Creepy Cultures

So I went to the lecture tonight, and I actually did the reading before the lecture! It was amazing for me that I was actually organised this week! hehehe.

Anyway, to be honest, some of the content relayed in the lecture was based upon was really really useless, obvious information that is pointless, unless they're from another planet and they don't know what the internet is. Hrrmm ... maybe aliens do exist?

A German PHD student was taking the lecture and talked about how in person-to-person interactions people will know who they are ringing if they call someone's mobile phone. Well duh. Even in the reading, Wellman (2001, p.26) talks about how people and places are connected with little social or physical intersection between households, manifested by the need for aeroplane travel, telephones and email in order to keep in touch. Jeez clap clap for captain obvious! What a revolutionary discovery ...

I just don't agree with the quote "reading and responding to the internet is more personally immersive than watching television or talking on the telephone" (Wellman, 2001, p.31). Is it really? Wellman didn't reference that in his article, how does he know that for sure? Did he do a worldwide survey did he? Because I certainly don't agree. I would prefer watching an episode of The Scrubs ON MY PLASMA to chatting in any online community (even the one I did for the assignment), immersing myself in a good war story to reading the newspaper online and talking to a hot guy over the phone rather than in MSN.

Probably the only worthwhile thing I got out of that lecture was when the lecturer described how people who cannot read or who don't have the internet will remain poor in social capital. However, people who are rich in social capital will get even richer as they expand their knowledge with the use of the internet. That point is highly valid because as we progress through time, the digital divide will grow bigger and bigger. We cannot just snap our fingers and provide everyone in third world countries with IT education. Nor can we slow down the rate of development in technology.

One useful point that the reading had was the comparison between past and present social interaction. Making reference to the fact that people used to walk to visit each other and then placing this alongside a description of place-to-place communication, highlights how rapidly technology has evolved over the past 250 years. Especially in the way of communication.

Steering back to the lecture however, MySpace was discussed, which is a social networking site where people can add anyone they like as their 'friend' in order to meet new people who they are socially compatible with. He also showed a video of this man with 9000 myspace friends, even though he didn't know any of them. It was taking the piss out of people who like to meet people online, which was funny but at the same time my sister is one of those people who randomly add people she doesn't know. Hrrmmm ....

But to the point of MySpace: it's used not only by innocent place-to-place communicators, but also sexual predators. I was posting in FanForum the other day in one particular thread about a female pedophile who had been released from jail after 28 counts of sexual assault on a 13yr old boy. She used myspace to set up a way to contact that 13yr old again, and send a message to him on his myspace page.

A nice, creepy thought to finish up with. Sleep tight.