Last Blog Ever

I think my title of this last blog probably sums up how I feel about CMC at the moment very well. I did learn a lot in this class. I never actually knew about the digital divide or just how many people have and still are researching many different aspects of CMC. I think that I was rather familiar with some of the technologies that we discussed in class and I use a few CMC devices on a regular basis.

I'm not completely sure what I expected from this class. I know that I did not expect to be online as much as we actually were. I did not expect to make a wiki for a final project and I know I did not expect to be blogging every week. This brings me to my next point.

I thought I liked technology and I thought I was much more up to date than I actually am. I have, thanks to this class, realized that I am rather old-fashioned and I do not enjoy CMC as much as I thought. I often times found myself annoyed when I logged on to write a blog because I had either forgotten which password or log-in name I was supposed to use or I really did not have much to say in my blog. Furthermore, if not for this class, I would not have a blog, and as soon as this class is over, I will not keep up with this one. I do not see any need to post things about how I feel to the world. Ironically enough, I do have a Facebook and MySpace account, but I really do not keep them updated as much as I could.

I also learned that I am not comfortable with meeting people online. I actually was very annoyed while reading the story about the disabled woman's love affair, and I felt a bit "weirded out" when we learned about online communities and people meeting their spouses online. Naturally, I thought that the porn and online stalkers were disturbing.

I do not think that I am going to change very much about the way I communicate online, and I do not see myself becoming more involved in online communities. The only way I can see myself being a part of another online community will be if I take another course that requires it of me or if one day I have a job that requires me to.

The biggest "oh wow" moment that I had during the last semester was when it dawned on me that I was not as technologically advanced as I thought I was. I was sitting at my computer trying to figure out how to do something for the class and I felt like my mother. I used to think she was so behind because she did not understand how to do ANYTHING on the computer. I used to make fun of her for asking how to do litterally EVERYTHING on the computer, and here I was, confused. I now know that if the day ever comes that I have children of my own, I will be the old lady in the computer room screaming, "Little Jamie! How do I sign on to the internet?!?!" I just hope my children don't roll their eyes as much as I did.

11th Post You've Got Mail

I am going to start my blog by stating that I do love that movie, and after watching it, I had that feeling of true love...blah blah blah. Anyway, I did enjoy watching the movie, but this was the first time that I was aware of the CMC taking place throughout the movie.

I took some notes on the movie, and the first thing that I noticed is how both Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks' characters checked to make sure that their significant others were gone before checking email. I felt like that some how innocently illustrated online affairs or guilty pleasures that we've talked about in class.

Also, either Kathryn or Joe said that, "this not knowing has its charms". That was in reference to not knowing each other's identity. Obviously, this dovetails nicely with our reoccuring discussions about online anonymity. They were very safe to not discuss personal topics, and used the anonymity to keep things friendly. This definately illustrates how people feel more comfortable in person, though, because Kathryn and Joe were enemies in person, but very good friends online. That just goes to show that you never know who you are talking to online. Even though they fell in love and kissed at the end, not all online relationships can go this way. Furthermore, Kathryn was able to speak openly about thinking mean things online, but was unable in person. I thought it was cute that when she finally was mean in person, it was to the same person she divulged her secret to online...ironic...

Overall, I thought that this movie was a lovely Hollywood-ized version of what can happen when befriending people in chat rooms. The news reports all of the creepy things that happen when people meet online, but perhaps, it's possible to befriend the one person you hate the most and end up in his or her arms!

10th Post...Online Affair

Wow, that was by far the most awkward I have felt reading something in a long while. Besides the article being very poorly written and hard to follow at times, I felt like I was watching something that I should not have be privy to. Apparently, not only does this woman feel more comfortable discussing sex with a complete stranger, she has no qualms sharing it with the rest of the world, too. Also, not to be mean, but I really did not think that all the parts about her disability added any effect to the story. I felt as if by writing this, the woman was wanting someone to tell her, "It's ok that you got emotionally and sexually attached to a complete stranger that you met online, that's not strange at all."

