While browsing through an online forum, I noticed a thread titled, "I'm a coward." Intrigued, I clicked on it and followed the 8-page thread discussion.
The original poster called himself "Neil Black," although he later states that this is only an alias. In his post, he talks about this girl in his residence hall that he likes, but can't work up the nerve to ask out. He considers himself a coward for his social ineptness. Other forum posters gave advice, building up his confidence and eventually convincing him to take action.
Based on his sci-fi avatar and his complaints about his own social ability, I considered him a geek. He refers to residence halls and classes throughout the discussion, implying that he's a college student. He also mentions that he's in Kentucky.
My impressions, classfied into Big 5 personality traits:
Neuroticism: I get the impression that Neil is extremely neurotic. He appears to be very anxious about meeting with her, and he is noticably upset about his own inability to act.
Extraversion: Neil is almost certainly an introvert. He seems to spend a lot of time in his dorm room, playing video games and surfing the web.
Agreeableness: It seems like Neil is slightly on the disagreeable side. There were some attempts to poke humor into the thread to which Neil responded sourly (not always though).
Conscientiousness: Neil is definitely the cautious type. He seems to have the tendency to overthink things. Others on the forum pointed out that he had spent too much time thinking of how things could go wrong -- instead, he should just go for it.
Openness: Neil is a pretty open person. He has no qualms about discussing his inner feelings, or being receptive to those of others. He also enjoys various forms of entertainment.
Since I was only performing situational observation, my impressions were based entirely on verbal cues, without any active probing. Despite this, I was still able to obtain significant personal information (including ASL) and form a strong impression of Neil. My experience is probably heavily skewed because this is an unusual circumstance for Neil and might not accurately reflect how he normally behaves at all.
My experience closely matches the hyperpersonal model. I developed intense (but not broad) impressions, which may have been due in part to his selective self-representation. He is only putting forth the information required for you to understand his situation, and declined to upload a photo of himself. This thread is also more than a week old, so Neil had ample time to reveal details to help readers get to know him better (as per the developmental aspect of the hyperpersonal model.)
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Meeting someone new?
I went online to a "randomly assigned" chat room. (id explica the first one on Google that I could get into without registering). I am not a chat room-type person. I have only used this technology onece or twice in my life. I only mention this because it may be a confounding variable in my personal results.
The person I chose to make my impression of was the first person who recognized I was "snooping" on the chat room. Which was his/her word for not contributing, but just watching. It only took about 20 minutes for this person to recognize me. At first, I was struck and flattered that someone had noticed me. This preliminarily boded well for my impression of this person, who was refferred to as DOGG4341. Before asking anything, I assumed that this was a 20-something male, just by the ID.
After asking a couple of questions, this person "said" that they were an 18 year old male high school grad in Indianapolis (Indiana, I assume). We chatted for about 30 minutes, constantly being interrupted by everyone else in the group, whom we both ignored. However, I must say that I formed quite a negative impression of these people.
My impression of DOGG4341 is that of a regular "kid" who has a rough life and cannot afford to go to college. He seemed relatively intelligent and that does not seem to have been preventing him from attending at least a two year college. He stated that he was working, though which leads me to think that he had to take at least one year off of schooling. Like I said, I found him relatively pleasant, because he recognized me. He could have been a bit creepy, though. I was pretty sure about my impression in intensity, but not so much in breadth.
This makes me believe that my FIRST impression supports hyperpersonal theory. Over time my impression may change, but I certainly do not plan on keeping in contact with my "partner". I found that the nature of the assignment and the lack of cues led me to focus in on the cues that were present. I noted myself engaging in at least three of the five aspects of hyperpersonal theory. (especially selective self-presentation for myself, as I portrayed myself as my ideal self, as opposed to my actual self)
The person I chose to make my impression of was the first person who recognized I was "snooping" on the chat room. Which was his/her word for not contributing, but just watching. It only took about 20 minutes for this person to recognize me. At first, I was struck and flattered that someone had noticed me. This preliminarily boded well for my impression of this person, who was refferred to as DOGG4341. Before asking anything, I assumed that this was a 20-something male, just by the ID.
