Critical Site Essay
"Both Cyber-Communities and individuals use the Internet as a communication tool, but does the internet infact present more barriers to communication than it breaks?"
Although the internet connects people across barriers of distance, time, culture and in some cases language as a forum of uncensored information exchange, still deception, misunderstanding, perceptions and ethnocentrism are obstacles that must be taken into account by those who wish to effectively communicate via the internet.
The Pros of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
Access to Individuals and Cyber-Communities
An estimated 57 million people have access across the globe (Doyle 1997) and these figures are continually on the increase. Although most users are from North America, Western Europe and Australia; all six livable continents are represented among the on-line community. This is to say that effectively through the use of the right mediums anyone has the chance of communicating with any of these individuals in the world. One of the most popular forms of communication on the net is e-mail , or electronic mail. Some people "meet" in chat forums such as IRC, or there are web sites that will put people in contact with like minded others. Some use these forums simply to friends on the net, others are in search of romance, and some wish to join the many cyber-communities on the internet. These cyber - communities can be created on the basis of a myriad of topics, interests and hobbies such as politics, celebrities, TV shows, religion, sexual preference, sport, and so the list continues... They are often based around a web site and usually involve either an e-mailing list, news groups or a chat channel. Members from these lists frequently form some kind of relationship with people in these communities (be it a positive or negative relationship; much bickering and flaming has taken place in chat and mailing lists). Occasionally people even meet in real life, be it a gathering or the cyber-community in the nearest capital city or flying across the world to meet in "real life" the person to whom you've poured your heart.
Distance, Time and Cost
Having already looked at the number of people and locations internet users can access without leaving their computer screen, another benefit of CMC is the speed in which one can communicate. Information is received within seconds of it being sent, be it next door or across the world, for the one flat rate. (In Australia at the time of writing AU$1- $2 per hour and $0.25 for the phone call) If this is compared to the cost of overseas phone calls or length of time a letter takes to be delivered, it can be argued that this is one of the greatest pluses of the internet. Many e-mail letters can be sent at once and can be 'cc'ed to many different users or sent to a whole mailing list. E-mails can be replied to as soon as they arrive and even allow quoting all or parts of the original mail as a point of reference. IRC (Inter Relay Chat) involves talking in real time, that is the people you are communicating with are on-line at the same time as you.
Cross Cultural
All begin truly equal on the internet despite basis of race, ethnicity and even wealth, age, gender and education,(Suler 1997) provided the language requirements are met (as discussed below). All that is known about a user, and therefore all they can be judged on, is what they let be known. This lessens discrimination on these points and cultural and other barriers are dropped allowing a more relaxed exchange.
Anonymity
The internet allows individuals mask their identity or completely adopt a new one. The negative aspects of this will be discussed under Deception, but being anonymous also has it's positive points. People are able to access information and support and communicate more freely and (at times) honestly, the less information about themselves they have to give away. Perhaps a desire to protect this anonymity is what causes many people to prevaricate identities. In fact the nature of the net itself encourages it - in chat people use "nicks" or handles to identify themselves rather than their real name, and often carry these into e-mail and home pages. Also reminders that the information being sent may be viewed by a third party and is not secure appear whenever we type anything about ourselves. Who on the net really does have access to our information and identity?
The Cons of CMC
Misunderstandings
Sound and graphics are beginning to play a more prominent role in CMC through mediums such as video conferencing (eg CUSeeme), wavs, and visual chat environments (Suler, 1997) however, text is still the most frequently used medium, and for a great many the only medium. Using text only contributes to misunderstandings in three main ways; firstly it is easy to take what a person has writing out of context, completely miss the point or read too deeply into a message that simply wasn't intended. Humour and sarcasm can be easily confused and leaving the caps lock on can MAKE PEOPLE THINK YOU ARE SHOUTING AT THEM. Secondly, there is no access to body language or voice tone to check the messages you are receiving against. The third point that may cause confusion is the way we "talk" on the internet. This will be discussed further under language, but it seems not only is there jargon for the net itself but each cyber-community has its own unique words and short cuts. Everything is written as fast as possible with the use of many acronyms and symbols with typing and spelling mistakes seldom being corrected. There are netique rules and guidelines to help new comers with their initial problems, but even years of "surfing" can't prevent the occasional wire from being crossed.
