線上馬祖：網路社群與地方想像

Internet Matsu: Online Community and the Reimagination of Place

本文以馬祖重要的社群網站──馬祖資訊網──為例，探討網路媒體如何將馬祖塑模為一個新的地方。也就是說，它使得馬祖從最早的國境邊陲島嶼，冷戰時期的軍事戰地前線，在二十一世紀初轉變為以馬祖為主體，具有自身價值與意義的地方。我從三個面向論述這個主題：首先，我將從馬祖資訊網的網站界面介紹，說明馬祖資訊網如何以不同媒介──如，文字、歌曲、與影像──將網站深刻地鑲嵌在地方生活脈動中。在網路與地方密切結合後，我們看到的是一個結合地方生活的網路新社群的形成。其次，我將探討馬祖資訊網中的互動模式，並將說明網民如何能在網路世界中創造新的自我，發展出超越島嶼內綿密的社會脈絡。這些新的自我，即使未能完全超越傳統社會關係，已突破馬祖的地理格局，透過網路隨時串連臺灣、馬祖與中國。他們成為跨越台海時空之新的存在，並且已經能夠促發社會運動，為馬祖人爭取軍管時期被國家佔用的土地。最後，我將從馬祖資訊網中的網誌探討網民如何描繪與想像馬祖的各種面向。網路科技使得今日的馬祖已從軍管時期的保衛台海的戰地意象，蛻變為以馬祖為主體的一個新地方。

This article takes the Matsu Online internet platform as an example to discuss how social media have turned Matsu into a new place. From a peripheral set of barren islands to a military frontline during the Cold War, Matsu in the 21st century has been reimagined in various ways as a place with inherent value and meaning. In this paper I discuss three aspects of this dramatic transformation. First, I investigate the interface of the Matsu Online platform and show how different forms of media, such as texts, songs and images, have deeply embedded Matsu Online in the lives of people living there. In this way, a new internet community beyond the physical boundaries of the islands has been formed. Second, I discuss the interactivity of Matsu Online and explain how netizens can break up the tightly knit social networks on the islands to develop new online selves. Even if these selves cannot totally transcend traditional social relations, they have already ranged beyond the geographical limits of Matsu, connecting Matsu with Taiwan and China. The netizens take on independent existences which are able to cross the space-time boundaries of the Taiwan Strait, engage in social activism, and fight to reclaim land occupied by the state during the period of military reign over the islands. Third, I examine how netizens describe and imagine various aspects of Matsu through the Matsu Online blog, and show how internet technology has transformed Matsu from a military bulwark against communism into a place with its own inherent and unique value.