Norm Origin and Development in Cyberspace: Models of Cybernorm Evolution

Abstract

In the absence of legal rules or physical force, what causes someone to behave in a manner contrary to one's private desires? Why, for instance, does one tip a bellhop for carrying luggage to a hotel room? Legal rules do not mandate the tipping of bellhops, and bellhops typically do not threaten physical force. So why does one feel obligated to tip the bellhop and embarrassed when when one does not? Tipping the bellhop is a social norm.

Social norm theory seeks to explain such informal constraints on human behavior. While numerous areas of academia employ social norm theory, scholars have yet to apply it directly to the study of the Internet. This Article traces norm origin and development in cyberspace and presents a corresponding theory of "cybernorms"; a theory which explains informal constraints on human behavior in cyberspace.

Keywords: cybernorms, cyber norms, norms, social norms, online behavior, self regulation, shared expectations, decision making, norm dynamics, customs, societal change, community standards, cultural change, social order, laws, legal theory