We learnt about Computer Mediated Communications(CMC) in class recently and i recalled reading in the papers recently about a girl who committed suicide over someone she met over the internet. I could not really remember the details so i googled and i found this article instead. I am not sure if it is the same one cause they said it was in 2006, but they talk about and raise the same issue. You can read the article here.
In short, the whole story is about how Megan Meier met a cute boy named Josh on Myspace and they started building a friendship from there. After a period of time, this 'Josh' started to send her emails or post messages online that insulted her. However, unknown to her Josh was actually a neighbour, an adult at that. Prior to this, Megan was already taking medicine for her depression and low self-esteem problems, if i am not wrong.
Here we see that CMC has caused a shift even in the most simple basis of self. This is due to the face that there people are able to create a whole new personality for themselves. A different name, face, GENDER, hobbies etc. There is no way for sure to really tell them apart and to ensure that the person you talk to online, really is the real person themself. I am sure there are many other cases such as these, but I am rather lazy to google it.
The scary part is that there is no way that we can eradicate CMC from our lives. It has really infiltrated many aspects of life and way of life. If one day the internet collapses, the world will really go bonkers. It is so ironic. It does bad, yet we cannot let it go or to be less reliant on it.
There are many avenues to CMC but i think the internet is the most powerful yet destructive tool. We need it to manage relationships, skype and msn are the major communication mediums i use to contact friends and family overseas. It helps us to keep each other in check and to fill each other in here and there that both of us are not that clueless when they come back and we can pick up where we left off more easily. As for me, I need the computer on some sunday mornings if I wake up in time to catch sermons from city harvest's live telecast. I also need it to check my ublearns, student portal and email. But then there is also the consequences of it, like Megan Meier's.
But then communication over these mediums are really impersonal and half the time I do not see the other person face to face. At some times there miscommunications and horrible ones at that and it is all just words and no real emotions being portrayed. Also the issue of spam and advertisement pop-ups annoy me and some of which are inappropriate content for the under 18s.
It is too general to say this, but sometimes i feel that some people dig their own grave by being so open on the internet. Releasing private information, letting their guard down with "strangers" leading to the unfortunate incidents that happen next. I do know that some people seek self assurance online where photos of themselves looking slim and with double chin neatly hidden are posted whereas the unglamarous ones are just tucked away in some folder in the computer. This all leads back to the abuse of the fact that the internet and other CMC avenues hide your real identity.
I guess this is the last post. I will miss you somewhat, weallneedtofu.
5 comments:
FIrst. I think the girl need counselling really. I dun get it why would you kill yourself over someone you don't really know. I guess, as technology advanced, we cant help but keep revealling more bits of our private life. My teacher once said that, actually we don't really have private information anymore. It is scary but the fact is companies are passing information freely. We are in a overloaded century thus, i guess we just have to live with it.
By the way, i am eileen.
yeah i agree, although CMCs allow people all over the world to interact with each other,it has cause disturbing incidents at the same time. Personally, I have come across flamers online which was a partial cause why i moved away from my previous personal blog. Thoes flamers are obviously stating false statements that are sometimes, really hurtful.
i think every sort of communication device, be it internet, sms or even snailmail can be misinterpreted and lead to undesirable consequences when taken in the wrong light. whilst it is natural for us to put the blame on the accelerated rate at which the internet and other forms of communication develop, it is even more necessary to build our characters to protect us from abusing the use and misuse of these forms of communication.
at the end of the day, i really believe that we are unable to survive without these gadgets and gizmos. life as we know it has only functioned with them in it. however, it is our own duty to be wary of the dangers and aware of how we use the computer so as to protect ourselves and our privacy.
whilst the computer is very much irreplaceable for economic reasons, social beings that we are, real life personal contact cannot be replaced no matter how advanced technology gets.
all the best debs!
i dun need tofu. i nid $$$!back to topic, i feel that though CMCS improve our way of life, we should not be over reliant on it.
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