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(Internet) Age Old question: Internet relationships...better?

Indeed, a question as old as the first transmission of the first data bytes between computer terminals: can relationships be built, and sustained via digital interaction?

In a study₍₁₎ on communication apprehension (the tendency to become nervous in face-to-face interaction), researchers Michelle Mazur and Ryan Burns studied how communication apprehension either increases or decreases when people "meet" online. The study examined people who had met their romantic partners online, and measured their general level of communication apprehension, introversion (shyness), and interdependence (how connected they were with their partners).

The study revealed that among the people who were generally apprehensive about communicating face-to-face, their relationships online had a high level of interdependence. Among people who are more shy, their online relationships were not particularly interdependent; these type of people tend to maintain independence within their relationships in general.

So what's the point? Of course the debate continues, even among scholars, whether or not relationships between people are affected by the increasing amount of time spent communicating online (and by extension, other modes), versus face-to-face contact--the jury's still out on that one! But what we are definitely sure of is that people are initiating and maintaining relationships using online channels.

Might be important to consider the next time you see a hot person online that "in real life" you might be interested in!




_{1. "Perceptions of Relational Interdependence in Online Relationships: The Effects of Communication Apprehension and Introversion. Communicaiton Research17(4), 2000.}

So what the hells' been up with you?

I know, I know, that's probably the question if you were one of the exclusive (READ: one of five) people who have had the privilege of reading my blog--especially since the last time there was an entry was over a year ago; And despite it being ridiculously overdue--good things come to those who wait! But let's get some housekeeping out the way first:

What else I've been up to

As I'm sure several of you know, TIME'S ARE HARD!! The primary reason I haven't been updating like I should is that I've been working and attempting to complete the last leg of my college-tour; as in the tour of classes I have to take before I can exit stage left.

In the meantime though, I actually had a few great opportunities. I interned for a blog How Legit, that was a great experience. I became acquainted with The Web Start-up, learned some pretty great things in SEO, page analytics, and all that great technical stuff that'll make an online marketing maven of me!

Shortly after that, I had another internship with Change.org; similar stuff, honing my social marketing chops, networking with some great people, etc. I recommend to anyone, get as much experience as you can--cliche, I know, but invaluable none the less!

I just wanted to provide a synopsis of my year in review. The most important thing I wanted to bring up was that If you're following me anywhere else (i.e Twitter, FB, Digg) my names there are all the same, Cre8tv Rec (well, mostly the same.)

What's new on the menu

So first, by virtue of me knowing more, I can write more--AWESOME!! I also plan to attempt to expand the scope of my blog to incorporate communication phenomena from sources other than social networking sites, but that's kind of on the back-burner (maybe of another stove!) But rest assured, I'm definitely back on the horse. I guess I can see where Green Day was coming from--now that September ends, it's time to be woke up!

Stay tuned friends and foes...

The evolution of networking: How Legit

Im back, after a long but uneventful Labor Day weekend. I think that it was this break that has inspired my latest entry. I had an uninterrupted opportunity to browse the web and explore several sites that I had previously planned on visiting in a systematic pattern (which I probably will still attempt to do--for the sake of classification!)

So among my latest discovery is a site called Howlegit.com. The concept is not exceptionally unique, but it does allow the user to interface with the content in a way that, up to now, has not been seen before.

In a nutshell, the user decides whether the content is accurate or "legit" or whether or not its hype. Its definitely appropriate that this format would be debuted in an entertainment website; after all, other than politics no other information category seems to be more convoluted and misdirected.

Whats interesting is that this seems to be the primary intent of most social bookmarking, and social news sites--to provide access to the most information, unfiltered and allow the user to decide what they feel is relevant. The beauty of this site is that it provides a platform to discuss a particular category; compared to other sites, the focus is very narrow. The exhaustive nature of most sites can be overwhelming, unfortunately, but sites with a specific focus tends to allow users to peruse through the content and be able to keep it in context. The site is far from perfected, but as the next step in the use of social networking to access information, I believe we might be witnessing a developing trend.

Today i'm looking at folksonomy. Ineed, the word does seem to connote something reminiscent of that thing we use to hold dear in America, but which has since seem to become a figment of our imaginations. This, however, is far from what a folksonomy is.

