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At Least They Didn't Include iFart...


By srepetsk - Posted on 14 May 2010

This blog post is for week 5 of RIT’s Human Communication course.

I found this comic online a few days ago and thought I’d share it:

Our Connected World...

Being in a Human Communication class, this made perfect sense to put on my blog (even though I only found it through StumbleUpon). As you can probably tell, it plays off of the connectedness that many people feel must be present in order to rationally communicate with others. Through the use of social media sites and technology, we have become more “connected” with each other on a certain level that hasn’t been seen in the past. The depth of the interactions we have online, however, seems to be quite different. Many people on Facebook, Twitter, etc. share the type of information shown in the comic and may feel they have an intimate bond with others they talk to online. Does this really mean we’re great friends with those people though? Sharing these types of extraneous physical ideas is a much different beast than sharing actual personal feelings, which is viewed more as what people did in the past. Is there a paradigm shift happening here in the way and manners people communicate? It certainly is happening as far as platform – phone, email, letters, etc. – is concerned.

This is funny - good comic commentary to post. The points you make to support are good as well.

"Many people on Facebook, Twitter, etc. share the type of information shown in the comic and may feel they have an intimate bond with others they talk to online. Does this really mean we’re great friends with those people though?" I think this is a critical question that we need to give thought to. The way people establish relationships is changing. Many people would argue that not really physically knowing somebody means you can't have a deep, real friendship with them. Others would staunchly disagree. You should watch part of the Frontline episode we watched in class (Digital Nation). There is a segment that discusses relationships, specifically relating to those we establish online. It's very interesting.

Good, thoughtful posts this quarter. I just wish there were a few more of them!