In lab last Friday we did some experiential learning with online chatrooms. In lecture we touched on the topic of hyper personal communication its four factors; sender, receiver, channel and feedback. Hyperpersonal communication is basically the idea that computer mediated communication exceeds face to face interactions. In relation to online chatrooms, I’ve found that hypersonal communication can be a powerful tool for people in chatrooms. For instance, when looking at the online chat forums like I Want to Run-Away we see troubled teens, ones who communicate with each other because most of them feel alone, suffering from depression, bullying or are going through family problems. These forums let them know that they aren’t alone and can help with overcoming the challenges that they face; potentially working at preventing suicide and run away.
At some point in time we have all made a friend online, be it just a normal friendly relationship or someone that we’ve chosen to create an intimate relationship. Even when you add someone online it sends a notification that says “(insert name here) wants to be your friend”. Websites such as EHarmony, Christian Mingles and OkCupid are based on people communicating online and building intimate relationships. They tell you to describe yourself, your likes, your dislikes, hobbies, etc. On these websites, the senders are selective of the information that they post, being sure to post information and pictures that make them seem more desirable and attractive. However, on these sites you’re disclosing all this information on your public profile, information that some of your friends and family might not even know about you.
Let’s put the hypersonal communication theory in to play. Everyone knows of MySpace (yeah that social network that died off like 5 years ago.) I met my ex-boyfriend of six years from MySpace in 2007. MySpace acted as the channel. I operated as the both the sender and the receiver. When talking to him I was sure to only disclose information that made me seem like the perfect girlfriend. I made sure to leave out the information about how loud I belch at times or how annoying and spoiled I can be. We talked for a few weeks and I remember when it finally came time to meet him I kept thinking to myself, “What if he’s a 40 year old man? What if he tries to rape me? What if he’s like 500 pounds bigger than his profile picture. What if he isn’t really who he said he was”. We can’t detect lies online (receiver) so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into; I just had to believe what he told me. I was so scared meeting him and I remember when he showed up inside of the movie theaters. I thought, "Dang his head is big. He must take his picture from a great camera angle." Needless to say we were together for six years so overall he was who he portrayed himself to be and we learned to love the differences about one another that we were sure to minimize online (feedback loop) .
Not all hypersonal communication is positive. It’s no doubt about the fact that hypersonal communication and chatrooms can be dangerous. Sometimes the receiver can suffer a great deal; seeing that they are more likely to believe info online. There is a show called Web of Lies, which is all about people who meet online, one turns out to be a murderer. There are television shows like “Who the Bleep Did I Marry”, people online portray themselves to be these charming, charismatic There is also a show called Catfish, where people present themselves as someone that they aren’t. If you go to Google and type in “Girl murdered by someone she met online”, there are multiple pages of articles and news stories that pop up. On a more personal note, when I was 17, of my friends from high school was a-part of an online Facebook group. She made a few friends in there. One guy in particular, she was closer with than all the others. She told him everything. She made the mistake of telling him where she lived. She came home from school one day and found that her parents’ house had been robbed. Their televisions were gone, her brothers gaming systems were gone. Anything with value was taken. Later on she logged online to take to her friend online, his profile was gone. (He was later caught by the police). Hypersonal communication has made it possible for us to minimize social cues and nonverbal interaction. In some cases it has proven to be beneficial for some, but there are it's cons (especially for teenagers)
No comments:
Post a Comment