cyberspace

Imaginary, interactive ‘worlds’ created by networked computers; often used interchangeably with ‘virtual world’. The invention of the word ‘cyberspace’ is generally credited to US science fiction writer William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer (1984).

As well as meaning the interactive environment encountered in a virtual reality system, cyberspace is ‘where’ the global community of computer-linked individuals and groups lives. From the mid-1980s, the development of computer networks and telecommunications, both international (such as the Internet) and local (such as the services known as ‘bulletin board’ or conferencing systems), made possible the instant exchange of messages using e-mail and electronic conferencing systems directly from the individual's own home.