1) Have you made friendships that exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have not formed cyberspace relationships, why not?
I have never engaged in friendships that are exclusively in cyberspace. I have engaged in social networking through sites like myspace and facebook, but I have met, in person, all of my contacts in the two social networks. I feel there needs to be some sort of reliability and validity to a person, and the anonymity is a major freedom that threats someones reliability and validity. If you’ve never met someone in person, that what would be your major source of entertainment or enjoyment with this person, anyway. It simply doesn’t make sense to ignore the 1,000 or more people in close proximity to you, and who undoubtedly would have to share some sort of interest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
You said that you felt that there
"needs to be some sort of reliability and validity to a person, and the anonymity is a major freedom that threats someones reliability and validity". I totally agree with your point.
I have made friends with people online and have never met with them in person, and sometimes I wonder how reliable they are! I have made friends through an online car website (I'm a MINI Cooper enthusiast) and while I'm confident they know what they're talking about their cars, I'm not sure otherwise. What basis do I have to trust them? Just because they know things about the type of car we drive, and I consider them to be my friend because we can joke around about other things, I don't really know if they are someone I would get along in person!
I dont have a myspace or facebook, however I think that its ok as long as the people you are adding as friends are people that you know. I have had several friends tell me that they will get all sorts of weirdos trying to ask them to add them as friends. Like I said with this before, I dont like the idea of that because how are you to know that the person who is trying to add you is who they really say they are. I think that their are several people out their in cyberspace that make up whole new personas for themselves because they know that the person on the other end of the computer will never find out who they truely are!!!!
I agree that it is very difficult to build a personal relationship without being able to meet a person live. I have made relationships in business over the phone with people that ended up being friends but never for purley social reasons. It was always the cause that came from the effect. Never the other way around. I think as time goes on and technology enhances to the point where we can almost have someone in the same room with us even thought they are a thousand miles away it will transform the way we interact. Take Cisco's Telepresence for example. Cisco builds a room with high definition and in the model of a boardroom. The other end is the same. This has brought people from many countries together.
I agree with you that it is weird to find friends exclusively online when there is a ton of people all around us everyday. I think that talking online gives people confidence to be themselves or at least be who they want to be. A lot of people tend to be shy and cyberspace gives them a world where they can let their guard down and relax and have a good conversation. I feel, however, that if people are never forced to get out of their shell they will never create real relationships, which is vital. I think in person relationships and online relationships are very different and online does not fulfill the needs a friendships should provide.
Post a Comment