TammyB  09-20-2003
05:32 PM ET (US)
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Given that body language communication is absent in blogs, I wonder if it is easier for some people to express themselves using this medium in lieu of face-to-face interaction. If so, does one's cultural background factor into this effect? That is, if you come from a cultural background and society where self-expression and questioning tradition is not encouraged, do blogs offer a way to overcome certain cultural barriers in communication?
I also wonder how much this medium makes it more difficult for some people to be intimate in expressing themselves, given the heavy reliance on the use of English as the global standard use of language in publicy.
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Bernard Chan
09-19-2003
12:48 PM ET (US)
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I was really restricting my comments to the notion of the personal blog, where the writer expresses her inner feelings in publicy. In particular, I read the McLean's article which featured "Plain Layne" and then visited Plain Layne's blog. This is not a blog where people exchange ideas. This is a writer writing about her days - and this could be entirely fictional. Relationships based on these kinds of blogs, in my opinion, are more for therapy than anything else. I think the dynamics are completely different when you discuss IDEAS, and I totally agree with Mark when he says that relationships can be falsified both on the 'net and in realSpace. I do, however, think there is an important distinction to be made here, because a lot of communication is done through BODY LANGUAGE and there is no such communication in these blogs. IDEAS are a wonderful basis for relationships. Ideas discussed in realSpace may form stronger or more meaningful relationships due to that other level of communication that happens through body language. Of course, realSpace communication has physical limitations, whereas blogs know no (geographic) boundaries (to a certain degree...read about my thoughts on the limitations of the "globalness" of the 'net); so there is somewhat of a trade-off there. Edited 09-19-2003 12:51 PM
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Mark Federman 09-19-2003
11:21 AM ET (US)
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What you are both describing is the phenomenon of "publicy," which is the McLuhan reversal of "privacy," and one of the aspects, or effects of collaborative environments, we will be looking at later in the series. It supports the idea of reputation capital that I mentioned in the seminar. As for not being able to trust people you meet on the 'net, I submit that such a notion is an artefact of literate society. We subscribe to the myth that "seeing is believing," when in fact, it is actually the exact opposite: Believing is seeing. (Or, as Marshall McLuhan put it, "If I hadn't believed it, I wouldn't have seen it.") We think that simply because we have met people in realSpace - perhaps several times - we can somehow trust them. Tragically, that is not often the case.
On the 'net, and particularly via the publicy that accompanies outering of mind in the blog, we can get to know someone's thinking and attitudes over time. Naturally, personal or intimate relationships can be falsified via any mediated technology (but so, too, can they be falsified in person - think of people who become abusive after marriage). But particularly among relationships borne from ideas - and that includes business, governance and policy issues - relationships formed via blogs become meaningful to the discourse, and hence to the intellectual common bond so forged.
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Bernard Chan 09-19-2003
12:24 AM ET (US)
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The MacLean's article ended by saying: "Blogs might seem too revealing for people who prefer their diaries to remain private. But more and more strangers are inviting millions of other strangers into their lives, with a willingness to share just about anything..."
This pertains only to the personal blogs that the article talked about, not the "philosophical" or "academic" blogs that we are using for this course ... but, have you ever heard the saying that it's easier to share the most intimate details of your life to a stranger than to a family member or a close friend? That's because the family member/friend (with good intentions) will usually end up worrying about you or (perhaps inadvertently) judging you. Sometimes you don't want to be judged, and you don't want to cause your loved ones to worry. You just want to express yourself and know that someone is listening, not judging or worrying as a result.
Is this a meaningful type of relationship? As far as therapy goes, I think so. But I don't think I'd want to sit down and share a coffee with a stranger who reads my blog. When it comes down to it, these people are still strangers to me. When it really comes down to it, you can't trust people you meet on the 'net. Perhaps I'm just too paranoid but (as they say in business) -- "the paranoid survive".
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