Class Reflection

I really enjoyed this class. I was not sure what to expect when I first came, but after the first couple of classes it became the most enjoyable class of this semester for me. This is because I learned some interesting things that I didn’t know about something that I use on a very regular basis, CMC. And also, we got to discuss the different aspects of CMC, things we learned in our readings, and our personal experiences or habits using these communicating technologies. Not to mention watching all those funny, or touching YouTube movies, and You’ve Got Mail.

I learned that I rely on and use CMC way more than I probably have too. I check my mail, and facebook way more than necessary. Now that it is soon summer, my obsessive habits will diminish, mostly because I won’t need CMC as a distraction from my homework and I won’t be around a computer all the time. But to be honest, besides cutting back an extreme amount over the summer with my CMC use, when I come back to school in the fall, I will probably use this modern technology just as much as before. I don’t think I changed much as far as how I communicate using CMC, besides becoming more aware of it. I was constantly aware and listening to conversations and stuff about CMC habits, so I could find something to blog about and also just because this stuff became very interesting to me.

The ‘Oh wow’ moments this course had for me was the statistic in the reading that over half the worlds population has never made a phone call so therefore, well over half have never engaged in CMC. This shocked me, because here I am with so many ways of communicating, and they have never even used a telephone, which was invented so long ago. This is a way that has caused me to look differently at CMC, in terms of the digital divide. Because here with so many luxuries such as different forms of communicating via CMC, it seems hard to believe that there are others without these machines. We really do take advantage of what we have.
Another ‘oh wow’ moment for me were the statistics on online porn and things like that. One of these disturbing facts is that 55% of people in hotels order pornographic material. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising, but it really is.

I believe that CMC will definitely be a big part of my future personal and career life. Especially since I am a communications major and this form of communication is a very popular way of communicating. Also, CMC seems to be changing everyday, so who knows what new machines and tools will be available in a couple of years.

I learned so much in this class that I don’t even know where to start, from online dating to the digital divide. It made me aware of many issues as far as CMC goes that I didn’t know before. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this class at the beginning of the semester, but I’m glad it was what it was. I could relate or at least be able to discuss the issues and it was very informative.

You've Got Mail

One thing that we talked about in class and learned about in our readings that could be related to "You've Got Mail" is the idea of 'anonymity'. Kathleen and Joe didn't know who the other one was until of course, Joe found out who Kathleen was, even thought she was still clueless. Through their e-mailing, they never even told each other their names.
This had a positive influence on their online relationship, because, had kathleen known it was Joe she was e-mailing everyday, at least near the beginning, she probably never would have e-mailed him again. Also, Joe showed through his e-mails that he wasn't as big of a jerk that he let on to be. This also may have helped Kathleen fall in love with him at the end of the movie when she found out who the man she was talking to through e-mails really was.
Another aspect of the movie that we touched on in class was bringing someone along with you when you meet someone for the first time who you've been talking to online. Joe brought his friend along when he was going to meet kathleen at the coffee shop. This was before he knew it was her, so he had his friend look in the window to see if he could see her and how she looked.
I really enjoyed watched "You've Got mail". I love Chick flicks and I had never seen this one before. I'm glad I finally got to, especially in class.

Article

I don't know what to think about the article that we read this week. I am still a little confused...Sue was an older woman with a disability and “Rob” was younger and newly married.
When Sue first started e-mailing “Rob” maybe she thought it was just innocent letter writing making a new friend. Near the beginning when Rob told her that he is married, and he hopes that she does not take the news badly, she says “why should I?” Rob told her that he was having trouble in his marriage and she tried to help him. In fact, throughout the chapters of Rob and Sue’s internet “relationship”, which turned out to not just be friendship e-mails, she still continued to try and help him and his wife to work things out. I did not understand this because what she was doing was not helping him at all.
Sue says in her article “there is certain honesty indicated when you do not know the other party, have nothing to lose, in fact everything to gain by being able to talk freely, in other words free counselling.” Anonymity goes along with this, in that you don’t really know the person, so you feel freer to say whatever you want to say.
Also, I understand that Sue has a disability, but couldn’t she form other relationships not just through the internet. She says in the article: “Overall I think I am fortunate in being able to write as a means of communication, I was allowed to acquire those skills before my disability interrupted and I am receptive to relationships.” That sort of says to me that writing is the only way in which she is able to communicate and form relationships. But it didn’t say anywhere in the article that she couldn’t talk. I don’t know anything about her disability so I guess I can’t really say much, but it seems like she is taking it to extreme measures.
Either way this article was very different and a little disturbing and shows how interactions on the internet can be another thing that can harm marriages and relationships. Not to mention a FtF social life.

Article

So Women and the internet...

I have never felt unequal because of being a woman while on the internet. I’ve never thought that the internet seemed more aimed toward men or that there wasn’t enough sites for women. In fact, I never even thought about gender inequality on the internet until I read this chapter.

As far as isolation goes, there is the occasional message on MySpace but nothing really big. I know online harassment happens, but luckily, it has never happened to me. I guess maybe I just don’t see this isolation because I have not experienced it first hand.

I feel like the number of sites available and things to do on the internet are pretty equal between men and women. Maybe I am just naïve to the fact of this inequality. Even so, I don’t really know what could be done to make everything between genders seem equal on the internet. There will always be sort of inequality…no matter how small.

I'm Back

YESSSSS!!! My blog works! Except I'm in the library, so I guess this is where I'm going to have to go whenever it's time to blog. Even though I sort of feel like telling the kid beside me that I'm actually blogging for class. At least I'm not playing around with Avatars.
It was pretty annoying not being able to blog the past couple of weeks because it made me feel like I was very behind in everything, not just a few blogs. I should have tried the library sooner, I don't know what I was thinking.
I've been very annoyed with the internet in my room the past couple of days, it won't even allow me to download Firefox even though I've tried five times. But I guess you'll have that. I don't know why it won't let me download it though, everyone else seems to have firefox. oh well.
You'd think that after not blogging for awhile, I would have a lot to talk about. But I really can't think of much else to say. I guess everything that I thought maybe I'd blog about I already forgot.

Here is my post from two weeks ago. It better work.

I was not the biggest fan of taking the test on the computer. First of all, the problems we had in the beginning...well we all know they were not very fun. The constant clicking of typing and the construction noises were a little distracting. Also, whenever I clicked down to another line it would change the numbers up and I would have to backspace in order to fix that, which was a small but still annoying problem.
I think I wrote this before but I do not really enjoy reading things off of a computer screen. Come to think of it, I never had any trouble with my eyees or had to wear glasses or contacts until I was about 14, and in front of the computer screen a lot. hmmm...Anyway that's beside the point.
I don't know why, but I always have a little more trouble comprehending writing on a computer screen than I do when it is written down on paper. Actually I kind of prefer writing over typing, as weird as it may seem.
I don't think taking the test on a computer had a huge affect on my overall grade, but I'll probably wish I could blame it on that. We'll see.

On another note, I just heard a girl in the hall say that her away message says: "Dear Wednesday will you please get here a little faster?" I think it's funny how come of us express our hopes, emotions, and such on our away messages. And then if we write something especially witty or clever, we tell people about it. You know, in case they aren't obsessive away message checkers or havn't read it yet.

That's all.