cyberghetto means the equivalent of a ghetto in cyberspace; a place on the Internet etc. where a social group is marginalized. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why “cyberghetto” is a great word
CYBERGHETTO — [Noun] A marginalized or impoverished space, community, or condition within cyberspace, analogous to a physical ghetto. From the prefix cyber- (relating to computers, information technology, and virtual reality) + ghetto (a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group). Coined in 1998 by Bosah Ebo. Unlike a "cybertopia," which imagines digital perfection, or the "digital divide," which maps a gap in access, a cyberghetto is the realized dystopia—the place where the disconnected are forced to dwell. It is the dead-end forum overrun with malware, the lag-ridden public terminal with a sticky keyboard, the algorithmic feed that serves only echoes of outrage. It is the proof that architecture, even when made of light and code, can still be built to contain.
Etymology
From cyber- + ghetto, coined by Bosah Ebo in the paper Cyberghetto or Cybertopia?: Race, Class, and Gender on the Internet (1998).
noun
- The equivalent of a ghetto in cyberspace; a place on the Internet etc. where a social group is marginalized.“But critics argue that the potential for a cyberghetto is real because the Internet will retain vestiges of traditional communities with similar hierarchical social linkages and class-structural relationships.”