After asking a couple of questions, this person "said" that they were an 18 year old male high school grad in Indianapolis (Indiana, I assume). We chatted for about 30 minutes, constantly being interrupted by everyone else in the group, whom we both ignored. However, I must say that I formed quite a negative impression of these people.
My impression of DOGG4341 is that of a regular "kid" who has a rough life and cannot afford to go to college. He seemed relatively intelligent and that does not seem to have been preventing him from attending at least a two year college. He stated that he was working, though which leads me to think that he had to take at least one year off of schooling. Like I said, I found him relatively pleasant, because he recognized me. He could have been a bit creepy, though. I was pretty sure about my impression in intensity, but not so much in breadth.
This makes me believe that my FIRST impression supports hyperpersonal theory. Over time my impression may change, but I certainly do not plan on keeping in contact with my "partner". I found that the nature of the assignment and the lack of cues led me to focus in on the cues that were present. I noted myself engaging in at least three of the five aspects of hyperpersonal theory. (especially selective self-presentation for myself, as I portrayed myself as my ideal self, as opposed to my actual self)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Growing Online Space of Web 2.0
My name is Emily Etinger, and I am a senior in the College of Engineering. I am an independent major, studying Operations Research & Information Engineering, Information Science, and Business.
This semester, I am taking 21 credits (6 courses). In order to stay on top of all of my various assignments, I set out in search of a website where I could easily outline my course load for the semester. I looked for a site where I can enter in all of my assignments for each course, along with all due dates, and then print out my weekly tasks.
I am a fan of the ever-growing world of Web 2.0—more specifically, the synchronicity of online applications that I can use to stay organized. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any website that featured an application that suited my particular needs in this situation. However, I did find some new sites that I might find useful some time in the future.
Every so often, I search online for the latest additions to the Web 2.0 world; I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of new free applications available to the world. Internet users and developers are constantly pushing for faster data that is accessible anywhere in the world, regardless of the users’ physical location. Even though I was not able to find the application that suited my needs at this particular time, I am confident that it will become available some time in the future.
The constant creation of Web 2.0 websites is encouraging to the world of online application progress. In contrast to companies that create productivity software that sit off-line, such as Microsoft Office, I know that I can search the Internet each week and find new software; I don’t need to wait four year or so for new versions of the same solutions to appear.
Why do these new applications appear at an exponential rate? What inspires web developers to spend endless hours creating online applications that may never turn any profit? Does the Internet provide entrepreneurs with the perfect outlet for presenting their ideas to the largest possible audience? Or does the tremendous amount of new additions to the online world hinder a potentially good idea from succeeding because of the overflow of information?
This semester, I am taking 21 credits (6 courses). In order to stay on top of all of my various assignments, I set out in search of a website where I could easily outline my course load for the semester. I looked for a site where I can enter in all of my assignments for each course, along with all due dates, and then print out my weekly tasks.
I am a fan of the ever-growing world of Web 2.0—more specifically, the synchronicity of online applications that I can use to stay organized. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any website that featured an application that suited my particular needs in this situation. However, I did find some new sites that I might find useful some time in the future.
Every so often, I search online for the latest additions to the Web 2.0 world; I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of new free applications available to the world. Internet users and developers are constantly pushing for faster data that is accessible anywhere in the world, regardless of the users’ physical location. Even though I was not able to find the application that suited my needs at this particular time, I am confident that it will become available some time in the future.
The constant creation of Web 2.0 websites is encouraging to the world of online application progress. In contrast to companies that create productivity software that sit off-line, such as Microsoft Office, I know that I can search the Internet each week and find new software; I don’t need to wait four year or so for new versions of the same solutions to appear.
Why do these new applications appear at an exponential rate? What inspires web developers to spend endless hours creating online applications that may never turn any profit? Does the Internet provide entrepreneurs with the perfect outlet for presenting their ideas to the largest possible audience? Or does the tremendous amount of new additions to the online world hinder a potentially good idea from succeeding because of the overflow of information?
