The Changing World of Communication
This week, focus on the chapters in Haythornthwaite and Wellman on global use of the Internet and Syntopia.
What do you think about the use of the Internet around the world...will we have increased global communication, or is it as the Russian social commentator noted, "intellectual colonialism" because most of the Internet depends on English to communicate?
Then, too, consider the Syntopia research project in responding to this question...what are the social consequences and themes that might emerge from building a truly global village through the Internet? Do you think the Internet tools we have are having an ill or a good effect worldwide in terms of communicating with others around the globe? Is the Internet becoming that "third place" as Oldenburg (1991) describes on p.47 of Haythornthwaite and Wellman (that's why the photo of the Cyber Cafe is key this week, if you didn't get the connection)?
Also, a word about the weather...I'll be watching the Weather Channel and the Rowan web site starting early Monday afternoon. Since no one seems to know what we're facing on Monday, I'll post regular updates here to the blog. If school is closed or if I decide the weather is too dangerous for you all to venture out in (I know many of you have long commutes on Monday night), I'll post it here. Start looking for weather updates anytime after 2PM on Monday.
In the meantime, work on these questions and your blogs and your papers. You certainly have things to do!
Also, feel free to blog interesting things you find in your research to this site. Others might want to explore the same things you're finding!
I'll keep you posted on the weather. You keep me posted on what you're thinking about in the reading.
What do you think about the use of the Internet around the world...will we have increased global communication, or is it as the Russian social commentator noted, "intellectual colonialism" because most of the Internet depends on English to communicate?
Then, too, consider the Syntopia research project in responding to this question...what are the social consequences and themes that might emerge from building a truly global village through the Internet? Do you think the Internet tools we have are having an ill or a good effect worldwide in terms of communicating with others around the globe? Is the Internet becoming that "third place" as Oldenburg (1991) describes on p.47 of Haythornthwaite and Wellman (that's why the photo of the Cyber Cafe is key this week, if you didn't get the connection)?
Also, a word about the weather...I'll be watching the Weather Channel and the Rowan web site starting early Monday afternoon. Since no one seems to know what we're facing on Monday, I'll post regular updates here to the blog. If school is closed or if I decide the weather is too dangerous for you all to venture out in (I know many of you have long commutes on Monday night), I'll post it here. Start looking for weather updates anytime after 2PM on Monday.
In the meantime, work on these questions and your blogs and your papers. You certainly have things to do!
Also, feel free to blog interesting things you find in your research to this site. Others might want to explore the same things you're finding!
I'll keep you posted on the weather. You keep me posted on what you're thinking about in the reading.
posted by Diane Penrod at 2/26/2005
1 Comments:
I think using the Internet around the world does increase global communication. It is true that most of the internet depends on English to communicate and therefore it could be seen as "intellectual colonialism," however I don't believe that is the case. I think that people all over the world want a piece of the internet because they see how much it has done for other societies. Therefore, I think that people who do not know English find a way to use the internet for just the fact that they want this powerful tool at their grasp. I guess the internet could be seen as a "third place," but if one stops to think, isn't a telephone almost the same thing? I think the internet has a good effect worldwide in communicating with others around the globe. For example, if I have a friend in France, I don't want to spend outrageous amounts of cash always calling her on the phone; and it would take a while for my snail mail letters to get to her. But with the internet, I could talk to my friend in France on AIM and email her and have her respond to me within a day. Also, I can meet people from other countries with the internet. I think that is a very beneficial thing and therefore makes it a good thing to be able to communicate worldwide through the internet.
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