Anna Tripp, Jocelyn Williams and Glenda Jacobs
UNITEC Institute of Technology

Abstract
A uniquely "New Zealand" cultural identity is, in essence, what binds us to this land - physically, historically, socially and emotionally. This paper focuses on the effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the form of a New Zealand, internet-based community, nzedge.com, in expressing cultural identity. Exploring this virtual environment as a text, Stanley Fish's concept of "interpretive communities" (Littlejohn, 1999, p. 209) is examined. The researchers ask why globally dispersed New Zealanders commune there, sharing and constructing meanings that define and reinforce who they are, and what they think and feel about their country and identity.

Introduction
In an age driven by technology, we are on the move. Time is of essence as we are pushed to our human limits integrating family, work and leisure into busy, daily schedules. For the most part, communication technologies allow us to be timely, efficient and everywhere. Given these obvious advantages, life is somewhat simpler. The Internet, for example, allows us to connect to places, people and ideas transcending all physical boundaries. Humans commune on the Internet. They share, exchange, interact - communicate.

Focussing on the website, NZEDGE, this paper investigates the invisible forces of "conviviality and culture" that Doug Schuler suggests help to sustain [online] communities (1996, Online, Chapter 2). Together, these elements act as a kind of template for what unites a group of New Zealanders, irrespective of their age, sex or status, in an Internet community spanning the globe. Specifically, we ask: What effect does the Internet community NZEDGE have on its overseas New Zealand audience in terms of instilling a sense of community and cultural identity?

Using both interpretive and constructionist theory, we attempted to understand how a group of individuals express, and perceive their connectedness to a virtual New Zealand community, and more importantly, to their New Zealand cultural identity. We did this by synthesising 'rich data' collected from several online questionnaires and analysed them thematically.

For the latter, many recent studies have analysed the processes through which individuals form relationships, create communities and construct identities and realities through discourse (Strate, Jacobson & Gibson, 1997). This has given rise to further research and debate focussing on how existing patterns of human behaviour and interaction are mapped onto communication in the new medium. As many theorists ask, to what extent does this happen? (Herring, 1996, Wood & Smith, 2001).

Embracing the techno-possibilities for growing and sustaining virtual communities, Howard Rheingold (1993) refers to the Internet as the "third place" where communities "come into being and continue to hold together" (1993, Online, Chapter One) a place where people "gather for conviviality". He calls it an informal public place - "the unacknowledged agorae of modern life" (1993, Online, Chapter One).

Rheingold's enthusiasm for the Internet is not shared by all however. Questions still remain as to how people use the Internet to find community (Wellman & Gulia, 1999); and as to whether, and how real life communities can succeed in an online environment (Michael, 2002, Online). Such questions fall into the research domain of community development where the common assumption is that community is geographically bound. (Ife, 2002; Howard, 1997; Mayo 2000; Spoonley, Pearson & Shirley, 1994).

Prominent works such as Ferdinand Töennies' 'Gemeinschaft' (cited in Ife, 2002 & Spoonley, Pearson, & Shirley, 1994), view community relationships as "intimate and enduring; epitomising an interdependence of blood, mind and place" (1994, p.26-7). These expressions signify the importance of human interaction, relationship and integration with the physical environment (Ife, 2002). He describes virtual communities as the ultimate form of functional community that remove "… not only the ties of locality but also the ties of interpersonal interaction except through the computer screen. He adds that approaching largely from an ecological and social justice perspective, the removal of these ties from the "concept of community" is the ultimate in the depersonalisation of society...[removing]...any sense of place or connection to the land and the physical environment" (2002, p.83).

In studies of social networks, Wellman (1999) implies that communities are defined by what people do for each other and not where they live, exemplifying the distinction between what people look for in a community such as social interaction or belonging, "a pre-eminently social phenomenon", and where people look for it, "an inherently spatial phenomenon" (1999). From this perspective, the Internet is seen as a place where community is formed out of 'communication', rather than 'inhabitance and being' (Jones, 1998).

