Comments on: On ambient intimacy and assistive devices

By: Meg Thornton

Meg Thornton — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:54:14 +0000

I’m another of the geeky type who’s always regarded the socialisation I do on the internet as part of my “Real Life” (TM). After all, these are real people I’m talking with (or, if one or more of you happens to be a highly elaborate bit of programming, real computers).

The internet isn’t just a godsend for those with physical issues which limit their interactions. I’m a case in point: I have a degree of social insecurity and paranoia which means that in any “in person” meeting, I will tend to feel other people are judging me negatively. They may not be judging me negatively – heck, they might not be judging me at all, or even giving a damn about who the heck I am – but I will tend to react as though they were. I also have a minor problem with following conversations in circumstances where there are multiple people talking, since I do have problems picking up on words and similar. An in-person social situation for me is a form of severe stress, since I’m generally concentrating very hard on trying to make a good impression, and also on listening to what the other persons present have to say. By contrast, on the ‘net, while I’m still able to interact with people in real time (instant messaging, IRC etc) I’m also able to interact in a time-delayed manner, where the entire conversation can happen over a period of hours, or even days. The interaction is in text, rather than via voice, which means I’m relying less on a sense I don’t trust too much (hearing) and more on a set of skills I’ve highly developed (reading and interpreting text).

Best of all, the people I meet online know *me* before they meet my body – and they can make judgements about whether or not they want to know me based on far better criteria than my physical appearance. Well, far better to my mind – after all, *I* live inside my head, and that’s what’s on display when I post online.

Meg Thornton’s last blog post..Things I find in my RSS ticker, part 2

By: hendo

hendo — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:28:23 +0000

THANKYOU. I love the internet, it makes me feel connected to my friends when I visit my family (because my regular life is situated 1000 k’s from my family), and my parents are just now getting into emailing because I’m overseas for the year and away from everyone.

I love that Facebook and my friends’ blogs let me read about things they think that they might not say in person, or that I’d otherwise miss. A lot of my friends are scattered around Australia and the globe, so this is how we keep in contact.

And I do have friends I’ve never met – I’ve been on LJ since 2002 and I’ve got people on my flist I’ve had for all that time. I genuinely care what’s happening in their lives and one in particular has become a friend I can really talk to about my life.

By: Col

Col — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:50:35 +0000

Excellent post, Lauredhel.

By: M-H

M-H — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:52:33 +0000

polerin, the places I go on the internet (notice I say 'places', because they are real spaces) offer me much more than communication. For example, along with two public blogs I have another blog which is simply a place for me to put stuff that occurs to me about my PhD, where I can 'think out loud', kind of, wherever I am and have a record of that. It isn't open to anyone except me: how is that communication? I am a member of a crafting site (along with 250,ooo others) which offers communication possibilities, sure (forums, marketplaces). But it also offers spaces where you can catalogue your materials, your projects (with extensive notes), your wishlists etc, and link to photos in flickr. None of this comes into the category of communication per se; although it may be communicated to someone else that's not its primary purpose. The extent to which things that happen on the internet mirror, enrich and affect how people live their lives is the subject of a lot of study. I think that conceptualising the internet as only a communication medium is not facing up to the amount of life that it is possible to live there and the kinds of cultures people are building there. All culture is built on communication, but it attains a greater significance as it develops and takes on a life of its own. M-H's last blog post..Farewell

By: polerin

polerin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:51:35 +0000

Re: “Meatspace” heh, that’s an old sci-fi/cyberpunk reference, lurf it. related is “wetware” (contrasting hardware and software).

M-H: I would say that the majority of those things are attempts at communication. Asynchronous perhaps, but still communication. I know I want people to think about what I mean or what I see when I take photos :)

By: M-H

M-H — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:03:41 +0000

I'm disagreeing with the opinion that the internet is 'only' a tool for communication. It is also a databasing facility, an encyclopedia, a music library, an image gallery.... You're right; humans create culture, but the affordances of the internet mean that we can create cultures that weren't possible twenty years ago. I'm taking the argument further, not disagreeing with it per se. M-H's last blog post..Farewell

By: Lauredhel

Lauredhel — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:44:17 +0000

M-H, I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with here. The internet isn’t a “creator of cultures”, humans are. And online communities are wondrous cultures indeed, and online connections are just as real as connections mediated with other tools – which is exactly what huckle is getting at.

By: M-H

M-H — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:22:47 +0000

huckle@22, I don't agree that the internet is 'only' a communication tool. It is far, far more than that. As well as having been created by a human culture, it is also a culture itself, and, amazingly, a creator of cultures (like this one we are participating in). It has enriched out lives far more than any mere tool could have. My 'meatspace' life (I'm with DEM on this - ewww!) is interwoven with my online life every day. M-H's last blog post..Farewell

By: fuckpoliteness

fuckpoliteness — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:04:10 +0000

Delivered by carrier pidgeon I expect.

By: huckle

huckle — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:17:21 +0000

The internet is only a communication tool. I’m a bit nonplussed by anyone who sees it as an inferior one. What do they expect, you and tigtog write to one another with quills and parchment??