Cultural challenges of the Internet

This article analyzes the cultural challenges, which are consequent to the emergence of a new information technology – the Internet. The protocol structure of the Internet has its own logic, which defines certain forms of creative activity that network users can implement. Clarification of the historical context of creation of the Internet protocols is the key to an adequate description of the protocol organization. While some forms of creative activity are encouraged by network users, others have become illiquid in the network space and are going to the periphery of the network. This article aims to analyze the cultural challenges that the logic of network communication bears. The author pursues the following tasks: to clarify the historical context of creating the fundamental Internet protocols; to discover and demonstrate the interconnection between the protocol organization of the network and forms of the network communication; to study the dominant cultural forms specific to the digital space. The current problematic and stable network trends are the following: the free and open access to the information; inability to enforce copyright; dissemination of quantitative criteria used to evaluate the quality of content; replacement of the expert community by the «wisdom of the crowds»; destruction of the established cultural hierarchy, as well as the constant acceleration of information exchange. The article also aims to describe the interdependence between these phenomena. The methodological basis of the research includes the digital method of analyzing the culture of software creation and usage, as well as the content analysis and the media analysis.