New Media and Society
In this article two researchers examine how non-professional Internet users domesticate the Internet into their daily activities. They conducted their research by going into internet users’ homes, interviewing them, and observing their interior and exterior computer environment. Their discussion takes a look at each person’s unique motivation for computer use. Their discussion is more informative than conclusive.
Questions For Discussion:
Other than simply emailing, academia, or as a way to pass time, do you use the Internet for any similar motivations discussed in the article? Do you know any one that has? How?
My Answer:
For me, my parents have always been really strict and when I was younger (late high school) it was difficult for me to communicate with boys or hang out after school, especially at night. In this regard I turned to the Internet to chat with people- mostly guys- for hours. It was a way to satisfy my teenage urge to associate with the opposite sex. I would also surf the web and read articles that would help me fit in as a normal teenager. Like, reading up on teen vogue and checking out American Eagle Outfitters to see what’s cool since I wasn’t able to go out and find out what’s new in the teen world on my own.
Yeah, I told you guys my parents are wack.
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4 comments:
Like in the article, and what Ashley has mentioned, I use the internet a lot for enhancing my communication with my peers. I started going on AIM when I was in the 7th grade in a time when my parents didn’t really let me go out. I was new to the school, so it really helped me get ahead in the game and establish more friendships. Other than that though, I never really got too involved with using the internet to establish a means of self-support or anything. A lot of the cases discussed in the articles are of people who were neglected by their parents or their spouses. Luckily I grew up in a very loving family with three siblings, so I was always entertained and could turn to them if anything ever went wrong.
I did associate more with one of the cases discussed, the one of Alex and how he moved to Bulgaria. Like Alex, I find myself going on to the news website of Peru where I check the latest news and stay in touch with the reality over there. With Facebook I am now able to do the same with the smaller community of my friends.
I used to use AIM all the time (8 different conversations going on at one time anyone?) As for other uses... the internet is pretty much used for leisure time and research. Though I do find myself reading Washingtonpost.com all the time for updates from DC. Also, when I was in Australia for a semester, I used Skype fairly frequently to talk to friends and family Stateside. Occasionally I'll find myself checking out what's going on down under, so I guess I do use it to communicate and keep the world smaller more than I thought. Other than that, pretty much the normal, boring stuff.
Like you stated in your article, Ashley, I also use the internet to communicate with people I wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. For a while I relied on social networking sites and AIM to keep up with my high school friends. Now, I use those communication tools to stay connected to current college friends that I don't see enough of...for example, if I'm having a really busy week so that I'm unable to meet and spend time with friends, I rely on AIM and Facebook to stay in contact with them.
I also use the internet for other purposes, such as updating my art blog, researching/finding other artists' blogs and websites, and so forth. Even though there isn't really a community among bloggers it's still nice to have the ability to subscribe/link to other bloggers and occasionally comment on their blogs.
Aside from academic work and using the internet as a tool for research, I also used it as a way to communicate with my friends and desensitize my teenage fear of talking to girls.
I think communicating with friends is pretty self explanatory as a whole. However, one thing I did notice was that somewhere between middle school and high school, my male friends stopped talking to each other on the phone for 20 minutes at a time. There seems to be a prevalent social message that only girls spent that type of time on the phone discussing things related to feelings and such. So I felt that instant messenger and the less personal context of online chat helped to fill that void.
On the note of talking to girls in the transition between middle school and high school, I felt that I was quite inadequate in any type of face to face communication. I found it easier to talk to girls online so I guess you could say that I used aim as a means to desensitize myself to my fear of face to face communication with the opposite sex.
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