- If we ever encountered each other on the internet, he would simply come off as a "pop up" which I could immediately delete. End of story. No need to tell him twice that I needed a marketing campaign presentation
- Assuming that his premise was true [though it wasn't], he had a motive to come up and talk to me and other people randomly. However, if he were a student and did not have to advertise to other people, there is a high probability that he wouldn't come forth and talk to me (or any individual for that matter) in the corporeal world, unless he needed something.
- Consequently, in the gaming virtual world, the social-networking world, cyberspace, etc. there isn't a wall between one individual and another. It appears that you can freely say what you want, and although you may have the idea that your whole friends network can view whatever is on your mind...it's OK. Why is that? Maybe because...you're behind a screen and it's just written text? Maybe because...when your friend's/friend's of friends/friend's of friend's read it, they get the message but they wouldn't necessarily mention it in the physical world? There is definitely a shift between human communications from decades ago versus today.
Then I was snapped back into reality because he was finished advertising, so I thanked him for the offer and deleted him like a Pop-up ad.
~Ej Cruz (Student)
3 comments:
Interesting last bullet. There's definitely a difference between what is said between people in the actual world versus what we say to each other online. It's similar to that "hierarchy of communication" we discussed in class, where calling someone is reserved only for urgent matters.
Some things discussed online don't feel appropriate for conversation with people face-to-face. Different topics are appropriate for different social settings, and online chats arguably hold a different social atmosphere.
However, people's boldness in what they say online can be curtailed by the fact that anything you post will leave a trace. There's always someone out there who is tech-savvy enough to find something you said online, even if you've deleted it. Of course, you can always cover your own tracks, but most people would find it easier just to be courteous online, as they would be in the actual world.
-Gloria Law (student)
Very interesting observations, EJ and Gloria. Wouldn't life be so much nicer with a pop-up blocker sometimes? As you both point out, there are some clear differences between online and offline interactions. What may be socially acceptable/tolerable in one space may not be in another. Why do you think this is? Is it because of "folk-notions" (I'll explain what that term means in section if you'd like) that we share about the Internet? Is the difference so significant as to say that these are distinct "species," so to speak, of interaction, or are all interactions infinitely variable? And what about the paradox that Gloria raises in her comment about boldness? These are all important questions, and ones that we can discuss further here on the blog or in discussion sections.
This is an interesting connection. I often wish I could delete the face-to-face pop-ups as easily as the online ones. I suppose this is why online advertisers have to spam as much as they do- its much harder to advertise without that human element.
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