Also residing in these worlds are actors known as software agents, such as bots, news agents, and spiders. Because online communication relies on the transaction of data, it is possible for non-human agents to send and receive messages just as humans do. Human and non-human users share the same habitat. As the information transfers to the Internet, it enters a virtual space where physical appearance and corporeal facts such as age or skin color become irrelevant. Hence, you are what you type.
Software agents are both autonomous and social net agents just as human users.
They are autonomous , in that they often make decisions without prompting from their creators. They are social net agents in that they can react to their environment and communicate with both human and non-humans. Consider those bots who serve the MUD community. Every user has the right to say anything and to ignore anything. These principles provide a valuable framework for searching for ways of dealing with some of the more mundane issues and concerns about agent behavior.