Religion in Cyberspace

The vast majority of content related to religion and the online world are centered on western religions, most notably Christianity. This article focuses on the affects of cyberspace on several religions, including Christianity, as well as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, Animism, and some forms of Buddhism. It studies the scope of the migration of these religions to the online environment, and the things that hinder their migration.

There are many religions that are wary to allow worship in an online environment. Some ancient Japanese religions have not seen enthusiastic participation from their followers in cyberspace, and some point to that as proof that religion and technology do not mix well. Others take the view that, these same religions are mostly practiced by older believers and the younger more “Internet-savvy” do not affiliate themselves as much with the traditional religions. Another good point that this article makes is that people who live in an area where they belong to a religious minority are more likely to embrace online worship of their religion because they may lack the sense of familiar religious community in their offline environment.

I believe that this article does a great job of arguing the benefits as well as detriments to online religion. In most cases it works well and its followers have a place to worship and communicate together. Though there are a few cases where a religion is hindered by embracing this technologically advanced form of worship, I believe that most religions are capable of finding a way to make it work well for their followers without harming their moral values. The author seems to agree with this point when he says, “In short, contrary to 1990s prophesies of its imminent demise through the emergence of CMC (and related) technologies, religion appears to be here to stay. It is not only surviving but thriving in our "post-post-modern" world, both offline and in the venues provided by CMC.”

Ess, C. (2007). Cross-cultural perspectives on religion and computer-mediated communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), article 9. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/ess.html

Including contributions by: Akira Kawabata (Osaka University) and Hiroyuki Kurosaki (Kokugakuin University)

-Christopher

The Construction of Away Messages: A Speech Act Analysis

Jacqueline Nastri
Department of Communication
Cornell University

Jorge Peña
Department of Communication
Cornell University

Jeffrey T. Hancock
Department of Communication and Faculty of Computing and Information Science
Cornell University

Research suggests that "away messages" in instant messaging express informational and entertainment communicative goals while displaying a users' identity. This study investigated the extent to which these communicative goals are reflected in the language structure of away messages, by examining the speech acts performed through the production of 483 away messages crafted by 44 participants. The messages were also analyzed for the use of non-standard orthography and humor. The results show that the messages were constructed primarily with assertives, followed by expressives and commissives, but rarely with directives, confirming that away messages tend to reflect both informational and entertainment goals.

While some messages provide information about one's activities and others focus more on personal beliefs and mottos, what these messages all have in common is that they provide information regarding a user's current communication status (e.g., online/offline), activity, schedule, emotional state, etc., potentially offering cues for impression formation and the maintenance of social links. Through posting away messages, users can express their identity and maintain their sense of connection to their friends and family by providing them with a window into their lives.

Litmus Test for Website Diversity

Mapping Diversities and Tracing Trends of Cultural Homogeneity/Heterogeneity in Cyberspace

Elad Segev School of Politics, International Relations, & PhilosophyKeele University Niv Ahituv The Faculty of ManagementTel Aviv University Karine Barzilai-Nahon The Information School University of Washington


This article looked at the notion that increased internet and mass media usage would result in a loss of individuality, specifically cultural individuality, because of the tendency to create sites that appeal to the broadest segment of the population. Studies done by researchers attempted to compare and contrast the sites of companies that had a presence in several countries, seeing how they represented local culture.

They used a variety of measurements of colors, graphics, and other site features to gauge how each site was customized for it’s audience. Large U.S. based companies homepages were examined, and the findings were very interesting in some instances, denoting differences in presentation but not much in the way of a true reflection of the local preferences in how to be communicated to. The study then concentrated on MSN and Yahoo, citing that Yahoo’s high reliance on advertising may lead it to be more homogenous than MSN, which has a much lower advertising reliance.

Part of what the article touched on was how these two companies fared in detaching themselves from their U.S. based websites in terms of both appeal and content. Although the look of both of the sites differed in other countries, MSN had done more of the homework required to reflect true local tastes and customs, incorporating more of the dominant trait (masculinity, high-context, low-context etc) as it related to the geographical location. This ability to be able to customize more deeply may lie in fewer sponsors to please, and suggests that even in cyberspace control will eventually lie with the one who pays the most.