Deception
The expression "never believe what you read..." becomes even more potent when you add .."on the net" to it. Whether intentional or not, things are seldom what they seem in cyberspace. As discussed under Anonymity, the internet allows this looseness of identity to the point where it is quite acceptable in some mediums; such as chat, MUD, MOO; to don any chosen identity no matter how far from your own it might be especially in terms of gender, age and marital status. This maybe be see as part and parcel for some users but other may feel gullible and betrayed when and if they discover the truth. Numerous sites tell of the classic tale where someone discovered the person on the other side of the web wasn't in real life who they assumed to be in cyberspace. (Suler, Stone)
The large volumes of information that are accessible through the web would make it the perfect research tool - if it wasn't possible for anyone to make a site containing falsified material without being traced as accountable . Those who do want to utilise the sources available may have a difficult time sorting the fact from the fiction.
Harmless and sometime detrimental pranks are pulled on the net. These include imposing as another's identity changing identities, lurking, sleeping and out right lying. (Suler, 1997)
False Perceptions
As already examined, in cyberspace one can give away as little about themselves as they desire, and of course they can completely deceive someone. How one is perceived and how they perceive others maybe be based on the description they receive, or their subconsciousness may attempt to fill in gaps. Theorist argue that tranference occurs , placing desired or familar charcteristics on to the other entity with whom they're communicating. This obviously will cause problems; if they ever discover they are wrong, and also if they mistakingly refer to charcteristic they have invented.(Suler, 1997)
Technical Difficulties
Computers aren't perfect and at times errors occur, e- mail is not sent, web pages completed vanish. Well it seems the void where the lost messages go has been discovered. Well maybe not but this demonstrates the confusions felt and how it can be a barrier to communication. There is no greater barrier than no being able to get a message through at all.
Ethnocentrism
It was difficult to find net references to this topics and perhaps that demonstrates that the ethnocentrism is deeply inbred. North Americans , who started the internet are its biggest which is often reflected in its content. The globalisation of the web is often forgotten, instead it is filled with information on American celebrities, TV shows politics and other topics. Perhaps this just reflects the wide spread Americanisation of the world in general or that the just internet is slow to spread to other part off the world. As the number of users grow in more countries perhaps the ethnocentrism will lessen although it will always be a part of any intercutlural communication unless the communicators are aware and address it.
Distance and Time!
This was also listed as a positive, but those vase distance that the net so easily covers so quickly become frustrating when you want to take your on line relationships into real life. As can learn about events taking place on the either side of the world and realising you can't transport yourself there as fast as your modem. Also the issue of "real time" can cause confusion. "Real time" refers to being on line at the same moment though it may be the middle of the night in London and day time in Sydney. When reading or quoting times alway be aware of the time division being quoted and how many hours by which you need to adjust. Also "inertaction is asynchronus" (Suler, 1997) , that is it doesn't accur in"real time" in the case of email, for example which fulfills roles somewhere between the letter and the fax/telephone though messages aren't reveive imediately or at times in orders, which can present barriers.
What About ...?
Language
Although the net spreads across the world, English is still the most used language. According to e-stats (1998) English is used on 82% of web sites. Some search engines now offer translations of sites, though these would to be by the dictionary definitions and not include interpretation of many phases. Also even if you search in another language usually the engines features would remain in English, (though Alta Vista offer searches in Chinese, Japanese and Korean) This is another example of ethnocentrism, of perhaps just by the demand the users, and as they change so will the net. Users have also developed their own jargon and symbols, such as the famous smilies. :o)
Though language isn't completely a barrier as the ineternet is a very visual and at times aural medium where communication can take place with out the use of language.
Security
Basically any information you place on the internet could be accessed by anyone. Whole relationships can be store on to a floppy disk. Chat rooms and mailing lists can be logged and achieved for furture reference. This is handy for your own reference but you can never be sure who else has access. Haufe (1997) offers more technical information about the problem with JavaScript and how a firewall protects a server.
Accessibility
While on the net one mush rember who it is they have access to - mostly well educated, upper class Americans. Mostly males middle aged or students access the internet, but this is changing and women are on of the fastest growing groups.
Conclusion
Certainly cyber -communities and on-line relationships could not and would not exist without CMC and the net does over come many boundaries that are present in '"in-person-relationships" (Suler 1997). It is evident, however, that it also creates many communication barriers. It is likely in the near future that technology will concur these characteristics with the use of more audio and visual such as video conferencing, but would the internet still be the internet without these "in built features" and masks behind which we hide.