Good quote from Elin Article

"Rita Kirk Whillock argues that political uses of the Web have deprived individuals of an effective public voice while perpetuating a voice that is of more value to the propagandist than to the group of individuals involved." (103)

I thought this was a great quote because not only do I agree with it, I believe it will become more and more or an issue in the future. Politics are gradually becoming more relevant in our lives, and while the internet if used effectively could serve as a powerful tool, right now it is being used improperly. Everyone has access and can go on the web and yell about something, but there are also those who have well thought out opinions and have done their research but are now being put in the same category as everyone else. It is great that politicians such as Obama can use the internet to get what they want hear to everyone around the world, but I think we must be careful with how much we allow to be published by anyone at anytime, because it will and is causing unnecessary issues that must be dealt with.

New Forms of Social Capital

This new idea that political groups are meeting each other online rather than face-to-face is a drastic change. A great quote from the article is, "According to Spier, the Black Bloc is so loosely organized that the participants do not even know each other. They simply share a radical anti-capitalist view. They find each other, and plan their civil disobedience, entirely on the Internet." (105) I was taken aback when I read this as it intrigues me that a group of people can feel so passionate about something similar and have so much trust in each other, and to never have met each other. I also found this quote interesting as it certainly proves to us just how powerful the internet has become. The internet makes life so much easier for protesters as they can always keep in contact with each other about their thoughts on politics, as well as much more easily prepare protests as the Black Bloc did here. While I feel face-to-face communication is better than online communication, the internet allows these people to really voice everything they want to here and because the internet is open to all, people with similar views are going to find each other. As with Spier, "the internet's information, communication, and networking power enabled Spier to discover his passion for social justice and to find the willingness to sacrifice his freedom to express it. Although other media stirred his emotions and informed his ideology, the internet enabled him to conduct unmediated, two-way, one-to-one, and many-to-many communications with other of his like mind." (99) Thus, I believe this new form of social capital is something that we must play very close attention to.

The Radicalization of Zeke Spier

I want to start of by saying I found this article very interesting and a good read. While I enjoyed reading it, I certainly do not agree with the majority of the article. As I read, I felt I was reminded over and over again by Larry Elin that the internet is a great place for information and communicating with others who are not physically close to you. I agree with this, I do not think many people will disagree, however this still does not convince me that internet communication is superior to face-to-face communication. Spier says, "The first place I went to was the computer to find out about the WTO...I heard about the demonstrations in the mainstream media, and I did not think it was the full picture of what happened. I didn't trust them." (103) This is one example of in the article where Elin points out to us how useful the internet was for Spier. Throughout Spier's various journeys to different protests he significantly uses the Internet as well as e-mail. I have no issue seeing how critical the internet was for Spier to gain this information and have instant access to the others with similar thoughts to him, but this brings us back to the beginning of the course when we talked about defining the internet. Spier's uses the web to the fullest for information, but just as important is the fact that Spier can contact the others of his groups. I think this story more than any other proves that the Internet is no longer just "a highway to information", but is also a way of living.

Social Connectivity in America

After reading Wellman's article, I wanted to comment on the section arguing that connections through the media has actually increased communication between friends and family. I would first like to point out that I think it is unfair to put communication through the telephone and communication through the internet in the same class. The telephone is a significantly more personal form of communication than the internet as you are lively conversing with another person. The panic is based around the idea that we will no longer be able to have face to face communication and the lack of connections we make will decrease. I believe telephone communication is not an issue but making connections through the internet is. The article also gives us five bullets explaining the positive effects of media communication. These arguments state that people using the internet to communicate are spending just as much time with their friends and are actually making more connections by using the internet. I have no doubt that they may be still spending time with their friends, but these new "connections" they are making are fake. I know that the internet is necessary for long distance business at times, but people are becoming more and more reliant on the internet for communication and thus we are headed in a direction where face to face contact will become less and less relevant. Before I took this class I was already very interested in this debate, and I am excited to hear the opinions of others on the subject matter.

Alexis and Craig keeping in touch

I just read Dr. Bob's email and found it very interesting. I think this is a perfect example of why relationships through VR are fake, and it can not be said that a relationship is real until the two can prove this with an IPR. These two were crazy about each other and when they finally met they realized that it was not the same. It is much easier to satisfy your partner in the VR because you can easily adapt to their needs and pretend to be something you're not. It is much more difficult in real life to do this as you can only fake something for so long. I am not surprised to hear that the two keep in touch as they were both significant part of the other's lives, but I believe their communication will gradually decrease more and more.

Love Through Texts

I wanted to look at Dr. Bob's second question from his blog which is:

2. This is an example of a relationship in which the people, feeling strongly attracted to each other online, exchange pictures, phone calls and finally meet. This is one end of a spectrum, the other end of which would be people who fall in love online but maintain their love relationship entirely online, only relating through text. What might be the differences in "love" for this hypothetical couple as opposed to the case study example?

I am very opposed to the idea of people falling in love only through texts and no IPR. To defend my feelings, I thought this quote was perfect: "Text relationships tend to result in what's called the online disinhibition effect. Because they can't be seen or heard, people may open up and say things that they normally wouldn't say in-person. Self-disclosure and intimacy may be accelerated. Some even argue that a person's true self is more likely to appear online than in-person, and surely that must enhance one's relationships" (Suler). I could not disagree more with those who believe that a person's true self if more likely to appear online than in-person. A person can be whatever they want online or through texts, but their real person comes out when they can't pretend anymore. When they are part of an IPR, there is no way they can hide and if they do try and make up who they really are, it will only last so long before it becomes obvious that the person is lying. In the case study, the two finally meet and this is the ultimate test to see if the couple are truly in love. While they sent each other picture and were able to communicate beautifully with each other through cyberspace, the relationship cannot be real until they are able to interact "in-person" with each other.