The article was primarily a research paper, with charts and graphs that showed how the information was obtained, but still raised some relevant points about which way we can expect to see the Internet going in the future, as more globalization pushes marketing closer to the native comfort zone. Questions about just who represents local customs will also have to be answered, further narrowing the focus and tailoring the message to cultures within the cultures.


Diana

Can we be friends? Developing friendships through Cyberspace.

“Making Friends in Cyberspace”
Malcolm R Parks, University of Washington
Kory Floyd, University of Arizona

Human relations in Cyberspace, what a concept! Looking back at the introduction of the World Wide Web I often wonder if the founder could have even imagined for a moment how this new environment would evolve. According to Parks and Floyd there are over “5000 Internet discussion groups today" and growing rapidly. This study reviewed cyberspace and friendships and they came up with four questions to lead their research. “How often do personal relationships form in Internet newsgroups, who has them, how close or developed do they become, and do relationships that started on line migrate to other settings?” (Parks, Floyd, pg1)

First question that was tested was how often relationships formed. Test conducted sampled different newsgroups by randomly selecting participants that were involved several times during a certain time period. A survey was emailed to those individuals and the results were then studied. Only 33% responded but of those 60% stated that they had formed a friendship through Cyberspace.

Second and third questions looked at “Who” has or is looking for a personal relationship through Cyberspace and how involved did they become. This was interesting, as in the past, often it was believed that those participating were either socially unlucky or extremely shy. Study showed this was not the case and in many ways was just the opposite. Study also showed that as one became more and more involved with a group of one or more they also began to self-disclose more personal information. It appears that these relationships were very real and friendships seemed to be evolving rapidly. Additionally individuals from all walks of life are getting involved. According to the Parks and Floyd, “It may be that developing personal relationships on line is more a function of simple existence than it is of demographic or personality factors.”

Last question, “Do on-line relationships migrate to other settings?” (Parks,Floyd, pg 9) Answer from this study was, yes they often do. 63% reported that at some point there on-line conversations eventually went off-line. Forms of communication ranged from the telephone, postal service and 33% met face-to-face. Authors note that assumptions about on-line relationships remaining on-line are incorrect and many times do lead to other forms.

Both authors agree that more research needs to be conducted to really determine exactly how broad human relation’s has become through Cyberspace. It is however apparent that communicating through cyberspace has become another way for people to meet others with like interests or just to be social. Even using basic email has become very personal through the use of idioms and images.

Opinion:
There are many ways in which each of us can become involved. Have you explored any of these opportunities? As I was doing this project I thought about what life would be like without Cyberspace and the ability to communicate with others through it. Are we losing value in having a face-to-face conversation? In many ways I don’t believe we are. My opinion is that communication through Cyberspace is just another method of interacting with others.

Parks, Malcolm, University of Washington & Floyd, Kory, University of Arizona. (1996) Making Friends in Cyberspace. Journal of Communication 46(1). http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue4/parks.html

Nicole Johnson

Impression Formation in Cyberspace: Online Expectation and Offline Experiences in Text-based Virtual Communities

Impression Formation in Cyberspace: Online Expectation and Offline Experiences in Text-based Virtual Communities
David Jacobson
Department of Anthropology
Brandeis University


“You know how we do, just give me my fried chicken and watermelon!” What comes to mind when one reads a statement such as this? Well that depends on your cultural upbringing, attitudes that were instilled in your youth or nothing at all. As the saying goes, “ Perception is everything”. People form, subconsciously or consciously, impressions through textual and auditory cues in a virtual environment. In short, we are all guilty of stereotyping in some way, shape or form and that plays a vital role in how we communicate with people as a whole, particularly with online communication.
Jacobson describes different theories of categorization as it relates to communication. With a classical theory, there are like commonalities that exist within the virtual group. Any person in that group without like qualities of the majority makes the classical category incomplete. So here I ask the question, are there any true or clear-cut classical theories? I would argue not. But a gentleman by the name of E. Rosch does a great job of naming the clearest case of category membership entitled prototypes. It is a person’s ratings of how good an example of a category another person is judged to be. In my terms, I would call this character profiling or loosely put, stereotyping. The common person is well aware of social stereotypes because they are typically used in the media or in public forums such as the media or Internet. Examples are “Uncle Tom, Princess or stud” There article goes on to discuss how exposure to differing stereotypes can ultimately alter our perception of those stereotypes.
We also form opinions of others simply by the way others write. For example, we may label someone ignorant simply because that person unknowingly failed to use the spell check function on the keyboard or we may think someone is acting in an urban fashion or “ghetto” if someone writes the sentence that I mentioned in the first paragraph.
And lastly, we may inadvertently visualize what people look like based off of their usernames online and as a result communicate with them in a particular way because of it.
So my point in this blog is to never judge a book by its cover because online, people will only reveal to other what they choose to.

