformation, privacy concerns, and unequal access due to the digital divide. The term remains a descriptive label for a broad range of online participants, from casual users to active contributors, and is often used in discussions about digital citizenship, online governance, and Internet rights.