PART 1
“I notice that I correspond with more people but at less depth. I notice that it is possible to have intimate relationships that exist only on the Net and have little or no physical component. I notice that it is even possible to engage in complex social projects, such as making music, without ever meeting your collaborators. I am unconvinced of the value of these.” (Brian Eno p. 126).
To me, this quote means that we as human beings have access to an immense amount of connections between one another at a rapid pace. However, while there are varying degrees of different types of relationships that may occur there is an underlying question of truth about the relationship itself.
In reference to relationships and the internet, a time I remember before being completely exposed to the internet I would often play outside. When I would play outside I would always play with my neighbors with whom are all mostly boys. One of my neighbors, in particular, I was infatuated with, I had the biggest crush on him. We would spend the majority of the summer with each other along with our other friends. I spent physical and emotional time getting to know him feeling a specific type of bond and connection with him (even if he didn’t feel the same way about me). Looking back at this I realize that I liked him for about 8 years before I decided to move on.
Later on, in my junior year of high school, I had a fair amount of access to the internet with having multiple social medias, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I had come across another love in which started off through the internet. This time I partially knew who my love interest was because he is one of my best friends older brother. He saw something I posted on the internet then he friended me on facebook and began talking with one another through direct messaging, very quickly we began to like each other. We were very invested in talking to one another and began a sort of complicated relationship which ended up lasting about 4 years on and off again. After going through different experiences since then looking back on this relationship I think I was more invested in the way he spoke to me more than his own personality or actions later on in the relationship, but I kept sticking around and going back to him. We would spend hours talking to each other and would talk almost every second of the day, sending back and forth heart emojis and love notes. However, whenever we were able to see each other in person it wasn’t the same as over the phone it was awkward and quiet.
Both of these stories are very important to me and are big moments in my life but all around are both very different. I believe these both are a good example to show what Eno is saying the quote above. With my young crush I was able to use all my emotions and senses, I was able to see how he acted with others as well as my self, I was able to feel a physical connection to him and a certain sense of security knowing that he was really who he said he was, which was also a relationship that was worked on for years and someone I had known pretty much my whole life. Whereas my highschool relationship while it was exciting and fun but was different. He already had in mind a certain idea of who I was and how I looked and acted based off of my social media accounts and the pre-thought out messages that hid the physical emotions I would give off. The relationship moved extremely rapidly, we talked nonstop and were able to talk to each other in an instant, without even being with him in person I decided to keep pursuing the relationship and liking him more and more. But he was seemingly different in person and was a little more standoffish than what he seemed to be. With this relationship I was only able to see how he reacted with me through a screen, not knowing how much of what he said was pre-thought. There are many factors in which both relationships differed, however, I believe that my young crush was more genuine than my high school relationship. There were different values in which were identifiable in each relationship, the one that began over the internet was less identifiable, there are certain feelings that are hard to explain that are not achievable over just messaging someone. Thus furthering Eno’s idea that it is true any form of relationship can form over the internet fast, but to a certain depth is not held at the same value as physical relationships may be. This is just my interpretation of two types of relationships relative to one another in different periods of time through different mediums. This type of analogy can be used in other areas of non-internet vs internet, for example before the internet not many people knew exactly how tall a penguin is or you would be able to see through far away glass but thanks to google they have a feature where it can show you in real-time the size of a penguin in relative to the size of you. “The internet has only magnified on a grand scale what I already knew about human nature… my daily habits have changed moderately”(Fisher, paragraph 4) Helen Fisher wrote in an entry titled Take Love, both of these stories have the same general similarity of a romantic relationship. However, just like Fisher’s entry one was more human nature where the other expelled human nature on a more intense level. The internet relationship ultimately felt like more work and had a sort of expectation to fill based off of “perfect” relationships publicized on social media. While still exhibiting human nature like my young crush it had changed my habits and day to day life moderately.
David G. Myers wrote an entry entitled The Internet as a Social Amplifier he states”In the echo chambers of virtual worlds, as in real worlds, separation + conversation = polarization.”(Myers, paragraph 2), the internet especially has become a sort of polarization where it is easier for people to be connected and find the same interests and beliefs whether they seem moral or not. This ultimately gives each group more power, in this case, these are stories of a similar subject but a polarly opposite. They are from two different technical eras that both present their own kind of power. The relationship which resulted from the internet seemed more powerful and emotional because of how I interpreted his messages myself as well as the influence others who shared their relationships on social media gave a sort of expectation of how relationships should be.
PART 2 (Entry summaries)
One entry that really stuck out to me was The Internet as Social Amplifier written by David G. Myers in which he talks about the virtual reality being concerning as well as helpful. In his entry, he states “In the echo chambers of virtual worlds, as in real worlds, separation + conversation = polarization.”(2nd paragraph). Myers makes some very good points saying how the internet has become toxic but can still be useful. There are separations within groups of beliefs and interest, through conversation and a higher population of members there is more power within these groups. Thus creating a polarizing effect among the internet for example people who are very publicly racist or people who join together to help share a cause and sign petitions.
Another entry that stuck out to me was written by Helen Fisher called Take Love in this entry Fisher talks about the idea of community, beliefs, and love before and after the internet. She states “the internet has only magnified on a grand scale what I already knew about human nature… my daily habits have changed moderately”(paragraph 4) the internet has amplified human nature in the sense that it is faster and easier to talk to others and to get work done than previously. However not much has changed in while it is easier to stay connected to people there will still be an absence of relationship as Fisher also mentioned the internet has put a time stamp on work, people wanting work done faster and more work coming in. I like the idea that Fisher talked about human nature in relation to the internet, what I take from this entry is that there is still a piece of human nature among the internet but not fully.
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