[6][7] The term also commonly implies an interest and active engagement in improving the internet, making it an intellectual and a social resource,[5] or its surrounding political structures, especially in regard to open access, net neutrality and free speech.
[9] Internet pioneer and author Michael F. Hauben is credited with coining and popularizing the term.
[14] Netizens are not individuals who go online for personal gain or profit, but instead actively seeks to make the internet a better place.
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.
[20][21] The international nonprofit organisation Reporters Without Borders awards an annual Netizen Prize in recognition to an internet user, blogger, cyber-dissident, or group who has helped to promote freedom of expression on the internet.