In case it's not obvious, I do not really think too highly of online sexual relationships. I can see that reading explicit emails and writing "chapters" got this woman all wriled up. I personally think she feels guilty for letting a married man turn her on and for having a "sexual" relationship online. What started as an innocent friendship obviously has left her feeling sad, as if she lost a lover. Oh please, get over it.

But, then maybe I am missing something? Maybe I just haven't had a relationship like hers and I don't fully understand where she is coming from. I guess that this article is a definate example of how people do move quickly to devulging intimate things about themselves due to the anonomity online. She does make mention to that. Also, they began to write sexual things before they even knew what the other one looked like, and she mentioned that she sent a picture, but I don't think he did. He might not have even been a man! It's interesting to watch what people are so quick to share when they are sitting behind a computer screen. This anonomity is a reappearing concept in class. This article is just all the things we've discussed about meeting people online come to life....interesting.

9th Response

Here's this week's blog! I really haven't had any new revelations about CMC. I was, however, not expecting to watch those videos from YouTube. I am not exactly sure how I feel about that, either. I think that it was cool to see the response that that mother gained for her daughter; I honestly couldn't watch some of it because it was making me tear up really bad. I don't think that if I were that mother, I would have thought to put pictures of my sick daugther online, no matter how inspiring she was. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned. I also don't know how likely I would be to actually stumble upon movies of a sick little girl. Don't get me wrong, I was moved by the movies and the responses, but I also felt that I was intruding on something that wasn't for me to see. I guess that CMC is also allowing people to be very open about things that they might not be otherwise, or at least would not be able to share otherwise. Ironically enough, I enjoy watching The Wedding Story and other home improvement shows that, too, can be very personal. I think maybe, I just wasn't comfortable that people could respond and that what I was witnessing was someone at a very scary point in her life.

8th Blog

This week was short, so I feel like I don't have much to say. We seem to think of CMC in a good light when we think about how it lets us communicate across distances. That is in fact, happening right now. I guess it is strange to think that we are all able to communicate for these blogs when we are at home; not just when we're at school. It's a definate that this class could not have existed say 15 years ago or so.

As far as what we've discussed in class this week, I think the avatars are a little strange. They remind me of the SIMS, which I liked to play until my CD stopped working, but for some reason, avatars online freak me out a little.

I hope everyone has a good break. See you on Wednesday!

6th Blog

When I think about class this past week, the MySpace video keeps popping into my head. I think that the movie was a humorous way to illustrate just a few of the stereotypes of websites like MySpace. I liked the part when the guy tried to meet his online girlfriend and she didn't end up being as "hot" as he thought she was. It always amazes me as to how many online dating commercials I see on TV and how many stories I hear about people flying across the country to meet their online love interest. I don't know if any of the real life stories end up like the one in the video, but I can't help but think that not all online encounters are honest.

I especially connected, however with the scene about the password. Even though, as I have expressed before, I am bad at remembering my passwords, I also never give any of my top secret passwords out. The only time I let someone else log into a site for me is if it is a friend that I trust who is logging into my name. Otherwise, I will simply type the password in myself. I don't mean that I cover the keys or treat my passwords like FBI material, but I also do not share my passwords really at all.

That's all I have to say for now.

5th Blog

Well, spring break is over... back to reality.

I feel like our discussions in class on Friday were rather interesting. I really don't know where I stand about what should and shouldn't be put online. What I mean is that I completely understand that children put too much information on their webpages and that can lead to serious problems with online predators and whatnot. I do not think that it should be the websites' responsibility to limit what information is shown online. I think that rather than parents being upset that their child could post his or her phone number, they should be paying more attention to what their child does online and educating their child of the dangers of the internet. Maybe my opinion will change if I ever have kids, but for now, I think that websites can't control stupidity.

