Step 1 Start blogging

Ok so I’ve finally started blogging!So my footy team lost on the weekend boohoo but I scored a sweet new job yay yah!I don’t think this is supposed to be a “personal” blog so moving onto more unit related issues...Now I may not be the most dedicated KCB201er but hey I’m making... some sort of effort.

So Online V Offline... Now KCB201 is not my favourite unit, which is probably reflected in my lack of attendance in lectures and tutorials! It’s nothing personal against the lecturer or tutor I just think I’m more interested in the offline and not what’s happening online or with technology, even though what’s happening online is undeniably impacting on the offline world in a BIG way...

Two of my housemates seem to live in the cyber world, preferring to talk to friends in Asia over Skype or messenger all day and engage in online communities day and night rather than socialise with the people around them. Bruns (2008) points out that on the internet, regardless of such factors as geographical location, ethnicity, physical disability or personality limitations people can connect with like-minded people and this is quite liberating for some. It’s great for my housemates, who can talk to people all over the world from the comfort of their rooms without being judged on their characteristics, habits and other factors (such as compulsive hand washing, shutting the house door 5 times in a row before leaving, shredding toilet paper...oh the list goes on but enough for now) that may negatively influence one’s ability to socialise in the offline world.

I think that while the internet is an enabler, the case of my housemates also illustrates that while the internet can be a tool for online social interaction and communication, at the same time it can also act as a tool for offline social isolation and exclusion. Nie and Ebring’s study (as cited in Flew, 2004, p.68) found that people may become more socially isolated or depressed as they increase their internet usage. While I believe this to be true in alot of cases (or maybe just with my housemates,), on the otherhand I also think that maybe some people would be shy or anti social even if the internet did not exist. Maybe in some cases, people who are “addicted” to the internet and act in an anti-social manner or feel uncomfortable in offline situations would be like this even without MySpace, Messenger and the internet. In fact, maybe they are more social, even though they are not engaging in face-to-face interaction, thanks to the internet.

For me, using social networking sites such as MySpace and Windows Messenger positively impacts on my offline social life and I guess the two are starting to blur. I would never discuss important issues over the internet just as you would not “air your dirty laundry” in public. However, for general chit chat or organising to catch up with someone in the “real world” the internet is very useful. I also rely on the internet to find out about new music, as music can appear online on such sites as MySpace and YouTube days, weeks and even months before appearing in stores.

Recently I also read an article on Ninemsn (which sadly accounts for most of my news intake!) about cyber bullying. Nowadays, bullying can happen at school and at home, with people spreading rumours online and sending threatening and malicious messages and threats via the internet. According to the article I read, the solution to cyber bullying is not as simple as signing out of messenger or turning off the computer (Bartlett & Gaitz, 2008). I guess this is because offline and online are becoming more interconnected; what happens at school can follow you home and vice versa. Cyber bullying is something I don’t completely understand, because when I was in school, I don’t remember hearing about “cyber bullying” once and I only graduated in 2006. I don’t know if it was because people “back in the day” preferred to physically fight and hit each other with crow bars and ukuleles or because victims never complained. I don’t know how relevant this is but I think it does highlight how online and offline behaviour can intersect and is becoming harder and harder to separate.

So I’m thinking now that I’ve got this blog thing goin on, I should probably start to use more references...

Bartlett,L., (Reporter) & Gaitz,G. (Producer). (2008, April 13). Cyber Bullies. Sixty Minutes. [Television broadcast transcript]. Nine Television. Retrieved April 13, 2008, from http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=444908

Bruns,A. (2008, April 10). Online communities [Podcast:KCB201 virtual cultures]. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.

Flew,T. (2004). Virtual Cultures.In T. Flew. New media:an introduction. (pp.61-82). Melbourne:OUP.