Chapter 2 of Terranova's book has been quite interesting for several readings and in my opinion has been easier to sift through than chapter 1. The first thing is when the author talks about establishing a connection, getting from point A to point B in cyberspace. Going off of my previous post, I don't think it is this easy. When we talked about noise, it makes the process of one connection difficult. IF eight people are standing in a room and they are talking about different things, but at the same noise level, how is it possible for someone to fully comprehend an individuals conversations. Relating this back to the internet, it is impossible. There is always more than one possibility when it comes to getting information, and hearing opinions and ideas. When I read the first few pages of this article, I thought of the telephone game I used to play as a kid where I had a cup with a piece of string tied to it, and on the other end a friend had a cup with the end of the string tied to it, point A to point B.
Terranova's interpretation of the internet as a "hyper network" got me thinking...something that is constantly accelerating can attain this acceleration by the amount of traffic in this universal address space we call the internet. Let's look at the net like real estate. The infrastructure provides acres of land to a limitless amount of people, and they never run out. That to me is amazing. A space that will never run out of room, and will never turn away another member. It's like a hyper club, a nonexclusive collection of hopefuls looking to spread ideas, and manipulate it to a certain extent.
Lastly, the real time of the internet allows people to connect on the same time, though they are separated by time zones in real life. Fifteen years ago, virtual reality was something used to describe a world that a human being could not live in, but in reality, the virtual aspect of the internet has been embedded into the DNA of society so deep that it is hard to establish what is "real" or "fake". If your talking with someone it's real, so I guess virtual reality is reality in this present time.
Your point about real and fake is interesting. It might even be the case that it doesn't matter so much anymore--if I interact with someone in an online setting, and that interaction is meaningful, then isn't it real in the sense that matters?
ReplyDeleteYour first and second paragraphs seem to me to describe two aspects of the same phenomenon--finite attention and infinite space/demands. One question, then, is how we deal with this conflict.
Yes, it is real in the sense that matters. The human element is present because you know you are interacting the same way as the person on the other end. This is why I can't even argue that talking to someone online is taking away from face to face interaction. Besides actually touching a person, you can interact virtually the same way you can face to face. This bring me to my next question, would you think this is kind of a talk 2.0?, the evolution of human connection, talking and video conferencing with people online in different nations that you may never meet in real life.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question on how we deal with this conflict, I thing it has something to do with how much one can stand or tolerate to get the information he or she needs. This sorting process is similar to sorting through different colored socks, I may not find the match right away, but sooner or later i'm going to find it. It is so much circulation on the internet that it may take a while for a surfer to find exactly what he or she wants. I think the constant motivation is the fact that you know its there, you just need to search for it.
What I was also wondering was if the space will always keep up with the demand. The only answer I could formulate is that as long as there is a need, and power in numbers, demand will be met. It may not be as simple as that, but I feel the consumer's interests are always primary.
talk 2.0--not sure. I don't think face to face is nothing, though. There is a vibe or intensity when people congregate physically--being at a concert feels different from watching music on you tube. It's also easier to space out when watching a lecture online than it is when you are in an audience and aware of how everyone else is reacting. I think this third party affect/feeling/awareness makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteYour sock point is interesting--I would add that a complication enters in at a different level as well: how do we even know what we want to look for? How do we know what we want?
I think the space comes before the demand--before the internet went mainstream, the mainstream media and most people didn't think there was a point to it. Why would anyone want a homepage or a website? (that was the question)
True, how do we know what we want or what we're looking for? I think this is influenced by society and it's insistence on what we need, what to like, what to wear etc. This gets embedded in peoples minds and it makes hard for people to decide what they need over what they want.
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