False Identities
Giving false identities and lying can be very distructive as shown in one of the stories in the discussion group. A man leaving his family for a woman he met over the internet and finding out that she really wasn't the person she said she was. She had a kid and was larger than what she led him to believe. When he found, out he was devistated. He left and never spoke to her again. He also left her devistated, for she could not imagine that little things like that made such a difference.
Their are other ways false identities could cause trouble. The listserv discussion group also talked about men going into support groups for women or pretending to be a woman in these support goups. This may not be so harmful in my opinion but it is not totally honest. Many women might reveal something thinking that she is talking to only women. This may not hurt her but if she finds out, that might make her get out of the support group and not trust anything that could be helpful to her on the internet. In that way it could hurt her.
They also talk about why people take on different identities. They say that each of us have a variety of identities. However, we don't always get to play out these identities in our life. The internet gives us a way to act some of these identities out. Some may be acting out a different sex or explore sexual fantasies or any tipe of fantasies that we might have. If you go into some chat rooms you see a lot of communicating. If you talk to many people who go into these chat room they will tell you that they are much more bold while in the chat rooms. They feel that they can say anything and talk to anyone while in the chat rooms. More so then if they were in a public setting. They feel safer because no one knows who they are and where they come from. In a way they feel untouchable. They can be outgoing without having the pressure of looking foolish because if you do or say something foolish they can exit and without anyone finding out who you are.
I think that people are also afraid that they could be hurt by someone. Women could be stalked by a nut case who is also online. These are all reasons for giving false identities online.
Support Groups
Support goups are ways for people to get help online. Many people are unable to find people in their own communitites and feel alone. Online they are able to go into chat rooms with others that have their same problems and find out information and it also gives them someone to talk to. Even if they might never meet, they are able to become close to each other and touch each other in a way greater than phisically. They are able to touch others emotionally and intellectually.
Flaming
They also talk about flaming. About how others can be insensitive to others online and how it might affect them. It might be one of the reasons why people don't like to give their real identities because they are afraid that someone will make them look foolish. This is sad because it turns people off from going into chat rooms or posting things online.
This page explaines the relationship between technology and online behavior. Mr. Jones focuses on the Virtual-Communities, Virtual Settlements, and Virtual archaeology. He explains how these three things are linked to each other and how we should use them. Also he gives us a better understanding about this topic.
First Quentin Jones explains the need to establish "adequate linguistic tools that allow for taxonomy." He gives his views and understanding of virtual communities. Mr. Jones feels that the term "virtual communities" is to general and needs to be clarified so that it is easier to talk about virtual communities. Also it makes it easier to outline in theoretical terms how a cyber-archaeology of virtual communities can be conducted. He uses the terms virtual settlments and virtual communities as two different things. Virtual settlements are the virtual communities cyber-place. Virtual communities are the overall interaction.
I am unclear if he is trying to say that communicating on the net is not a community but it is a settlement. He is very unclear with his supporting examples. The feeling I get is that he is saying, you are not in a community or a settlement if you are on the internet. You are in different places and are not communicating face to face.
I feel that this is not true. You are meeting in a chat room. You choose that chat room like you would choose a place to live. It becomes a community if you always go back and communicate with those people who are regulars also. You make it a community and those people who come in for short periods are just visiting your community or settlement.
Cyber Archaeology is the study of the past. How relationships on the internet came about and how it grew. He feels that we need to set a clear outline on how we communicate online and in chat rooms and how cyber communitites came about so that we are able to examine it in the future. He is looking into the future and is tying to set up a historical background for those who use and become involved in relationships on the internet in the future.
Java chat is a free chat room that anyone can go into. To enter this site you have to get a user name. I thought about giving my real name but decided to give a cartoon character name for safety reasons and others that I am sure many people have. This is the first chat room that I have ever gone into and was kind of scared to give my real name. I figured since this is a free chat room and you don't give any personal informtion you really don't know who is in there or what kind of people you will be talking to.
