The young carpenter goes out into the world to find his fortune to experience life. He wanders and he learns from the world, befriending goblins and saving princesses. Today and for several years communal violence has been spurred on by ideologues, especially of the Shiv Senna, as the legitimate expression of just such elite ideologies. So the material import of Guha's subaltern studies is not about identifying individuals as 'subalterns' but about what it means to live and leave your mark in the margins of history. Which is, for me, its relevance to the net.
Most pop histories write the history of the net as an elite history.
I believe the distinction is germane to this eyebeam discussion. Indeed, I believe that it distinguishes the best art from prosaic art and from more mundane pursuits, such as purchasing a book from Amazon. The artist strives to convey his world view in all its particularity, to admit another to his or her solitude. I would welcome illuminating comments from subscribers.