Week Three. Topic One.
Cyberidenities without even thinking about it in any great detail can not constitute to a "normal social reality", as communities, opinons and so on-are based on so much more than text (or pictures) on a screen.Lister et al believe that these identies are simply an extension of out society, and not a seperate one. I believe they fed into eachother. Emotions one may feel online will effect "real" life and vice versa. And this is the same as online relationships.
People can not switch of feelings and emotions between their online and offline selves if they take both seriously. There is evidence to suggest that online relationships do work in the real world, when the people finally (if ever) meet. Meeting people online is not something I would personally do, as I never have had any need to use that method of meeting a mate. I do think it could work for some people though.
People act as "nomads" online, wondering through various networks, forums and so on-meeting people from all over the world-so in some ways, one may see this a better than normal relationships as there is people from all over the world, with various interests just there for someone to meet. However, I believe some feelings can only be developed through face-to-face communication. So I think that the meeting of people online is an interesting and novel and in some ways practical way of meeting a partner or friends, but this should be contiuned in real life.
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I agree with this, I think that there is no doubt that connections/relationships are made online, but it isn't the same as an offline relationship. Also, when people are just communicating over the internet, and theres no meeting in 'meatspace' it may seem like a 'better' relationship is being made because of the element of escapism from the real world. There are no distractions, and because it is solely based on text and photos people can create an improved version of the relationship as there aren't as many external factors.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main factors which can make an online relationship work is the individual person. There are lots of people out there who might feel a bit socially awkward and find it easier to talk to someone with the distance of the computer to make things easier. As long as this doesn't go so far as to make it increasingly difficult for people to conduct offline relationships I can't see it as definitely being a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI think online relationships do have the threat of people becoming too invloved in the relationship, too much escapism through the net can lead to negative affects on offline relationships.
ReplyDeleteI think people can meet online and think they've hit it off, and sometimes when they meet IRL they do actually get on, convincing them online rships can be a success. Like you said, maybe a good way to meet people with shared interests etc etc but I wouldn't say you could form a strong relationship without meeting people.
ReplyDeleteGreat thread!
ReplyDeleteRe Cara's first comment:
I think you're right. It's hard not to project one's desires onto the online friend. Because there is so little information, but what there is is so focused on the mutual relationship, we "fill in the gaps" (sound familiar?) with what we hope and fear. Often this makes the online relationship much more emotionally charged than the simple exchange of text (I think this is potentially true for sms too?).
I know it's tempting to see 'relationships' in terms of 'coupling' but extending our circle of friends/acquaintances is also important? Even these may get difficult if we push them too far IRL? I don't think anyone knows yet what the social restrictions are on 'online-only' friends as opposed to 'on/offline' friends. Barry Wellman and his colleagues have been doing work around these issues for some twenty years now. Check him out online.
Dave, the "fill in the gaps" point is very interesting. People talking to people online, might imagine the person to be something, usually better, than they actually are. I think this is potentially dangerous to ones feelings.
ReplyDeleteDo you think we could be 'trained' at an early age to deal well with all this vitual/social stuff? Socialisation normally happens initially in controlled environments (home, school etc.) doesn't it? Do you think online (behind a parental lock) can ever be so controlled? Could technology help? Or is it the force responsible for this dystopia?
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