Nicole Nyabiosi

Internet Social Interaction

Psychological Predictors of Internet Social Communication

Sarah A. Birnie and Peter Horvath Acadia University, Canada

This study was focused on the relationship of traditional social behavior to social communication via the Internet in a completely wired campus where every professor uses computers in classroom teaching, each residence is wired to the Internet, and every student is issued a laptop computer. The goal of the study was to see the differences in social interactions through internet communication versus verbal interaction, thus seeing if the two mediums were different in outcome. For those people who are more shy, this study targets them to evaluate the chances that they become less shy when social interaction is not a part of the matrix.

I found this study to be interesting in the arguments that were presented. A handful of the arguments were as follows: Do people interact more with friends and family via online resources, or verbal interaction? Does the internet supplement traditional means of social behavior? Is speaking the same as writing, in the context of social interaction? Has online communication broken the traditional assumptions given by personal interaction?

After reading the article, I found asking myself questions and what the definitions I would give them were. I asked myself, “What do I define as a friend?” “How active am I in my family?” “Do I value online communication versus traditional means of communication relative to my own established methods?”

The first question of study, the interaction of friends and family with online methods or verbal methods, is answered by the definition I would give for a friend. I do not think that anyone can have too many friends, but at what length do I consider a person a friend? I think that a true friend is someone who would do exactly what I would do for them. I want to know that I can rely on my friends in a time of need, just as they would of me. The level of support does not warrant exhausting forms of wealth or time, but a two way street of acts that people who care about each other do for each other must apply. I know that my friends will watch my house if I need them to and I know that my friends will be there if something horrible happens to myself or other family. I know that in times of joy and happiness, my friends will be there to bare witness and share in these times. All of these acts I would do for a friend as well. If one wishes to be truly wealthy in life, the measurement of worth is found in what one person calls a friend. The stock invested in those we choose to surround ourselves with is shown by the return when the time comes for need.

I do not interact with friends online as much as the study would indicate for the target study group in the experiment. I chose to have a higher level of standards for my definition of friend. This does not mean that other people’s friends are not true friends, but for what I call friend is contingent solely on my own terms. Family interaction is also along the same lines of friends in my mind. Blood runs thicker than water, but in my own thoughts, my friends are an extension of my family. I have family by blood that will never come close to the friends that I have. For this argument, I interact with those whom interact with me. If family does not involve themselves with my life and I do not involve myself in their lives, than we are at a wash for interaction. Perhaps I have a warped sense of reality.

When the study is asking if the internet supplements traditional social behavior, there is a mixed feeling when I approach my answer. I do not think that it supplements the entire traditional social behavior because no matter what a person can do hiding behind a computer, there is still going to be a need to build confidence in the world we are surrounded in. Unless we manage to completely hide in our homes, we will still have a need to have traditional social interactions. For the purpose of this study, I can be reasonably confident that the internet supplements traditional social behavior. I caveat this statement that it is for the purpose of this study that I agree with the argument.

In regards to the question of speaking being the same as writing, in the context of social interaction, I think it does in the area of when one was brought up in regards to time. Grandparents are probably less likely to send an email as opposed to writing a letter, Parents are more likely to call as opposed to write a letter, and the current generations, (with fuzzy lines of intersection) will most likely send an email versus a lengthy conversation. A “norm” is contingent once again on the time that something can be defined as normal. Visiting and writing were perfectly normal when these were the modes of communication readily available for the time eras in which these lines of communication were present. Once the phone began to replace a large amount of letter writing, this was more normal than writing lengthy letters. The progressions of less timely methods of communication have been exponentially increased with the digital age.

Has online communication broken the traditional assumptions given by personal interaction? I believe that in large, it has. While I would prefer to write a letter or call someone on the phone, this does not lessen the social interaction that my future children will have with friends. Grammar, diction, and other literary skills are still fostered by manners of speech and books. The means in which one speaks to another has no less impact as if it were done ten, fifty, or even a hundred years ago. I would like to see more grammar in interactions, but this is a personal wish. What is given in a transfer of information is valued at what level the transaction was given, as well as to the audience received.