Their comments illustrate the effects of computer-mediated communications on the nature of social life, both in terms of interpersonal relationships, and the character of community. In particular, they emphasise the ways in which (online) communities have the potential to grow and how their members can be fulfilled through CMC. They also allude to the type of online interactions and affiliations that people might prefer or even flourish in. While these and other studies place considerable emphasis and speculation on how CMC technologies bring greater numbers of people together and what happens when they get there (Ife, 2002: Wood & Smith 2001; Rheingold, 1993; Strate, Jacobson & Gibson, 1997; Mowlana, 1996), few studies actually focus on why people search for community on the Internet.

This question, inevitably leads us back to the notion of traditional communities and the need for human interaction and a sense of belonging. Similarly, Barlow theorised that in our increasingly depersonalised urban centres (see also Ife, 2002) many people seek solace in the community forums of the Internet.

The reordering of space, and reorientation of individuals' daily life experiences and knowledge, are also central to many current studies in human geography (Forer, Goldstone, Le Heron, & Murphy, 1999). Like the analogy 'superhighway' is used to describe the transcendence of space on the Internet (Wood & Smith, 2001; Strate, Jacobson & Gibson, 1997), geographers speak of 'arterial roads' splitting the communities through which they run, transforming our use of real-life space (1999).

Cultural identity - the forces that shape who we are
In the context of this study, cultural identity has much affinity with membership to a community, whether virtual or real-life. Shepherd and Rothenbuhler (2001) claim that many writers are concerned with the way in which communities are defined by exclusion as much as inclusion, effectively who is not a member defines the community.

These terms of belonging (or not as the case may be) have important implications for cultural identity - more specifically, what individuals identify with. Approached from this perspective, the otherwise complex and contentious subject of cultural identity is made simpler to define.

Anthony Smith (1997) introduces three types of "shared experiences" which give rise to our cultural identity. They are: "a) a sense of continuity between the experiences of succeeding generations; b) shared memories of specific events and personages which have been turning points of a collective history and; c) a sense of common destiny on the part of the collectivity sharing those experiences." He refers to collective, cultural identity as one that is based, not just on shared cultural characteristics, but on these feelings and values (1997, p.179). These sentiments of shared experience are closely linked to our nationhood, and acknowledge the passing down of traditions, the recognition of achievements and achievers, and the future that people in the collective, however great or small, strive towards.

Cultural identity could also be understood as a form of connectedness. Kerckchove (1997, p.XXIX) explains that it is "a human status or state just as collectivity or individuality". Defined in these terms, we might come to understand cultural identity as more than just being but something that is constructed out of our connection to certain places, events, memories and other people.

Benedict Anderson (1991) explored this shared sense of 'social collectivity' in his description of a nation as an "imagined community" that is experienced, or "imagined" by many people, who are largely unknown to one another, and yet "in the minds of each lives an image of their communion. It is a community;" he goes on, because it is "conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship" (1991, p.6-7). In this same sense, many CMC researchers claim that the Internet can be seen as a medium for growing such 'imagined communities' out of geographically dispersed people and fostering among them a common identity (Wood & Smith, 2001). The question remains as to how?

Manuel Castells (1997) takes a similar constructionist approach to the study of identity stating, "[identity] is the people's source of meaning and experience" (1997, p.6). From a sociological perspective, however, he claims that the real issue in the construction of identity is the "how", "from what", "by whom", and "for what," again, drawing on the same "building materials" from "history… geography… biology… from collective memory and from personal fantasies…" (1997, p.7) also mentioned by Anderson and Smith (1991; 1997). He claims that while identities are specific sources of communities constructed by these historical, geographical and biological elements, and preserved through 'collective memory', he asserts, "in most cases, [these identities] are defensive reactions against the impositions of global disorder and uncontrollable, fast-paced change." He adds, "communities do build havens, but not heavens" (1997, p.64).

These works exemplify the complex nature of identity by providing an applicable framework for understanding how identities can be socially constructed 'online' through the sharing and exchanging of symbols, ideas and common experience. These words resonate in many texts relating to community, identity and nationhood and are central to our investigation.