I love shopping...even online
Hello , world~~My name is Yu Tian, senior in information science. A year ago, I transfered to Cornell from Beijing, China . Initially misled by the information 'Ithaca is in NY state, where is not far away from NYC', I thought I was going to a place full of shopping malls...yeah, I know this sounds stupid, but after I talked to another freshman this evening, I figured that I was not the only one( thank god....) Anyways, after I was done with Pyramid Mall quickly after I got here, I started my new hobby, shopping online( especially ebay), which improved my understanding of online bidding system and cultivate my interest in e-commerce area at relatively small expenses of spending a few extra bucks ( fine, this is my story and I am stick to it...=P) And what's more important, it provides me with some idea for this very first assignment for my new favorite course. =)
I believe that people are familiar with some shopping websites as ebay.com, amazon.com. I mean, even those alien robots know how to use it... Not mentioned in Wallace's book, these kind of websites might need to be classified into a new internet enviroment. Take ebay for example, even though looking at computer screen, we are actually dealing with people: people who sell , people who buy, people who make reviews and people who read reviews. So, how do these people affect each other in this space? How do people be affected by the limited information revealed on the webpage? Will we be willing to buy stuff from a seller with 10 good reviews and 3 bad ones or a seller with 3 good reviews, and more importantly, why? I am very interested in learning to analyze what's really going on under all these online social activities, also, hopefully this will help me in my future bidding.
I believe that people are familiar with some shopping websites as ebay.com, amazon.com. I mean, even those alien robots know how to use it... Not mentioned in Wallace's book, these kind of websites might need to be classified into a new internet enviroment. Take ebay for example, even though looking at computer screen, we are actually dealing with people: people who sell , people who buy, people who make reviews and people who read reviews. So, how do these people affect each other in this space? How do people be affected by the limited information revealed on the webpage? Will we be willing to buy stuff from a seller with 10 good reviews and 3 bad ones or a seller with 3 good reviews, and more importantly, why? I am very interested in learning to analyze what's really going on under all these online social activities, also, hopefully this will help me in my future bidding.
Assignment One
Hello.
My name is Milan (like the city). I was born in Cleveland, OH, but I've been living out in the boonies for a while now. I'm a junior, age 20, majoring in psychology. I've been active in forums, blogs, and chat rooms since I was in junior high. I'd like to think the amount of time I used to spend online directly correlates with how little I had to do; rural Ohio is known for little else but unbelievably oppressive boredom. And corn.
I spend a lot of my free time writing or sketching, and that's only when I'm not reading. I prefer somewhat obscure science fiction and fantasy, but I'll read pretty much anything. I have a collection (read: hoard) of various campus publications about as tall as my desk, most of which I've at least skimmed. I've been on the staff of Rainy Day during previous semesters, and I'm considering joining again this year.
Most of my online activity centers around my primary interests. I post on various "communities" where members provide writing and/or sketch samples and trade constructive criticism. The owners work to maintain them as casual, non-confrontational environments where people feel comfortable pointing out flaws and inconsistencies in each others' work that they'd never be able to speak of in person. It's fun, low-maintenance, no-conflict.
A phenomenon I think is interesting is how these communities sometimes develop hierarchies and unspoken sets of social protocol, gradually becoming more and more insular to the point of xenophobia. The more established members form pseudo-factions and are openly hostile towards anyone who disrupts the system (which includes potential new members by default)Though these are asynchronous discussion forums by default, they end up displaying a lot of the characteristics of what Wallace referred to as "metaworlds;" this is particularly odd, because forums typically lack the graphical flair that one would assume necessary to hold a certain degree of attention. I would eventually like to understand how this process occurs.
I don't think Wallace could have anticipated the blurring of the lines between her "online spaces;" in her model, where would things like Facebook and Myspace fall? In that same vein, where and when does a discussion forum become more than that for its members?
My name is Milan (like the city). I was born in Cleveland, OH, but I've been living out in the boonies for a while now. I'm a junior, age 20, majoring in psychology. I've been active in forums, blogs, and chat rooms since I was in junior high. I'd like to think the amount of time I used to spend online directly correlates with how little I had to do; rural Ohio is known for little else but unbelievably oppressive boredom. And corn.
