English 22
November 2, 2000
During my first glance through the various articles, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of boredom. I'm not a fan of cultural issues, which is one of the reasons I resented my History and Hawaiian Studies class so much in high school. However, when I came across this article, "Cyber Culture", I knew immediately that this was the article I would write about. I chose this article more or less because I 'live' online. I talk to all my friends and family through the Internet and e-mail and I even ran a few of those little 'communities' the author talked about. The idea that people communicate differently when they are face to face versus when they are talking via chat rooms or instant messenger is an idea that can be debated for quite some time. Such is the example of Anastasia and Malia Rachel, I have a friend who lives in Idaho, Anastasia, and even though I've never met her in person, I'm as close to her as I am to my friends who I see daily. Anastasia and I chat by using email and instant messenger, but what if the person I know isn't really the person I know? If only because of the WAY we've been talking to each other.
This article talks about different 'communities' that have been formed on the net. From personal experience, I can say that this is so true. People start web sites, when the site becomes exceedingly popular, the web site turns into a little country of it's own-complete with president, government, and minions carrying out remedial tasks to keep everything running smoothly. I can also say that I've been the dictator of a few 'countries' in my time, although they weren't run via a web page, they were never the less as advanced and oiled as some governments in this world.
But the thought that people react differently to conversations in person or on the phone versus conversations held online makes me wonder if that girl I flamed the other day was as big a bitch as I though, or if my best friend Anastiasia is actually a snot. Though I have no proof of either of these, who's to say they aren't true? After all, Anastasia thinks I'm an 18-year-old bar maid named Malia Rachel who lived with her 19 year old boyfriend in downtown Waikiki. I know, I'm a horrible person for lying to her, especially since I'm so close to her now, but at the time I didn't know her and I didn't want to give her my real name. After all, I didn't know if she was really who she said she was in the first place, and to be honest, I don't know if she's telling me the truth either. The sad reality to the matter is over the one year I've known Anastasia, I've become closer to her than I have with just about ALL of my superficial, pompom waving, 'friends' who only care about make-up and hair, also known as my entire clique from high school.
I like the survey the author used for this paper which clearly stated the question, the percentage of replies and a quick summary of comments made by those who were surveyed. It's directed towards the very people she's talking about and while it doesn't provide direct answers, it does shed some light on the ideas of the net and how they're used to maximize, well to be honest, everything. People lie constantly, thinking nothing of it, but when it comes to introducing yourself to someone you meet on the street, lying suddenly becomes wrong? On the net you can be anyone you want to be, even if people don't believe you, but you can't exactly pretend to be Britney Spears or Tom Cruise when you walk down the street without getting a few weird looks. But on the Internet you can find someone halfway across the globe that's just as insane as you, or just as crazy about Sailor Moon, like I did with Anastasia.
While talking to Anastasia a few days ago, I began wondering exactly how well I know her. Sure I know the basics, but do I actually KNOW her? I finally came the conclusion of 'no'. I've been chatting and talking to her for over a year and a half, but yet, I couldn't pick her out of a crowd, I don't even know those generic questions you get asked on a 'best friends quiz' in teen magazines. Things like her favorite color, and her cat's name. May be the indirect way e-mail presents you to the reader, where you don't have the actual environment around you to influence you, or the ability to interrupt mid-sentence that affects the way someone talks, or the ever present possibility that you think your not actually talking to someone, since you can't see them. Whatever it is, it seems that the art of meeting someone to talk to them, calling or even writing a letter may have been lost between the back slashes and dot coms of the internet.
Author's Note: The class I wrote this for was originally for my English 22 class. The theme of the class was Cultural Identity, however the teacher allowed us to write on whatever topic we wanted. The article I critiqued was published in the Horizons literary publication from Kapiolani Community College. If you want a copy of the article, email me.