Using Owen's thematic analysis, we highlighted the "recurrent, repeated and forceful" themes that emerged from the responses of the seven online questionnaires (refer appendix 1). We asked pertinent, in-depth questions relating to the sentiments that the website rhetoric evoked, and if the participants felt 'connected' virtually if not geographically to New Zealand and to their cultural identity.

Participants
The seven participants in this study are monthly visitors to NZEDGE who contribute by expressing their views and sentiments about being a New Zealander living abroad. A brief selection from the site's monthly online 'mailbox' (June 2001 - February 2002) only included those who listed their email addresses. They were also selected on the basis that they are a multi-cultural, and 'globally dispersed' group of New Zealanders.

With careers as varied as their age range, they are a technologically, 'well connected' group of individuals who juggle their time between playing on-line games, hacky-sack and trail-running, to developing high-tech projects; working in emergency services, sales, film editing, graphic design and research.

Findings
NZEDGE claims that there is an estimated one million Kiwis living outside New Zealand. It is primarily with this overseas, New Zealand population, that NZEDGE aims to "create the country outside the country" by strengthening identity and fostering a global community. Presenting a vibrant, and wholly 'nationalistic' collection of online images, stories of achievements and achievers, such cultural symbols captivate the 'Kiwi Diaspora'.

The following themes were identified from our thematic analysis: a) Nostalgia, b) Connection, and c) Perspective. Underlying all of these themes is a sentimental, physical, and mental connection to New Zealand, from which each of the participants have constructed their own meanings of NZEDGE, its content, and the general rhetoric of its members. As Littlejohn states, "a community develops around a shared pattern of consumption: common understandings of the content of what is read, heard, or viewed, and shared outcomes" (1999, p.218).

Nostalgia
"There is for virtually everyone a deep association with and consciousness of the places where we were born and grew up, where we live now or where we have had particularly moving experiences. This association seems to constitute a vital source of both individual and cultural identity and security" (Relph, 1976, p.43).

In each of their diverse ways, all of the participants have expressed some deep form of sentimental association, connection and attachment to New Zealand. Stemming from their external perceptions, these sentiments relate to New Zealand's significant landscape, a heritage of achievements and achievers, strong genealogical ties, favourable childhood memories, and the distinctiveness of the Maori people and culture. As Participant Four recounts, "[New Zealand is] my childhood inheritance, a mixture of family ties, literary images, familiar landscapes, a sort of home, even if I'm not living there…it doesn't satisfy me but I want it, nevertheless, & I'm destined to spend my life travelling to it, from it, on & on, on & on…"

Connection
From a sociological perspective, Berger states, "identity is socially bestowed, socially sustained and socially transformed" (1973, p.116). Elaborating on this process of identity development, Berger places it in its social context, "every act of social affiliation entails a choice of identity. Conversely every identity requires specific social affiliations for its survival. Birds of a feather flock together not out of luxury but out of necessity" (1973, p.119).

On the basis of Berger's descriptions, this theme encapsulates the participants' specific desire to connect with culturally, like-minded New Zealanders, a reality (of community) constructed through the sharing of (news) stories, thoughts, ideas, commentary, exploits and achievements. From the rich data collected, these sentiments were largely expressed where the participants were asked if NZEDGE makes them feel connected 'virtually if not geographically'.

This notion of 'connection' is illustrated by the participants in various, practical ways. All of the participant's 'value and enjoy' the connection to a "New Zealand related website" that they turn to for "inspiration for my roots", "new things happening back home", "keeping up with New Zealand thinking", "the [NZEDGE] concept… the connection", "the comments of other NZer's at work and what they do, think and have to say", "history" and, "to keep 'in touch' with the spirit of home".

In this interpretive community, the content of the shared messages contributes to the strength of the community, and to its ability to sustain cohesion. As Kim states, "just like any community, a group will gel when there's a compelling reason for people to seek out each other's company…" this, she says, is achieved by providing "an environment where purposeful groups can coalesce and flourish" (2000, p.347).

