Questioning the media ch. 2

Q1:  What was your first encounter with the Internet like?  How did it compare with your first encounters with other mass media?

A:  Way back in the day when I still a young kid, my parents bought our family's first computer.  Running on Windows 95, we had the revolutionary America Online.  This form of internet was slow, and and overall annoying to use.  I would log on, get to listen to numbers being dialed as if I were placing a call, and I would be greeted by a friendly voice telling me I got mail.  However, this whole process took about 5 minutes- just to get logged on!  I always had to devote time in my day and make sure I logged off because it would take up our phone line.  No one could get a hold of us otherwise because there were no cell phones at this time.  My only other encounter with a new form of mass media would be the cell phone.  This device revolutionized my social network as I could have my very own line of communication, much like the internet had with programs like instant messenger.

Q2:  What features of the information highway are you most excited about?  What features are most troubling?  Why?

A:  With the information highway, great advances in relaying information across the world were made.  Features that appeal to me most are those that I can benefit from most.  Advances in connectivity speed are things that excite me because it means I can access information almost immediately.  Websites such as google allow me to find out information on topics or things that just interest me in general anytime of day.  Also the advances in portability of information sources such as the Internet on cell phones really comes in handy when Im on the go, or in a situation where I cannot access a computer and need to find something out, or check email. This type of ease has its negative effects too.  With information becoming interactive and easy for anybody to display websites such as YouTube and Wikipedia can expose private matters and even provide falls information.  Since the information highway has no "highway patrol" so to speak, no one can govern what goes up and what stays up.

Q4:  Do you think virtual communities are genuine communities?  Why or why not?

A:  Virtual communities are ever growing networks of people on media forms such as the internet.  I believe that these types of communities are not genuine in that people who are part of them may not necessarily know anybody else on them.  You don't actually have face to face contact or instantaneous dialogue, which makes it easy for people to be people they are not in real life.  However, with newer developments of social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, real life friends can stay in touch or communicate with one another whom they already know.  These sites also serve to to allow users to uncover music or events that they may be interested in, and express their interests with other users.  I believe that though virtual communities do not necessarily serve as "genuine" communities, they can still be beneficial to society.