On the contrary. For the first time, there were elements from each of the readings that I strongly agreed with; much to my surprise.
In Identity in the Age of the Internet, Sherry Turkle (whose writing style I quite enjoyed) wrote "computers don't just do things for us, they do things to us, including to our way of thinking about ourselves and other people" (Turkle 302). I agree with Turkle when she says that the age of the Internet has caused us to not only think about ourselves and other people differently, but that it also caused us to change our identities. Not completely, but many of us have created multiple identities, depending on which SMS we are using. As was discussed last week in class, people have different "personas" or styles of communicating based on whether or not they are blogging, or on Facebook, or Twitter, or on a professional site like LinkedIn.
In Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships, Zhao, Grasmuck and Martin write "the advent of the Internet has changed the traditional conditions of identity production" (1817). "In the Internet era, the social world includes both the online and offline environments, and an important skill people need to learn is how to coordinate their behaviors in these two realms" (1831). I think these writers are dead on when they say that we need to learn how to coordinate our behaviors in both of these realms. I think that there are different acceptable social norms online and offline. What worries me is that I see the more casual form of communication that is ok online starting to seep in to offline communication. I have interviewed prospective MBA candidates who behaved far too casual during the interview process and used slang that might be acceptable on a Facebook wall, but should not have a place in a professional interaction. I think it is important to remember that it is possible to exist in both realms, we just might have to tweak how we talk...
Which was an issue that came up in Digital Literacies of the Cybergirl by Angela Thomas. Thomas spent a significant amount of time discussing that "to have an identity or presence online, users must interact with others through words" (Thomas 366). She continues, "in the online context, I would agree that to write is to exist, and that writing is an essential component for performing identity" (367). As one of the girls she spoke with highlighted, "a person's typing style can give them away like a voice does". (367). I happen to strongly agree with this thought. I place a high value on the written word, and since so much of our communication does take place online these days, I am frustrated with the lack of attention people tend to give to punctuation, or capitalization, and other general rules of grammar. It is interesting that Thomas writes "the time between writing the words and pressing the enter key allows a space for review and reflection. The reflection time allows individuals to be more selective with words, resulting in more considered interactions" (368). In class, I recall Lindsey saying that she always reads an email at least twice before hitting send, and I know that I am the same way. Just as I can guarantee that I'll review this blog post at least twice before hitting the "publish" button. However, I believe we may be in the minority. I had a former colleague who preferred email communication to speaking in person or over the phone, and yet, each one of her emails to me would contain at least one typo or grammatical error, implying to me that she spent very little time constructing her messages, and no time at all reviewing or reflecting.
Speaking of reflecting, The Benefits of Facebook "Friends": Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites had me reflecting on how I came to join the social network. Ellison, Steinfeld and Lampe speak of the potential "employment connections" (1146) of Facebook and indeed, that is the reason I have an account. In 2005 I had just started traveling the world to recruit for a business school. Armed with a brand new stack of business cards, I was ready to network. I was surprised to learn that people on the road weren't asking me for my business card. They were asking me "are you on Facebook?". After the fourth request, I started answering yes, and quickly went back to my laptop in the hotel room to create an account. Facebook became our 21st Century business cards. I also agree with a number of items they bring up at the end of the article. "SNSs help maintain relations as people move from one offline community to another" (1164). I am sure many of us can admit that these sites, particularly Facebook, have allowed us to stay in touch with people even after we have left a particular offline community.
Finally, the article suggests that "such connections could have strong payoffs in terms of jobs, internships and other opportunities. Colleges may want to explore ways to encourage this sort of usage" (1164). This article was written in 2007, and less than four years later, colleges (TC included) have embraced Facebook as a way to communicate with future, and former students. Which leads me to some new questions: are schools using social media effectively?, and, how do we measure that?
No comments:
Post a Comment