Evidence of NZEDGE's potential for achieving a sense of community, is expressed by Participant One, "[its vision statement] sums up the thoughts and feeling that I would like to create for myself and other New Zealander's. A sense of place and purpose, a commonality."

Perspective
Because most of the participants in this study live abroad and have done so for many years, this theme evolved from the new and progressive views that they expressed about facets of New Zealand society. Symbolic of their experiences and interactions with other people, cultures and environments, these perspectives contribute to Smith's (1997) notion of a 'shared sense of destiny'.

Our participants' general responses illustrated that while images of New Zealand conjure pleasant memories of early childhood, "gravel roads" and "fresh air", there are concerns about the international marketing of a '100% Pure' New Zealand image. This evoked shielding comments, as one participant stated "I really get very tired of the image New Zealand tries to present… it's simply not true… New Zealand is a South Pacific backwater trying to seek recognition on the world stage. I wish it wouldn't."

Stemming from New Zealand's colonial past, there is greater recognition of the "emotional scars" and tensions that still prevail between Maori and Pakeha. On these and other important issues relating to our cultural identity, one participant asserts her desire for New Zealand and New Zealanders to "put the past behind us and move forward as one people…" Another strong belief is that we New Zealanders "underestimate our potential" and that "we are too reticent to blow our own collective trumpets."

On this same note, Participant One contemplates the NZEDGE contribution adding, "the position of NZEDGE is that of cheerleader, to rally the troops to believe in themselves, have faith and then know that they can go forward in the world and simply do their best without feeling that they have to prove anything, which seems to be the case with so many kiwis".

Conclusions
The themes emerging from the analysis revealed some predominant sentiments and expressions of New Zealand cultural identity, and more significantly, how these are shared, constructed and internalised as the commonly held beliefs of the NZEDGE community. There, a virtual reality has formed around the shared values, stories, images, ideas (among many others) of "family", "tranquillity", "space", "a closeness to the sea"… "rugby and nice food". There also exists an eclecticism of praise, criticism, optimism, emotion and hype that constitutes the general rhetoric of NZEDGE.

Overall, their responses conveyed a real sense of membership to NZEDGE by way of networking, contributing ideas, and sharing and reflecting on a similar range of personal experiences both present and past. On some key issues, strong feelings of pride and longing, even opposition and contention were evoked.

This is where NZEDGE appears to have achieved some success. It asks relevant questions and gets a lively response from its audience. It prompts its audience to think about what is important to them as New Zealanders by delivering pertinent messages. And just as it claims to do so, NZEDGE provides a reference point for New Zealanders to connect to their history, to each other, and to their future. It captures its audience at an opportune time, communicating through an efficient medium, while encouraging interaction and feedback. Through our research, it is apparent that the website's shared rhetoric collectively reinforces the meanings derived and constructed by the participants in this study, the interpretive community.

Further implications, however, elicit questions about NZEDGE's intended and 'actual' audience. Primarily, its focus and address is distinctly bicultural with geographical references to its 'on the edge' Pacific locale. Conveyed metaphorically through the recurrent use of Maori language, NZEDGE paints a picture of a bicultural identity infused with pride and patriotism. While this is a good thing, we may well ask, what is the contribution of New Zealand's diverse, multi-cultural society? Are we all recognised and accepted in the cultural mix?

In any context, the basis of this study raises important questions for all New Zealanders as we come to understand…

…our identity, our place, our community.

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Contact details

Anna Tripp
Phone: (09) 523 0951 (daytime)
Email: anna.tripp@xtra.co.nz 

Jocelyn Williams
Programme Director, Bachelor of International Communication
UNITEC Institute of Technology
Private Bag 92025
Auckland

Phone: (09) 815 4321 ext 8829
Fax: (09) 815 2906
Email: jwilliams@unitec.ac.nz 

Glenda Jacobs
Senior Lecturer, Bachelor of International Communication
UNITEC Institute of Technology
Private Bag 92025
Auckland

Phone: (09) 815 4321 ext 8609
Email: gjacobs@unitec.ac.nz
    

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