Last week in class we watched a movie that I really like, You’ve Got Mail. I was pretty excited to actually watch a good movie for a class! It got me to think about this movie from a new angle and to analyze it more in-depth than I have the other times I’ve just watched it for fun. The area that I’m going to focus on in this blog entry is whether Kathleen and Joe were cheating on their partners while communicating via CMC. It’s not a clear yes or no answer; there is evidence both for and against this assertion.
The first time infidelity is mentioned is when Christina, Kathleen’s friend and coworker at The Shop Around the Corner, brings it up. She says that cybersex is infidelity, and that it is not a good idea. During their entire friendship over the internet, Joe and Kathleen refuse to talk about any personal or specific information…could this possibly be because they feel that discussing personal matters would be cheating? When Joe asks if Kathleen thinks they should meet, she can’t seem to fathom the idea and closes the computer instantly. If they feel guilty talking about personal matters, surely they would view actually meeting as cheating.
When they finally agree to meet, Joe brings a friend along and asks him to look through the window to check her out first. So even if they were cheating, at least they were being safe about it! In the end, it’s hard to make a definite call as to whether Joe and Kathleen were cheating on their partners. Although they didn’t actually have cybersex, they definitely flirted online a few times. And although they never actually met—when each knew who the other was—until they had broken up with their other partners, they were obviously feeling guilty beforehand…and it’s widely known that if you’re doing something that you feel too guilty about to tell your partner, it’s a form of cheating…but it’s still a cute movie, even if they were cheating
Monday, April 23, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Reflective Post for Week of 4/16
For this week, our assignment was to read an article online and reflect on it in our blogs. The article was about an older lady who was having regular e-mail exchanges with a much younger man, and soon the conversations turned very sexual, even though the man, Rob, was married. My initial reaction to this article was that it was quite disturbing and creepy. I wondered why the woman let it go on for so long before finally lying and telling him she’s in a relationship and unable to socialize because of a spine injury. I guess she was suffering from loneliness and just wanted some excitement in her life, not to mention stimulation, but she could have at least found someone her own age!
On Rob’s part, I think he must have had some psychological issues to find such an older woman so attractive and then to allow the “relationship” to progress so far. Even after she sends him her picture, hoping he’ll back off, he only seems to come on even stronger. The woman, Sue, doesn’t seem too concerned with the fact that she is ruining a marriage, however. Although she tries to give him hints to make approaches to his wife, she lets their cybersexual relationship go for such a long time that she is obviously not all that concerned about his marriage.
I guess this example in many ways illustrates how addicting the internet can be. In the article, Sue says “…I had become used to his mail and had felt almost addicted to its receipt each day.” I suppose for this reason, neither Rob nor Sue could break off the relationship, even though it was clearly an unhealthy one for both of them. This is an alarming situation, but one that demonstrates much of what actually occurs on the internet. Cybersex, as warped as it may be, is a means of satisfaction and enjoyment for many people, and it is a reality with today’s technology. I would just advise that married people refrain from any communication—especially cybersex—that their spouse isn’t aware of!
On Rob’s part, I think he must have had some psychological issues to find such an older woman so attractive and then to allow the “relationship” to progress so far. Even after she sends him her picture, hoping he’ll back off, he only seems to come on even stronger. The woman, Sue, doesn’t seem too concerned with the fact that she is ruining a marriage, however. Although she tries to give him hints to make approaches to his wife, she lets their cybersexual relationship go for such a long time that she is obviously not all that concerned about his marriage.
I guess this example in many ways illustrates how addicting the internet can be. In the article, Sue says “…I had become used to his mail and had felt almost addicted to its receipt each day.” I suppose for this reason, neither Rob nor Sue could break off the relationship, even though it was clearly an unhealthy one for both of them. This is an alarming situation, but one that demonstrates much of what actually occurs on the internet. Cybersex, as warped as it may be, is a means of satisfaction and enjoyment for many people, and it is a reality with today’s technology. I would just advise that married people refrain from any communication—especially cybersex—that their spouse isn’t aware of!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Reflective Post for Week of 4/9
This week is fairly short and we only had one class, so there’s not much to say. I enjoyed the You-Tube videos we watched on Wednesday. I think the story of the girl with leukemia is very interesting. It’s awesome that through CMC, people can share matters so close to their heart and generate a response because of it. It seemed like a lot of people sympathize with her and want to do anything they can to help. I’ve never thought about You-Tube as something that could promote such thoughtful ideas; I guess I’ve always viewed it as just a website where people put silly home videos. But this showed that CMC can be used for good and meaningful things too. That can be good evidence for people who are convinced that today’s technology is bringing society down.