A conjuction of the words 'folk' and 'taxonomy,' a folksonomy is a term used to describe classification and categorization on the web. Most users familiar with sites like Digg, Reddit and others would immediately be able to relate with this concept. The rise of social bookmarking as a way to disseminate the incomprehensible amount of the data on the web has become exponentially popular. There is really no better way to have the internet take some shape and become something of relevance. Anyone who has spent some time on search engines can empathize with the frustation that can occur when you're looking for something specific and the search engine brings up web pages that have no relevance, but because the word appears is among the first ten web pages you see.

A site like Digg allows users to rate how much they like a website, and subsequently it can become popular if enough users agree on it's relative value. This reminds me alot of a concept I learned in one of my first communication classes about the semantic trianle. In a nutshell, a word is assigned to an object, it is agreed upon by the majority, and it comes to symbolize that object: arbitrary, abstract, and ambiguous are the terms we used to describe a word. The same applies to what makes a page on digg popular; the majority agree that a web page has value--arbitrary, the web pages' relevance to the digg community is difficult to discern--abstract, what makes it popular is the fact that people find meaning in it differently--ambiguous.

This, i'm sure, even qualifies as an abstract interpretation of what a folksonomy is. There may be a more appropriate theory that explains the mechanics of social bookmarking, but I thought I would just introduce this concept to our ongoing discussion.

Feel free to bookmark it if you like!

Make me a MySpace friend

One of the most fascinating aspects of social networking sites is the ability to completely govern the perception of one's identity. By allowing users to customize their page to even the smallest details, people are able to control and mediate how people will view them, and to some extent, how they will view themselves.



What triggered this thought episode was s segment on "The Mike and Juliet Morning Show." A sixteen year old girl came on to oppose her mother policing her friends, blogs and MySpace. The girl's contention was that not every aspect of who she is should be her mothers business, to which the mother responded with the right to privacy is waived as long as the daughter lives in her house. I was captivated because it's interesting to examine this from the perspective of identity formation.



The sixteen year old explained how she used MySpace to vent her thoughts, highlite episodic events with friends, and discuss topics like sexuality, drug use and more with her friends. The issue was essentially that her mother felt that she was representing herself as one way in person, and completely different online. This was, of course, a valid concern but the question still remains: why?



In an article in Media Psychology (2008), the author discusses how users alternate between extroversion and introversion when performing public presentations online. This suggests, according to the author, an "identity shift" that may embolden someone to be more forthcoming with information that is personal online. In the case of the sixteen year old, this may explain why she maintained dual identities; remaining introverted around mom but disclosing very personal information to her online friends. It also speaks to the power of the internet in social networks.

Social networking on the internet levels the playing field. In a related article in the Journal of Family Communication, the relationship of power is discussed; in particular, noting how relational satisfaction is intensified when power is percieved to be shared. The fact that this same sixteen year old can have her favorite music artists, close friends, and people she just met all as her friends effectively makes even remote connections very possible.

So I would conclude that it does make a difference whether or not someone's parent is their MySpace friend. After all, there are some power relationships that don't change!

Web 2.0 you say?

In 2004, at a media and technology conference, the O'Reilly media conference a new term to describe the changing face of the internet was born, "Web 2.0." Despite some debate circulating between technology experts and their camps, the effects of Web 2.0 are as real as anything else about the internet. In a nutshell, Web 2.0 describes the trend on the World Wide Web and among web designers to create sites that allow users to be more creative, share information, and most notably, collaborate. Any quick survey of the most popular contemporary websites would yield such results as Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and others; evidence of what tech experts begin touting in 2004. These sites allow users to create highly customized content, share information among other users, and of course become associated with other like minded users.

The eloquence in social networking sites such as these is their ability to incorporate a fundamental communication principle: interactionism. Of course, many communication scholars would say that a system such as this is based on an antiquated view of communication, but it serves to show the changing scope of the internet to reflect the patterns of human communication. No, not quite perfect yet!

The point here is how fast they have taken root. Site goers appreciate being able to send AND receive messages; create relevant content, and create a shared experience. This characteristic is what gives social networking sites their relevance in a discussion of the future of the internet.

Obviously, this topic is entirely too broad to truly give it justice so this will be an ongoing discussion.