4th Response (Online Classroom Week)

Well. This week has been interesting to say the least. I am not used to all of this posting. I know that this whole class is centered around communicating online, but I just can't get used to it. I currently have 3 log in names and passwords for this class, plus one to check my email, and yet another if I decide to check Facebook. I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed by logging in!

I used to think that I was somewhat up to date with technology and communication. After the first few days of this week, though, I feel way behind the times and old fashioned. I do not mind going to class and taking notes the old fashioned way. As a matter of fact, I have printed out everything that we had to look online for this week. I have been making notes and highlighting everything that way because I just can't seem to get the same amount of information out of material when I read it off of a computer screen.

I also used to think that online classes would be rather easy. I thought they were just about reading some things and writing papers. I'm just now getting the hang of knowing who I responded to and how many times I responded.

All in all, I feel like my mom this week. I just don't seem to be as savvy as I thought I was, but as it turns out, I'm totally fine with being less technologically advanced than others.

3rd Response

I just got done taking that test. I probably could have studied more, but then again, there's always room for more studying. Anyway, the point of this blog is that the entire time I was writing my answers to the 16 questions (heaven forbid!), all I could think was, "This hurts my hand! Why couldn't this be over email?"

So, what I am proposing or rather, just pondering is that I have become unconsciously dependent on CMC, not to mention lazy. My hand hurt from writing so much. It is rather obvious then that I am used to typing and much more fond of it. I mean, the computer never made my right hand burn from typing furiously, but my pencil on the other hand? We're not friends.

What else in my life is becoming dependent on CMC? I used to not like the idea of online classes because I thought it took away from the personality and experience of the class that you get when you walk into a classroom. How much more personality and experience can you get from a test? Am I hypocritical or am I just changing my ways?

2nd Reflection

So, today is the day that Westminster had a "delay". We all know it really wasn't a delay, but we do know that today there were a lot of classes cancelled. After I woke up and figured out that the email meant that only 8:10 classes were cancelled, I got ready and went to my 9:20 class. After unsuccessfully jumping over a snowbank and getting the bottom of my pants rather wet, I got to class to find that my professor was MIA. We waited for a while, and when she never showed, our class left. I was really frustrated. I mean, why didn't she send an email or call the secretary and have her send an email? I couldn't understand how my professor couldn't utilize such an easy tool like email to let us know that she wasn't coming to class. (Just for the record, after being frustrated for a while I did feel bad that maybe she was really sick or that something is wrong... I'm not a totally bad person.) Then I had the thought that prompted me to write this reflection. Before the times when email was used, students in my position would have walked to class, seen a note, and walked back to their room. They would not have gotten upset that the teacher forgot to email or that they had to walk a few yards in the cold to find out class wasn't happening. They simply would have been thankful for an extra hour of sleep when they got back to their rooms. Why, then, did I get frustrated that nobody communicated to me that class wasn't happening today? Is CMC taking over my life? Why couldn't I just be happy with not having class? It's almost as if someone cannot communicate with me through FtF communication, I expect it to happen via CMC. What was it like before CMC? Do other people think the same way I do?

Response 1

Well, here is my first real blog. We are supposed to be reflecting on what we have learned or what sparked our interest this week in class. We seem to talk a lot about the positive and negative aspects of CMC in our lives and the world around us. I have found myself relating to most of the conversations in class, and I can understand what makes CMC useful and what makes CMC a hindrance sometimes.

I feel like when used in moderation and for the "right" reasons, CMC is actually very beneficial for the world. I really only see CMC as a threat when it interferes completely with social interaction. Yes, CMC is obviously going to take the place of face to face communication occasionally, but as long as people know that there are times when face to face communication is more appropriate than CMC they are not out of line.

I feel that presently having CMC skills is very important, but face to face communication skills have been and always will be necessary. We can learn how to chat on computers and we can join online discussion groups, but as soon as we lose sight of what it means to talk to someone, we need to reevaluate our situations.

I think that is all I have to say for now. See ya!

my first blog

here's my first blog!