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!