Monday, November 16, 2009
Cyber Friendships
I did not get a computer until I was already in high school. By that time I was not really computer savvy and seen my computer more as a tool for school rather than a social networking device. I do not IM, Myspace, or Facebook. It is not that I do not like the concepts of social networking it is just that I choose not to use it. I have not had a friendship that exists exclusively in cyberspace. I have work acquaintinces that I only talk to through email. Does that count? I believe that there are a few differences in face to face frienships compared to cyber relationships. I am a very sarcastic person and I feel that it is hard to convey my sarcasm through written words. I am a very animated person and feel that my words alone are not powerful enough to get across my point. Also it is easy to misread or mininterpret what is being written to you. I find myself reading emails and wondering if it was a joke or a serious comment. THings like that really anger me. I prefer face to face friendships rather than friendships that exist merely in cyberspace. As far as people I deal with while I am at work I would rather deal with them through cyberspace only!
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I can relate to you in some of these cases. When I originally started using computers, I mainly used it for schoolwork. This started back in the mid 90's. There was not anything such as myspace then, but there were blog cites and e-mail that many users took advantage of. Today I am apart of certain social networking sites, but I generally only speak with people whom I have had a relationship outside of cyberspace. I also agree that t can be difficult to interpret messages at times. There are times when I am not sure if people are asking a question, making a bold statement, or participating in a joke. Interpersonal communication through cyberspace requires good message decoding.
ReplyDeleteHello Rbros,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very good point about how it is difficult to read emotions and tone when dealing with exclusive online relationships. Like you, I am also sarcastic and have a dry sense of humor, which does make it difficult for people to figure out if I am joking or serious when I make certain comments. It does make it easier to sustain a relationship online if the person has actually met me in person because they know how I am and am able to tell if I am serious or not. When you think about it, it’s kind of easy to take anything in written form out of context, even text messages, e-mails, blog posts, etc… because even though you may know the person you may not know exactly what they meant by their words.