I would recommend anyone to peruse this article. It raises a decent amount of questions within a person’s thoughts. I think that anyone would be surprised to discover what one comes up with for their own definitions on communication and the level of social interaction we chose to endeavor upon.

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol7/issue4/horvath.html

Good-bye!

Classmates of COM 215,
Thank you for all your information that you have shared with me this last 8 weeks. For being a nurse this class has been a difficult one because most of it was new terminology. Thank you for making the process easier! Good luck in your futures!
Janice

Community or group of individuals?

'Beyond The Community Concept: A symbolic interactionist perspective on online social relations' by Jan Fernback New Media & Society, Feb2007, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p49-69, 21p

This article starts with a thought-provoking comparison of what community means, and, in particular, what online community means. The idea of technology being the great despoiler of community is debated very effectively, offering an alternative look at how instead of ruining it, it has enhanced and, in many instances, created and nurtured it where none existed before. At the same time, it questions whether the term 'community' should be applied to an online group at all, arguing that the word itself is too suggestive of a preordained concept.

The article further explores the nature of 'real' versus 'virtual', stating 'The distinction between the real and the virtual has become much less useful as the internet is firmly ingrained in daily cultural existence.' The author goes on to cite several studies that demonstrate how community is achieved in cyberspace, and how it is being utilized by the people who participate in things like chat rooms, blogs, and the like.

The purpose of the article is to give the results of the study that precipitated it, where members of different online communities were asked to give their feedback and answer questions about what they thought of the online experience. The information that was gathered shows the contradictory way people think about the internet, and also the way it reflects their own ideas about community.

Relax. They're Just Words :)

This, like most of you, is my first time actually blogging. On the other hand, I have read a few blogs along with the comments that follow. Because of a simple misunderstanding, these comments can become extremely intense. Without facial expressions or voice inflections words can easily be misinterpreted. The article ‘Lower the Temperature When Blogging Turns Heated’ briefly gives suggestions on how to steer clear of nasty fights with words.

Sometimes it is obvious that there is no logic behind what people write. They post it just to be nasty. Responding to these types of posts only gives them fuel to continue. Rather than retaliating simply ignore it. Keeping silent, however, is not always the correct response. In some cases you do have to respond so that you do not leave a bad impression. A war of words can become civilized “if approached with wit and a spirit of fair play" (Goldsborough, 2007). The argument becomes a game when the responses are not diminished to personal attacks. The following is a list of a few suggestions the author has to keep the game interesting:

Bring research & logic to arguments
Look for inconsistencies in opponents arguments
Concede when necessary
Praise opponent for impressive tactics
Regard it all with amused detachment

The web address for the Blogger's Code of Conduct (http://blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Blogging_Wikia) created by Tim O'Reilly was given. Here you can add what you think is missing or make changes to the current Blogger's Code of Conduct entries.

Goldsborough, R. (2007, September 10). Community College Week. Lower the Temperature When Blogging Turns Heated. 20(2). 15.

Is There a Social Cyber Class?

Who knew there was such a variety of Social Network Sites (SNS) other than the infamous MySpace? Apparently, there are several others, and in her article "Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites"(http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1hargittai.html), Eszter Hargittai sets out to address the question of the potential systematic differences between SNS users and non-user, as well as why users choose one site over another.

In February and March of 2007, over 1,000 first year students from the University of Illinois participated in this study to evaluate how different kinds of people use online social network sites and their services. Not surprisingly, 88% of the participants are regular SNS users, and 74% use at least one particular site often. In fact, only one student in the survey had never heard of any of the six sites referenced in the research study. The six sites are Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, Friendster, Orkut, and Bebo. However, because of extremely low usage, Orkut and Bebo excluded from the data tables.

Facebook is uniquely different from the other sites in that it initially restricted membership to people with an affiliation to an institution of higher learning, clearly leveling out the demographic landscape. However, just recently, Facebook opened its membership to all users, perhaps to better compete with the newer and popular MySpace.

