This part of the book really caught my attention, especially with all the online dating services that are out. Even myspace and facebook have been used to meet people, maybe for a possible relationship. In my own experience, I have met people in person that I met online, and they never look the same... Similar to SecondLife- you can make an avatar that looks nothing like you. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced some sort of online relationship, like Cayce, even if it is just friendship. Would meeting that person face to face change that relationship? In what ways is the technology of online relationships affecting how we relate to people face to face in society? Do you act the same?
Mirror People
10 years ago
I think it would be hard to say that technology doesn't affect how we relate to others in face to face situations. I've met some people in person that I met online as well, and very often they do not act the same as they did online. Often, it's awkward and uncomfortable to be face to face with someone you only know through facebook or myspace or what have you.
ReplyDeleteThere's a sort of power in these programs and social networking sites where the user can essentially become who he or she wants to become or wants the world to see them as; unfortunately, this can become a negative thing too. If one user wants to meet another user in person, the possibility of disappointment can become high, one user not living up to the expectations of the other user.
Personally, I try my best to accurately represent myself online...
but even I'm guilty of only including certain details about myself and excluding certain other details (like including how I love The Darjeeling Limited by not including how I also love Finding Nemo), or untagging pictures of myself that I don't really want everyone to associate with me (on facebook, for example).
I haven’t met anybody online and then going on a date or meeting him or her in person. I did meet someone in person, talked for about 5 minutes and then we became really good friends by chatting everyday and eventually meeting in person again. The experience is totally different once you meet that person face to face. I do believe it change dramatically the relationship in one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteI’ve carried online relationships for months with music managers and producers for the purpose of discussing logistics prior to ever meeting face to face. I’ve always tried to avoid painting a mental picture of this person prior to meeting them to avoid creating a stereotype or great expectations. In most online business relationships, if a person appears to be particular to detail in text, they will “usually” carry the same professional behavior in person.
ReplyDeleteThese encounters are often enjoyable because both parties expect to maintain a certain level of respect and predictability in our actions upon arrival. I’ve never experienced an online relationship with a stranger and then met the person in the real world.
I truly enjoy meeting strangers the old fashion way: the face to face cold meeting.
Also, I’ve noticed whenever I run into regular online chat/email companions face to face, our conversations are often kept to a mere “hello”, because we’ve already discussed so many topics on instant message. This clearly changes the way we behave towards one another in society.
Social interaction online isn't a very dynamic medium. It is pretty difficult for 1s and 0s to articulate the full spectrum of the soul. All one can do is type or emote and hope that the translation is accurate. Also, people who are not very comfortable with a technology will keep reserved. Since the details surrounding an individual's attributes go missing, we begin to fill them in ourselves. These are factors, I believe, that contribute to the difference between meeting people online and in real life.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a thing to look at would be how Cayce acts with Damien, who is one of her few close friends, in contrast to the other characters with whom we see her interact. see p. 198-199
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