I was glad that I did not give my real name when I finally got into this site. Everyone in the site had secret code names. The first thing I noticed is that many of the people in the chat room already knew each other. They were having conversations about what they did. Some of them were using a language that I have never heard of before. At first I was hesitant to write anything but finally I did. No one responded to my saying hello. Everyone had their own person to talk to and it seemed that is all they were concentrating on. I almost left but then I decided to see if anyone wanted to talk to a boy in Hawaii. After I mentioned that I finally got a response. I chatted with a person from california who used to live in Hawaii. He asked me a lot of questions and knew a lot of places in my area. I had fun and it was interesting.
Many of the people in this chat room just go their to talk and see whats up. Nothing to important. Mainly for entertainment.
Aol chat rooms
I just went into a aol chat room and it was pretty much the same as the Java chat. One difference is that at the beginning thier are different catagories that you can choose from. Their are Love, Singles, Games, Technical, Lesbian, etc. These are only a few of the chat rooms they offer. I went into a few of them but couldn't find anyone to really talk to. This one really was like a click. I got a few nice responses but nothing to exciting. Lot of the people were talking to specific people and they talked for a while and said that they will meet again tommorow at a certain time. These chat rooms were pretty boring. I went into one of the singles chat rooms and just read what everyone else was talking about. Many of the people in their were guys. Their were maybe 3-4 girls. Imagine 10 or more guys trying to talk to 3-4 girls. Not all of them got responses. At one point I wondered if those girls were really girls or just guys pretentding to be girls. You never know!
It seemed like the people in this room were trying to get into a
relationship with someone. They were lonely and tying to find someone
who they could talk to. They were also their just to talk and have
fun. I think the internet might be helpful for some people who have
a hard time talking to someone face to face get their feelings out.
How this research affected me
This was quit an experience. I probably would never have gone
into a chat room if it wasn't for this report. I was able to talk
to different people and it was interesting. I can understand why
people give false identities when in a chat room. I wouldn't want
to give my real name and have all those people in the chat room know who
I am. It makes me feel safer and gives me a sense of security.
I also would not have been able to start a conversation or it would definitely
have been harder if I did have my real name out there. However I
still felt dumb if I did say something stupid.
I think that I will join a chat room and might converse with more
people more regularly. It was fun and a good way to relax.
Maybe I will get a chance to talk to someone from a nother country.
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Ms. Francis did her report on newsgroups. She explains that newsgroups are for people that have the same interests. At first she was unsure of how it worked but as she kept exploring she was able to become comfortable with the newsgroups and take on an active part in the newsgroups. She enjoyed going into the news groups and sharing her ideas and participating. She feels that as people learn about newsgroups and become more familiar and comfortable with them, their will be a huge increase of people using newsgroups.
She goes on to say that it is a great place to release stress and have a good time. She enjoyed the jokes and humor that goes on in the newsgroups.
Ms. Francis's report has helped me to understand what newsgroups
are about. I always thought that you have to have some kind of information
to share or were trying to get information on a specific topic. I
had no idea that you could socialize in a newsgroup. Her views as
a new user of the newsgroup and her findings really hit me. I feel
the same way that she did when she first started. I might give it
a try and start participating more in a newsgroup. It is good to
know that it is not such a serious place and that it can be fun.
Ms. Shinagawa talks to us about how she became a netizen. She had little knowledge about how the internet worked before she took this class. She was so new to the internet that she did not even have an e-mail address. She talks about the differences between a netizen and a citizen. She also describes the difference between the "Mind and the Brain" and how it relates to cyber space and the computer. She addresses dualism and talks about how it affected her.
She states that when you become a netizen you are not bound by your race, color, sex, or looks. The only thing that others on the net can judge you by is your personality on the net. You become a person in a community, the cyber community.
I really enjoyed her report. I remember when I didn't have
an e-mail address and how I learned about what being a netizen was all
about. She gives you a detailed understanding of cyberspace in comparison
to just a computer. Her ideas on "Mind" and "Brain" is very interesting
in contrast to the computer and cyberspace. The "Brain is just the
physical part just like a computer. The "Mind" is the thought process
and where the real action is. The "Mind" is just like cyberspace,
that is where the real action is at. I totaly agree with her and
I also feel that a clear understanding of this is necessary to understand
how the internet works.
