The interweb and you.

[spazzychic]

This question isn't crafted as well as I would normally want, but dawm, I'm tired. :P

I wonder if the internet has helped people become more tightly knit, or more divided?

Or if it has caused people to self-censor less, or deceive others more?

Social rules are changing.

Amber

Comments

[violet-tigress1.livejournal.com]

When did interweb become a word? Hehe.

Anyway, I'd say all of the above. It is sometimes easier to say what you want in textt, but because text is an imperfect medium it's often misunderstood. The net puts you in touch with people across the world, so you can interact online alot but there's also less face to face interaction.

*slinking off to get more coffee*

[violet-tigress1.livejournal.com]

BTW, I like the color scheme ^_^

[selinawoman.livejournal.com]

i think it has made people have twice as many friends. I now have friends in real life that are different than the ones I have and commune with in LJ and email, it's hard to put them together sometimes. The more intimate voice of Lj and email just doesn't seem to match up with the civilized face to face conversations we have in person.
I think it's privacy, I mean if you talked to your friends in whispers behind a tree you might say things that you would never talk about in mixed company, or even across a lunch counter. When you are in LJ or Email, it seems like no one else can hear you, at leats for me, I tend to get into more trouble mostly because I tend to be more open and honest.

[virdilak.livejournal.com]

I think its done both. You (the general) have less need to keep up interpersonal relationships in the day-to-day 'real world' because there's a slew of people online with similar interests, thought processes, whatever that you can click with just as easily (or easier). If you start to drift apart from your friends, there a many many easily accessable friends that are far easier to maintain relationships with.

On the other side, you may tend to become more mentally intimate with people online than you would in your 'real world' friendships, thus bringing you closer to another person than you may otherwise be. Many people I think feel more comfortable expressing themselves in text than verbally, and may be less likely to hold back their thoughts or feelings with someone who they don't need to actually physically look at and have look back at them. People online, while real, are not as real, so to speak.

Self censoring, no. I think people as a whole are far more likely to speak their mind and act as they please without thought of reprocussions online, because there are ultimately far less. If you act like an asshole and earn the disdain or outright dislike of an entire online community, who cares? It's not like they are 'real' people.

This goes hand in hand with deception. Some people get caught up in the freedom to be anyone and anything and thus don't see a reason or need to be themselves. Maybe it's all a game to them, and they treat the whole giant mess as a big RP.

I must note that in answering these questions I am not reflecting on my own internet inspired behavior, simply observation and deduction. The internet is a good thing and a terrible thing all at once. It has changed society and social interaction, that is without question. The question is if we are going to see in generations down the line (assuming that things remain as they are now) if these new rules of social interaction are going to cause a significant change in behavior in all groups, or just certain subsets.


(I hope this made sense, I got rambly)

[monkey0science.livejournal.com]

Social roolz are always changing. That's why they're neat, cat bread!

I think the internet has allowed me to develop relationships with people. I say this because it's allowed me to fully communicate in a way I was never able to do before 1998 (when I signed up for my first AIM SN), and, as such, my relationships with people have gone from "Awkward Aquaintance," to "Something Resembling Friendship."

[ladypixel.livejournal.com]

A little information is a good thing. Too much information... dangerous, that.

I think my answer is 'yes' to all the above. It's helped some people grow more tightly knit (gamers, f'rinstance), and it's made some people more divided. It's caused people to both censor themselves less and to deceive others more.

I've met some of my best friends in the world online... and have never seen them face-to-face. In some cases, I would never have even gotten to where these people are, yet I share aspects of my life with them. I keep in touch with old friends online, too.

To me, the internet is a tool. An addictive one, but a tool nonetheless. For others, it's an escape. I think the problem lies in the fact that people are using it more as an escape than as a tool.