I found this lecture on individuals persona's online very interesting however, I also found it hard to remove society's stigmatised view of the "strange lonely" people who we often associate chat rooms and forums with.
It is unfair in today's world to stereotype and group people however it is almost impossible not to. We are all so aware of the dangers of the Internet and have all been taught to be cautious when talking to people online as we have no idea who they ACTUALLY are.
Before the lecture I did hold this negative image of a loner sat all day at a computer trying to make "friends" and form "relationships" online, and generally I imagined them as having no friends in real life, or being online for a purpose, such as pedophilia.
I now think that it is sad that society has these views, I agree that we must still be cautious because sadly these people do exist, however is it such a bad thing to create yourself a different identity for a day, or a week, and discover the worlds reaction to you?
I have personally never acted as someone else over the Internet, however I imagine, if performed safely, it would reveal a lot about our society. How would people respond to me on a forum if I told them I was homosexual, or living illegally in the country for example. I think the Internet has become a haven for those hiding from real life, and I am glad that they are able to "fit in" to an online society, however, despite my views being altered I still am unable to find online "relationships" normal, perhaps it is because I am lucky enough to be content with my real life relationships, or perhaps it is because the stigma is always going to be attached.
I think maybe we are so lucky to be able to act as we want in life, we forget that there are many people in many countries who just cant be themselves.
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i know i only rincyd a minute ago but i thought about something to say lol. If you was to pretend to be a homosexual person ina forum to see societies responses like Nakamura said you could be getting the intrepretation wrong by acting like a stereotype rather than an actual person, could make the reaction wrong.
ReplyDeletei find what you have written very interesting as i have never thought about how much 'we' have stereotyped the people who spend a lot of time in the forums. Like you have said 'we' are lucky enough to have relationships offline and enjoy the offline life, however some may not, and to judge them for trying is wrong. The internet is there to be used for those who perhaps find it easier to form relationships? However is this not stopping 'real life' communication. If the internet wasn't here then would they be forced to have to make face to face relationships. Or on the other hand would they just stay inside all day anyway, therefore the internet helping them?
ReplyDeleteReal life communication with always be a major part of life, no matter how advanced technology is. Even if you don't want to you have to build up relationships with your family or colleagues, even if their limited. The computer may help some people to make friends etc, but then could also be seen as a negative by encouraging people to stay behind the barrier of the computer
ReplyDeletei think that claire is right in the fact that it can be seen as negative because it encourages people to stay behind the computer. i think that this then puts a threat to real life communication because people may no longer understand how to communicate in real life
ReplyDeleteYes I also agree that there is a degree of panic because our society is getting so used to being inside, infront of a computer. We are learning that children are becoming obese and are not as intelligent as they were because of video games, and new technology systems. However, we must remember that the media do tend to exaggerate problems. Most children still go to school and have to communicate there, I dont think that computers are used in schools untill an older age anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt is definately worth thinking about, because even only 20 years ago when we were children it was SO different, my family didnt have a computer untill I was about 7 or 8, and even then we had no internet! Is the internet and technology today a threat to children's health and communication skills?
Nice to see a discussion going on here folks -good for you for getting stuck in. The conversation gives rise to some questions - particularly the issue of the value judgements that are made about people in forums. This after all seems to be just an extension of ideas many people have about society's loners - didn't we all think that kid who wandered round the playground by himself was a bit - well - wierd? Human instinct to find safety with the sociable herd? Who knows, but what this does mean is that, as Hannah says, there is a set of values that ehcoes through our judgements about people that is hard to shake off wahtever domain we are discussing.
ReplyDeleteAlso intersting is this question of online or offline relationships as if there were only two different states. There are so many different kinds of online/offline relationship states that perhaps we could argue for a continuum of ever increasing (or decreasing) online/offline contact rather than one or other type.