Сyberculture and network libertarianism

Background. Since the end of the 60s of the 20th century, the development of digital technologies has initiated the emergence of a vriety of intellectual movements that shaped the «sociocultural metasoft» of the information society, i.e. cyberculture. The Objective of the paper is 1. to consider the phenomenon of cyberculture as a consequence of the developed digital technologies in the information society, 2. to show that cyberculture is intertwining ideologies of subcultures whose hallmark is the belief in the boundless possibilities of computer technology in terms of realizing individual freedom. Design. The paper shows that historically the development of ideological movements of information and network technology users overlapped the postmodern worldview that has become a reflection of the social cultural and technological realities of the information society. The term «libertarianism» is suggested to characterize the ideology of the network community, whose slogan is «information wants to be free». As an illustration of the social cultural implications of digital technologies, the ideology of hackers is highlighted. The later cyberpunk movement which shaped a science fiction trend where human and technological issues are melded and brought to the fore. Cyberpunk should not be identified only with young generaion or science fiction trend, but rather should be deemed as a lifestyle in which computers, network technologies and virtual reality hold a special place. Conclusion. It should be borne in mind that network libertarianism fueled by postmodern relativism and poststructuralist rhizomorphism turns into traps of total depreciation, becomes an obstacle to the realization of personal choice and promotes development of pathological forms of identity.