I spend a lot of my free time writing or sketching, and that's only when I'm not reading. I prefer somewhat obscure science fiction and fantasy, but I'll read pretty much anything. I have a collection (read: hoard) of various campus publications about as tall as my desk, most of which I've at least skimmed. I've been on the staff of Rainy Day during previous semesters, and I'm considering joining again this year.
Most of my online activity centers around my primary interests. I post on various "communities" where members provide writing and/or sketch samples and trade constructive criticism. The owners work to maintain them as casual, non-confrontational environments where people feel comfortable pointing out flaws and inconsistencies in each others' work that they'd never be able to speak of in person. It's fun, low-maintenance, no-conflict.
A phenomenon I think is interesting is how these communities sometimes develop hierarchies and unspoken sets of social protocol, gradually becoming more and more insular to the point of xenophobia. The more established members form pseudo-factions and are openly hostile towards anyone who disrupts the system (which includes potential new members by default)Though these are asynchronous discussion forums by default, they end up displaying a lot of the characteristics of what Wallace referred to as "metaworlds;" this is particularly odd, because forums typically lack the graphical flair that one would assume necessary to hold a certain degree of attention. I would eventually like to understand how this process occurs.
I don't think Wallace could have anticipated the blurring of the lines between her "online spaces;" in her model, where would things like Facebook and Myspace fall? In that same vein, where and when does a discussion forum become more than that for its members?
Assgnmnt 1
Hi, my name is Yim Lin. I am a junior in ISST in the college of Engineering. I come from New Jersey. I work at the ticket office in Willard Straight Hall and the Grad School. I have two bunnies. They're both fat. I like to sleep and wish I could be doing so right now.....
I vowed never to use blogger again when they forced me to sign up for a google account. I don’t really know what happened what I guess was that my google account expired but still existed, so there was no way for me to sign up again with it or change the password that I had long forgotten. So I signed up for a new google account but it wouldn’t let me retrieve my old blog again because it was mapped to my other account. Finally out of frustration, I switched to Xanga and swore never to Blogger again. Unfortunately, I enrolled in this class and was forced to break this sacred oath I had made.
This summer I stayed in Ithaca. Although I had found a job on Cornell campus, I wanted one off campus as well. To aid my search, I looked online, specifically at Ithaca’s Craigslist. There, many of the locals had posted various positions they were looking to fill. Not having used Craigslist much before, I began to explore the other areas. They had many things like goods for sale or room for rents, and even a personals section, all within the local area. It is essentially like the classified section in a newspaper, but better. The postings are more accurate timewise and there are a lot more of them. Craigslist serves as an extremely easy way to advertise to your local community. It’s free to post and free to browse and thus, easily accessible by just about everyone. It is a way to get the word out to the community that you have something you want, or are looking for something. If you decide to change your mind, you have that veil of anonymity to hide behind, because no one knows who you are and people are expecting some bogus postings. It also puts you on a personal level to others in a sense that you are connecting to your own community but it’s also not personal because you do not actually have to interact with them if you don’t want to.
Craigslist is most like Wallace’s “World Wide Web” category. Most people go there to seek out something they’re looking for or to advertise something. For instance, someone looking at the “items for sale” section probably went there because they already had in mind something they needed to buy. I went there because I wanted to find a job. Craigslist contains a plethora of information for those who are looking for it.
I vowed never to use blogger again when they forced me to sign up for a google account. I don’t really know what happened what I guess was that my google account expired but still existed, so there was no way for me to sign up again with it or change the password that I had long forgotten. So I signed up for a new google account but it wouldn’t let me retrieve my old blog again because it was mapped to my other account. Finally out of frustration, I switched to Xanga and swore never to Blogger again. Unfortunately, I enrolled in this class and was forced to break this sacred oath I had made.
