The Boundaries and Beyond

It's amazing what boundaries are broken in terms of the new technology we use to interact with one another, such as Web 2.0. Even as I type this blog now and post it, it is already breaking boundaries that could have never been broken before. The "reach" of my audience, which is one of the 7 key concepts mentioned in the Baym reading, could have never been as big before. I read through some interesting readings, Chapter 1 of Personal Connection in the digital age and an article in the New York Times, called Growing up Digitally, Wired for Distraction. Both of these readings talk about the boundaries and effects of new technology just like Web 2.0.

I came across a question in the Baym reading, "If someone is nurturing face to face, aggressive in an online forum, and needy in another online forum, which is real? Is there such a thing as a true self anymore? Was there ever?"(Baym 3) I would like to answer this, and give my opinion. I believe that there is a true self. With these new mediums of connection I just believe it comes out differently. We do not just have one emotion, we are not programmed to feel and show just one emotion. So I think it is perfectly normal for someone to be aggressive somewhere, and be needy somewhere else. It's on a new medium so it’s harder to read. There was always a true self, and there still is. What is interesting is that this new form of communication blurs so many boundaries. Baym talks about this, "Asynchronous email may be sent and received so rapidly that it functions as a synchronous mode of communication." Web 2.0 totally erases the boundaries of time and space. The telephone did the same thing, but it has always been synchronous. Web 2.0 had both but is now blurring the lines between them. What’s also interesting is that asynchronous communications are no longer slowed by the time messages are sent in transit, but by the time it takes for a person to read and respond.

Web 2.0 blurs boundaries again because unlike any form of communication before it "Many forms of digital communication can be seen by any internet users or can be sent and thanks to storage and replicability, resent to enormous audiences." (Baym 10) Voicemail just doesn't have those capabilities. What else amazes me is how fast these boundaries are blurred. The 1990's were when the internet was just becoming public, and now look how far we have come. In the Baym reading it also shows that the internet hasn't spread everywhere and in places like Africa it is much more useful to send texts on a mobile phone. This I found interesting because we need to remember that the internet is not the same everywhere, and does not have the same effects.

While reading the New York Times article I came across something. "Social butterflies tend to be heavy texters and Facebook users. Students who are less social might escape into games, while drifters or those prone to procrastination, like Vishal, might surf the Web or watch videos." This is interesting because just as we have niches offline, we again fit into niches online. This is just another example of how web 2.0 has moulded perfectly into our lives without us even knowing.