Editing Netizen (section)

==Determining factor==<!--/Explanations from ... on what a Neitzen is-->
In general, any individual who has access to the internet has the potential to be classified as a netizen. In the 21st century, this is made possible by the global connectivity of the internet. People can physically be located in one country but connected to most of the world via a global network.<ref name="heise"/>

There is a clear distinction between netizens and people who come online to use the internet. A netizen is described as an individual who actively seek to contribute to the development of the internet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a Netizen? |url=http://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-a-netizen.htm |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Easy Tech Junkie |language=en-US}}</ref> Netizens are not individuals who go online for personal gain or profit, but instead actively seeks to make the internet a better place.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael|last2=Hauben|first2=Ronda|title=Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet|isbn=978-0-8186-7706-9|pages=2–3|url=http://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/66/08186770/0818677066-1.pdf|chapter=Preface: What is a Netizen|date=May 11, 1997|publisher=Wiley |access-date=June 6, 2015|archive-date=February 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212194809/http://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/66/08186770/0818677066-1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="heise"/>

A term used to classify internet users who do not actively contribute to the development of the internet is "[[lurker]]". Lurkers cannot be classified as netizens, as although they do not actively harm the internet, they do not contribute either.<ref>{{cite web|last1=DeLoach|first1=Amelia|title=What is a Netizen?|url=http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/netizen.html|access-date=6 June 2015|date=September 1996|archive-date=July 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710233024/http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/sep/netizen.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=The need for a Netizens Association|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/netizen-a-call.html|access-date=8 July 2015|date=March 1996|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924053200/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/text/netizen-a-call.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hauben|first1=Michael|last2=Hauben|first2=Ronda|title=What is a Netizen?|url=http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/606/527|journal=First Monday|access-date=8 July 2015|date=November 1995|doi=10.5210/fm.v3i7.606|archive-date=July 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709182603/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/606/527|url-status=live |doi-access=free |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Besides, lurkers seemed to be more critical of the technological elements enabling communities whereas posters appeared to be more critical of users who hampered community creation by making rude or unpleasant comments. Additionally, discussions indicate that both lurkers and posters had distinct motives for lurking and might modify their engagement behaviours based on how they understand the community from various online groups, despite the fact that engagement between those who post and those who lurk was different in the communities studied.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=Jiawen |last2=Dawson |first2=Kara |date=2023-04-05 |title=Differences in sense of community and participation between lurkers and posters in informal online education-related communities |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2023.2196571 |journal=Behaviour & Information Technology |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=929–942 |doi=10.1080/0144929x.2023.2196571 |s2cid=257993277 |issn=0144-929X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>