I began thinking about this heavily over the weekend because I have a friend that met someone over the internet and how not more than a decade ago, this would have been impossible. Add Avatar to the equation and one truly can become anything imaginable. Add mental illness and your life may be in danger if you trust the wrong people. Throw children into the mix and hope that you can block, as well as protect them from as much harm as possible. I asked my colleague what he thought about technologies impact on socialization and here is what he had to say:
“Through the smoke and bustle of a crowded bar, a pair of eyes lock. And so begins a chain of behaviors that has evolved over thousands of years. There are an infinite number of potential outcomes to the chain. Some chains are short, some chains light. Some chains inflict pain, and other lead nowhere. Nevertheless, sometimes, the chain ends in a lock.
Or that’s how it was.
Now, the process might begin, proceed and end, not like a chain, but like a spider’s web. Sometimes, the spider weaves a veil worn to live out a secrets or fantasies. Sometimes the web hides a deeper danger than even a poisonous spider. And, while it is not as strong as a chain, sometimes the web binds two blossoming flowers. The spider has entered new territory and sees no boundaries.
Web based social networking, in all of its forms, has both positive and negative potential. Like all things, when done in moderation, it is can be useful. But, whether it is viewed as a positive or negative, it must be seen as a real change from the traditional way things are done.
It has taken what was once the most physical of experiences and removed the physical boundaries (or at least delayed them). For instance, your social network is no longer bound by space and time. You may chat with a teenage girl from some province in Mongolia or by way of simulations programs; you could just as easily chat with her great ancestor Genghis Khan. Reality/Veracity need not play a factor in the relationships you build. While this may not be different from the physical world, it is much easier in the ether of the internet.
I would be glad to write more on the subject but someone is messaging me.”
And so here is yet another example of how technology has effected our social behaviors...Down time at work + class assignments + internet access = fun, wasted man hours, possible unemployment, and many other unknowns...
