Week 2 Questions and Answers

1. How do the current characteristics of the internet environment shape our behaviour and affect our psychology there?  

Reduced sensations - we cannot usually use any of our senses when talking to others in cyberspace. We cannot see, hear, smell, touch or taste them, so this affects how we behave towards them. 

Anonymity - we are completely anonymous on the internet and so can create false identities. This can also mean reduced accountability.   

Equalises status - everybody has a voice on the internet, regardless of status. Everybody is given the equal opportunity to put forth their ideas and opinions.

Interactions are recordable - whatever we do in real life can be recorded and put up on the internet for others to see, and any posts we make, e.g. in a forum can be seen all over the world, which can affect what we say and who to.

 

2. With reference to at least two of the noted affordances of the medium, consider how online interaction might affect our offline psychology and/or behaviour.

With anonymity on the internet, people can create false identities and not be held accountable for their actions. In real life, this could lead people to pushing the boundaries with the law and perhaps thinking that they won’t be held responsible. A person could be more willing to take risks with breaking the law, perhaps not fully realising that it isn’t like cyberspace where they could get away with it due to their false identity.

Altered perceptions mean that people could end up living in a fantasy world of their own making (i.e. Second Life) and they may become so deeply engrossed in this that they either fail to function properly in the real world or may not want to return at all.

 

3. Can creative keyboarding ever truly disambiguate computer mediated communication? Reflect on how good creative keyboarders might actually capitalize on the techniques to enhance impression management.

People with good keyboarding skills can perhaps type through conversations faster, which would impress other people and if more intelligent conversations can be carried out, the more people will want to know someone. This may help with real-life conversations; people may find it easier to talk to others, especially somebody with communication or social issues. They could become more confident in their real lives and overcome social problems.

 

4. Suggest likely technological advances in CMC and how this might change the affordances of online venues. What do you think might be the accompanying consequences on our online behaviour?

A potential advance of CMC in the future might be the possibility of using live video links throughout the entire internet, where people in forums and on email can talk to each other live and see each other. This may lead to people in cyberspace being more wary of what they say to others and their expressions will no longer be ambiguous. People will be able to see how the other person is truly feeling, without emoticons to cloud this.   

Week 1 Questions and Answers

1) How does ‘the internet’ differ from what we conceive of as cyberspace’?

The internet is defined as the hardware of a network, such as a router, that allows a person to connect to cyberspace and find information, communicate with others etc. When a connection is attempted by the user, a signal is sent out to find a response via the user’s internet provider. Cyberspace, on the other hand, is defined as the virtual world that the user ‘visits’, such as websites where they can find information and send email. Cyberspace is where they are going, and the internet is how they get there.

 

2) Does cyberspace possess the qualities of a real world space?

There are a number of similarities between these two. They both have the facility for people to meet and exchange ideas, for businesses to be run and for friendships and relationships to be born. However, there are some differences. Cyberspace is less personal, because people usually don’t see who they are talking to. But this is better for people with lower self-esteem or communication issues. A real world space is more personal. It may be easier for people to make new friends online than it is in the real world.

 

3) Does the lack of regulatory control on the internet lead a state of adaptive and productive independence or is it fostering expression of, perhaps latent toxic behaviours and danger?

The lack of regulation on the internet allows for both of these scenarios. On the one hand, there is no limit to freedom of expression and ideas can be exchanged without any kind of oppression. But on the other hand, it does allow people to say and do things that they never would if they were being monitored. But in itself, regulation on the internet could lead to a lack of civil rights, for example if innocent civilians were spied on without their consent. There is a fine line between regulation and oppression.

 

4) What do you think the future holds for cyberspace? How might it shape society in the future?

I think that in the future, more will be done online. More businesses and communication will be conducted online, which could save time and travel costs for people at work. More relationships will be started from online dating services, and it is possible that even academic lectures will be entirely conducted via the internet, e.g. on Second Life, which will also save resources.

However, it could also lead to problems in ‘the real world’. People may communicate less with others around them, choosing instead to talk to their online friends. Also, if businesses are conducted online, this could lead to job losses as people are no longer needed. But people could then find ways of making money online, to take advantage of these changes in technology.     

This is my blog for the Psychology of Cyberspace module for my university course.