This summer I stayed in Ithaca. Although I had found a job on Cornell campus, I wanted one off campus as well. To aid my search, I looked online, specifically at Ithaca’s Craigslist. There, many of the locals had posted various positions they were looking to fill. Not having used Craigslist much before, I began to explore the other areas. They had many things like goods for sale or room for rents, and even a personals section, all within the local area. It is essentially like the classified section in a newspaper, but better. The postings are more accurate timewise and there are a lot more of them. Craigslist serves as an extremely easy way to advertise to your local community. It’s free to post and free to browse and thus, easily accessible by just about everyone. It is a way to get the word out to the community that you have something you want, or are looking for something. If you decide to change your mind, you have that veil of anonymity to hide behind, because no one knows who you are and people are expecting some bogus postings. It also puts you on a personal level to others in a sense that you are connecting to your own community but it’s also not personal because you do not actually have to interact with them if you don’t want to.
Craigslist is most like Wallace’s “World Wide Web” category. Most people go there to seek out something they’re looking for or to advertise something. For instance, someone looking at the “items for sale” section probably went there because they already had in mind something they needed to buy. I went there because I wanted to find a job. Craigslist contains a plethora of information for those who are looking for it.
Facebook and Myspace...Where is the distinction?
Greetings my fellow Bloggers! My name is Julia Dorcé and I am a junior in the School of Industrial & Labor Relations. I was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but raised in the Big Apple. Well, if you consider Queens Village, NY the “Big Apple” then sure. Although my major is Industrial & Labor Relations, my career aspirations reside more in the realm of journalism. See, initially when I entered the ILR School I was under the crazy notion that I wanted to be a corporate lawyer. However, when I really sat down and thought about it, I discovered that my true passion was writing. I had always been active in numerous publications in high school, and since coming to Cornell that has not changed much either. Thus, I aspire to be the Editor-in-Chief of a magazine under Hearst Publications, particularly Cosmopolitan. Yea, I know what you may be thinking “Isn’t that the magazine that is all about sex position and how to achieve the perfect orgasm”? And yes, a small portion of the magazine is devoted to sex and love, but that is not the whole focus of the content within its 200+ glossy pages. Aside from journalism I am interested in communications and fashion. Reflecting on my experience with blog sites such as this one, I am reminded of my early high school days when the use of “Xanga” was as popular as today’s “Blogger” and “Live Journal”. For me, the appeal wasn’t in the ability to have an online account, or diary if you will, of my life. I enjoyed the design aspect of it. I recall spending countless hours looking up layout codes, constructing my own, or finding ways to make my “Xanga” page truly stand out.
In thinking about an Internet-related phenomenon that I am interested in, my thoughts focus in on the overwhelming popularity of Facebook versus the equally identical downplay of Myspace. I remember the days before I received my coveted NetID, when Myspace was all the crazy. However, looking at what Myspace has become, with additions of “extras” such as a blog, photo album, and calendar, it is not the Myspace that I remember at all. Then, when Facebook became my new online addiction, I felt a sense of comfort in knowing that I had become a part of the elite “college crowd” who could frequent the site at their leisure. This was before the days of the “Mini-feed and third-party applications such as the Super Wall, Big Photo, and the now “public” domain”. When I think about both where both Myspace and Facebook have come in the last few years, I can’t seem to understand why the tide has shifted more toward the use of Facebook. In lieu of all of the development that each platform has undergone, it is hard to really make a clear comparison between the two entities. Thus I ask, what is it about Facebook that makes it so addicting more so than Myspace?
The online space that Facebook occupies is a medley of the World Wide Web, email, and asynchronous discussion forum. In thinking about how the site is organized by networks, which can include either geographic regions or college affiliation, I am reminded of the cataloging system characteristic of the World Wide Web. With respect to the sending and receiving of messages between parties, the concept of email readily comes to mind. Finally, in looking at the function of the “Wall”, I think about an asynchronous discussion forum. People can post comments on their own “Wall”, reply to something on someone else’s “Wall”, and their “Friends” can view what either party said. It is complex to say the least because with all of the mainframe changes that Facebook has undergone in the past few years, I am sure that the online space it occupies will only grow to be more extensive.
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