The Hero and the Internet: Exploring the Emergence of the Cyberhero Archetype by Dana Klisanin, Ph.D. https://mprcenter.org/review/cyberheroes2/
The archetype currently appears to embody a transpersonal sense of self. Importantly, 93.7 % of respondents recognize their lives as interconnected with all the life forms on our planet, and 84.4% of respondents believe that through using the Internet to help others, they are contributing to conditions that promote peace in the world. If this recognition and pro-active stance holds true across the larger population of individuals who are actively using the Internet to help other people, animals, and the environment, (the “Causes” community alone currently has a membership of 150 million), it is not an exaggeration to infer that they hold great potential to address global challenges, especially when acting in concert..
As these initiatives expand, more individuals will have the opportunity to join the collective in addressing a myriad of challenges—in doing so they will be embodying the cyberhero archetype. Their actions will affect change in larger systems, for example changing economic structures through consumer mandated corporate social responsibility.
.While this archetype requires further investigation, it is an important construct, for, in order to promote our higher natures, we must recognize and support acts of goodness, acts of compassion wherever we find them, including the Internet. Doing so means that rather than placing all of our attention on cyberbullying, we need to begin giving equal attention to the opposite action: cyberheroing.