A Creative History of the Russian Internet

Creativity theories have not been much used inInternet research. This study attempts to compensatefor this omission by applying concepts and methods ofcreativity research to the study of Internet culture.It seeks to discover the internal logic of thedevelopment of creative forms to identify thefactors that account for change and to analyse therelationship between Internet creativity and widersociocultural contexts. The concept of Internetcreativity is applied to the study of the history ofthe Russian Internet. Case studies are devoted to thedevelopment of online media an artistic genre anonline community and a humorous web site. Thetheoretical issues include the role of culturalidentity and social context as a shaping force ofInternet culture; motivation for creativity; usercontribution collaboration and the interplay betweenpersonal and collective creativity; the oppositionbetween the official and the non-official spheres;issues of censorship and free speech. The study willbe useful to creativity theorists Internetproducers or anyone interested in contemporaryRussian culture.