On another note, I have been running around this campus like crazy the past few days getting forms signed for my semester abroad in Oxford this fall. The hardest part was figuring out what classes I’m going to take when I get back in the spring. I know that a teacher in the English department is offering a 2-part writing workshop this fall and spring that I really wanted to take. I contacted him and asked if I could take the second part when I come back without having taken the first. He actually told me that I could take the first part through e-mail while in Oxford if I want to, so that I won’t have missed anything when I get back! I thought that was a cool idea, so I ran around some more getting the appropriate forms and signatures. Anyway, this will be the first time I’ve ever taken a course over e-mail. Granted, e-mail is not a highly sophisticated technology—it’s been around for awhile now—and it IS only a 2-credit course, but I’m still excited to experience taking a class solely through CMC. Hopefully I can put what I’ve learned in this class into practice!
On another note, I have been running around this campus like crazy the past few days getting forms signed for my semester abroad in Oxford this fall. The hardest part was figuring out what classes I’m going to take when I get back in the spring. I know that a teacher in the English department is offering a 2-part writing workshop this fall and spring that I really wanted to take. I contacted him and asked if I could take the second part when I come back without having taken the first. He actually told me that I could take the first part through e-mail while in Oxford if I want to, so that I won’t have missed anything when I get back! I thought that was a cool idea, so I ran around some more getting the appropriate forms and signatures. Anyway, this will be the first time I’ve ever taken a course over e-mail. Granted, e-mail is not a highly sophisticated technology—it’s been around for awhile now—and it IS only a 2-credit course, but I’m still excited to experience taking a class solely through CMC. Hopefully I can put what I’ve learned in this class into practice!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Reflective Post for Week of 4/2
Our recent discussions in class have been about language on the internet and making conversation. Earlier in the semester, we looked at a bunch of different acronyms used online, such as LOL, OMG, etc. Last week, we did an interesting activity in class in which we had to write an e-mail using a lot of these acronyms. Obviously, we all over- exaggerated for the purposes of the activity. I know I personally do not use that many acronyms when communicating online. I will admit that when I talk on IM, I tend to use LOL way too much, but other than that I try not to overuse acronyms. And when I send e-mails, I rarely use them, because, like we discussed in class, I typically think of e-mails as being more formal and IM more informal. I usually only e-mail teachers or relatives, and I wouldn’t use such casual language when talking to them. Over IM, however, I mainly talk to my friends, so I feel more comfortable using informal language.
For “homework” last week, we had to have a conversation over IM with at least three other classmates. This seemed like a strange assignment, but I guess the point was to learn how to communicate over IM about something other than the typical stuff that most college students chat about when using this technology. Even though I gave up IM for Lent, I was willing to make an exception for homework! Our conversation went pretty well; it did feel a little weird talking to classmates over IM whom I really only see in class a few times a week. Later, I read back over the conversation and realized that I started almost every sentence I typed with the word “yeah” as an introductory clause. I’m really not sure why I did that; I guess I wanted some sort of lead phrase before I actually typed what I wanted to, and it seemed like an informal and appropriate one given the mode of communication.
Well, since today is Easter, I can officially use Facebook and IM again. All in all, it really wasn’t that hard to go six weeks without these things—I guess since I knew I couldn’t, the temptation wasn’t even there. But now that I don’t have any restrictions, I’m sure I’ll go right back to using them and become as sadly addicted ever. My goal is to remember how long I went without them and to convince myself that I don’t need to be on all the time. So hopefully it’ll work…but the opportunity to use them will be there when I need it! Happy Easter everybody!!
For “homework” last week, we had to have a conversation over IM with at least three other classmates. This seemed like a strange assignment, but I guess the point was to learn how to communicate over IM about something other than the typical stuff that most college students chat about when using this technology. Even though I gave up IM for Lent, I was willing to make an exception for homework! Our conversation went pretty well; it did feel a little weird talking to classmates over IM whom I really only see in class a few times a week. Later, I read back over the conversation and realized that I started almost every sentence I typed with the word “yeah” as an introductory clause. I’m really not sure why I did that; I guess I wanted some sort of lead phrase before I actually typed what I wanted to, and it seemed like an informal and appropriate one given the mode of communication.
Well, since today is Easter, I can officially use Facebook and IM again. All in all, it really wasn’t that hard to go six weeks without these things—I guess since I knew I couldn’t, the temptation wasn’t even there. But now that I don’t have any restrictions, I’m sure I’ll go right back to using them and become as sadly addicted ever. My goal is to remember how long I went without them and to convince myself that I don’t need to be on all the time. So hopefully it’ll work…but the opportunity to use them will be there when I need it! Happy Easter everybody!!
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