Ms. Singh did her report on virtual relationships. She, like Ms. Shinagawa was new to the internet. She did not know how to make a web page and did not really know what cyberspace was. She credits Dr. James class for helping her get a better understanding of what cyberspace is and how it works. She explains that virtual relationships are growing because of the use of computers and the amount of people who go online. She expects it to keep growing. She also talks about the mind and brain but she compares it to hardware and software. She says that the mind deals with the thought and ideas that make up cyberspace. The brain is the hardware, hardware being the actual computer. She goes on to explain that cyberspace cannot exist without the computer. The idea of dualism, cause and effect relationship.
She has learned to conquer her fears about computers. She feels that their are necessary steps to succeed in cyberspace. She feels that you must be willing and wanting to learn about cyberspace in order to really get the hang of it. I feel that this is true in anything you do. You must want to learn or be interested in something to get a good grasp on it. If you don't like something you are more likely to not try as hard and brush it off.
Reading this report has refreshed my memory of the things I learned when I first took Dr. James course on cyberpsychology. I also have to give Dr. James's course credit for conquering my fears and get me into using the internet and learning more about it.
Fred Yuen
A) Like my page, Mr. Yuen's page is not quit finished. However, he has a good start. I like his comments for the list serve discussion group. He raises some good questions for his readers to think about. His chat room section is not quit what I was thinking about doing. I do think that it is good and informative for those thinking about visiting a chat room. He gives you a better feel of what a chat room is about.
B) I like his approach to this paper. He gives a lot of his own ideas and feelings about virtual relationships. He tells you what he found out and what he thinks about it. He is honest and gives good ideas for others to think about.
C) I took a look at Fred Yuen's page first. I think that it is a very striking page. You are greeted by a blood red background. His title is very big and easy to read. In the fist screen contains his table of contence. You can read what his page is all about right from the beggining without scrolling down. I think that this makes it easier for the reader. I will try to make sure that I make my table of contence in the first screen. I think that my visitors will like it.
Gavin Nakamura
A) Gavin has done a good job. It looks like he has finished this paper. His information is very good. He gives a good description of all the chat rooms he has visited. He answers all the questions that was asked in the instructions. He tells what he found while searching throught the discussion groups and in the chat rooms. He gives his opinions of his search. It is a very helpful paper in understanding why people use false names while in the chat rooms.
B) Gavin's approach to this paper is straight forward. He does not stray from the instructions like I saw some of the other students doing, including myself. In a way this makes it easy to understand what he is saying.
C) His page is on a plane white background. This is not the most attactive page but it does make it very easy to read. I feel that readability is the most important thing when contructing a page. Those who make fancy backgrounds sometimes make it hard for the visitor to read and turns them away.
Lianne Uradomo
A) Lianne's paper is not quite finished yet but she does have some interesting comments on chat rooms and forums. I liked what she said about the forums being nicer and easier to talk to. She said that when she fist loged on that she recieved some bad comments but that was because she was invading their space. I also found the same thing. Either I was invading their space or no one would respond to me. It is nice to know that it is not just me that gets these responses.
B) I like her approach. She makes it easy to go through her page. The table of contence is clear.
C) I really like her presentation. It is a very attractive background and color. It is based on purple. Some of the text is a little hard to read but over all it is clear. Her table of contence is long and you have to scroll down to view it. The reason for this is because she has a lot of information and it might be appropriate in this case. I hope to make my page this attractive.
If you have not tried a chat room. Try it. It is fun
and you get to meet alot of different people. It is a great way to
find out information and just have fun. However you have to use common
sense. Don't give your address or phone number out. You never
really know who you are talking to and remeber that people arn't always
who they say they are. It could be very dangerous. Also as
you can see from the discussion group that many people use this for fantasy
sake. Make sure you and the person on the other side are on the same
page and don't do anything drastic.
Have fun and see you in a chat room.
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