The results of the study showed that Facebook, MySpace, and Xanga sites have the highest hours of Internet usage. It also revealed specific relationships between race, ethnicity, and parental education as predictors of SNS usage. For instance, Xanga and Friendster are ranked as the leading SNS with Asian and Asian American students, perhaps due to their popularity in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysian, and Indonesia. In this study sample, Hispanic students are significantly more likely to use MySpace than their White counterparts. But most interestingly, students whose parents have lower levels of education are more likely to use MySpace, while students whose parents have higher levels of education are more likely to use Facebook as their social network.

To answer the question of whether or not there there is a Social Cyber Class, I would say there definitely is. Factors in deciding social network sites are no different than choosing the school one wishes to attend, or the person to date or marry, or the car to purchase, and so on. I agree with Eszter Hargittai that our online persona is merely a reflection of our offline identity.

Yvonne

IM Relationships - Intimate Relationships or No?

Friendships through IM: Examining the Relationship between Instant Messenger and Intimacy. Yifeng Hu, Jacqueline Fowler Wood, Vivian Smith, Nalova Westbrook, The Pennsylvania State University.

As the world of technology evolves, communications in face-to-face interactions is being replaced with the use of many cyberspace devices. This article focuses on the relationships that can be formed using the tool of Instant Messenger (IM).

Although Instant Messenger is more popular with the traditional college student than any other sector of society, its use continues to grow in all sectors and cultures in society. The traditional personal relationship theory suggests that communicating through the use of IM would lead to more uncertainty in a relationship because you have a higher degree of uncertainty in how to behave or how your partner may behave. Additionally, theories of relational development specify the importance of the physical appearance, especially in a romantic relationship.

An additional challenge to communicating with Instant Messenger is the lack of non-verbal language. Some challenge that since you can't literally read tome or view facial expressions, the communications can't be as intimate as a face-to face interaction. : ) Contrary to this belief the study demonstrates the opposites through a survey of college students using IM. The study indicates that relationships through IM actually allow for more self disclosure and encourage making a face-to-face meeting more interesting.

Opinion:
Based on the information presented in this article, and the fact I have college kids, I believe that IM is an excellent instrument by which you can maintain long distance communications, as well as develop intimate relationships. Although you lack non-verbal gestures in the conversation : ), once you have established a relationship that you know your party well, you can "read between the lines" while communicating in cyberspace.

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue1/hu/html

Save money by reaching out to more people!

Over the past 20 years, advertising and marketing have had a dramatic facelift; it was common place to view advertisements in your favorite magazine or on billboards passing by. Nowadays however, it is more common to see them spread throughout the World Wide Web. The Web is home to every topic imaginable and contains videos from music to “do-it-yourself.” Video hosting websites are the new rage and receive hundreds of thousands of hits each day. Youtube.com alone adds 65,000 new videos daily, equivalent to sending 75 million emails.

Thomas Clark of Xavier University and Julie Stewart of the University of Cincinnati decided to take advantage of this new medium to promote the Xavier Entrepreneurial Center (XEC). Some of the reasons Clark and Stewart were attracted to this idea was because video can be created fairly easily, there is minimal cost to created and upload, free hosting of the video, and more importantly, there is free distribution. Clark and Stewart were aware that videos have become superior to text by the mere fact that watching a video is more impressionable then reading text.

They began with a five minute video and after having it approved by their Board of Trustees, uploaded to YouTube.com along with three other video hosting websites. Within the first week, they received 700 viewings, ranking it 83rd for most watched videos that week. They then added the link of the University’s website and in the next three months, received 1,300 more hits.

With such a positive response to the video, the Development and Admissions Offices contacted their department to ask for more information and to obtain copies of the video to pass out to use as a marketing tool for the University. They began to show the video at many different events and it continued to impress. Over time, they realized that the video could edit the video to include up to date pictures, interviews, and news. In the video, they included alumni award winners and would have a short review of each recipient. One of the awardees’ was so impressed with the recognition he and his family received from the video, that he was prompted to give $3 million to the entrepreneurship program.

Clark and Stewart credit three areas for their success. The first is placement of the video link on the website. By making it easy to navigate to, it was less of a hassle to get to. The second is the planning of the video shoots. By mapping out specifically when the video should be updated, it was easy to keep it up to date. Finally, they credit how cost effective and innovative this medium is for them and everyone else. Their message was displayed to those would normally would not open their mail.


Conly Davidson