Hi RED blog! My name is Grace Oh and I am a junior communications major. I previously was in the
An Internet-related phenomenon I’m interested in is how people can act so differently online than their true personalities. From conversations with my neighbor who is in 8th grade this year, I realized how young people are starting to use the Internet and programs such as MySpace and AIM. She frequently shares with me how one girl posted on AIM profile a rumor about my neighbor’s best friend and every other sort of drama filled situation your imagination can conjure up. After talking with my neighbor, I realized how brave people can be online. It baffles my mind how harsh 6th, 7th, 8th graders can be to one another online these days. Sometimes I think it is so out of control how now even teachers and other school administrators are getting involved in student arguments and gossip based on the Internet.
Another issue with conversing online is the idea of asking people to be in relationships through email, AIM, and any other tool of Internet communication. It seems somewhat bizarre to me now that people start relationships online when relationships seem like such a personal form of life that there is no other way to be effective other than in real life interaction. Then again, in a couple of years, the norm might be that most relationships will start the internet and people rarely start them in person.
So I guess I’m still trying to decide weather synchronous chats such as AIM and MSN are a positive contribution to society or if they are just a way our society is getting desensitized and become less interactive in the physical world. That is why I guess I’m interested in this topic and hopefully by the end of this class I’ll have a better or even different perspective on it all.
4 comments:
Hi Grace. In response to your comment on how people can act differently online from their true personalities, I think the answer is a mix of a few different ideas. The fact that online chatting, posting, etc. can be done anonymously allows people to say anything they want without anyone knowing who said it. When you said “act differently online from their true personalities” this got me thinking. Since people can speak online without anyone knowing their identity and say whatever they feel, how do we really even know someone’s “true personality”. It seems that in order for an individual to be his/her true self, he/she must be uninhibited. If that is the case, maybe our “true personalities” are however we act online. Ok, now I’m scaring myself and becoming too philosophical haha.
Hi Grace,
I was really interested in what you said about middle schoolers and AIM conversations. My younger sister just finished middle school, and middle schools seems to be the time where AIM is the "it" form of communication. I can't even tell you how many times she's complained about people starting rumors on myspace/facebook about other people or getting anonymous IM's from people saying unkind things. I guess the whole anonymity of the internet, not having to look at somebody in the face when you talk to them contributes to the way people treat each other online. It seems as if there are less social repercussions when you treat somebody disrespectfully online -- instead of hearing what they have to say back you can just simply log off. Instead of telling somebody to their face how they offended you, you can make a secret screenname and hurt somebodys feelings without worrying about other people calling you out on it. I definitely think it is a good idea for teachers and authority figures to moniter the online interactions between young teenagers, if it could help eliminate this so called cyber bullying that goes on outside the classrom.
I think that people tend to be speak more boldly online. I'm sure you've seen videos on YouTube. If you read some of the comments that people leave about others' videos, you will probably think that there are many mean people out there. I watched videos where people had comments like "You suck" or simply wrote "Terrible" and sometimes I even saw profanity. I feel like people have a sense of security when they say things online, possibly because in many cases they can create false identities or argue that other people are misinterpreting their words. It seems like sometimes people separate the online world from the physical one, thinking that what they say online will not come back to them in the real life.
Hi Grace, I also found your post very interesting. Your comments on how people can begin relationships online caught my attention right away. I have never been able to understand why people take the easy road out of tough situations by using the internet. I mean, if someone does not have the guts to express themselves to a girlfriend/boyfriend in person, how is the relationship going to work?
In addition, I am always appalled when I hear about how relationships are ended through written forms of communication. A good friend of mine was "dumped" by her 2 year boyfriend through AIM... how rediculous is that?!?
Forms of communication through the internet can be a positive addition to our society. It is up to us to make sure we use the internet to our advantage rather than to our disadvantage.
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