Week 10: Online Interaction

LOL. LMAO. WTF. HAHA. ;) 

Communication. Technology. Everything changes over time. Look back centuries ago, and I'm pretty sure everything is almost completely different. The days where there were no phones, internet, mobiles, tvs... were the days when everyone made a physical effort to communicate. Now? It's as simple as picking up your iPhone and sending an iMessage, or posting on someone's wall on facebook.. you don't have you use your voice. You don't have to move your body. All you need to do is use your thumbs and you're good. We have become so lazy.

The language of online social interaction is also different, with the use of text speak. I'm sure you know what they all mean so I won't bother explaining. I've even found myself saying "LOL" in real life... which is totally weird when you think about it. I type lol and haha and don't even mean it. I'm not actually laughing out loud, it just makes the conversation seem more light and funny and not as serious. These informal ways of speaking are of popular use on social networking sites (and it seems in real life too). You have to use text speak in a certain context too, so you don't want to be too informal in some forms of communication because it could be rude. It depends on context, too. Online interaction is like a whole new world!

This new way of social interaction has it's benefits, sure (like talking to relatives across the globe), but it also can be a simpler ease of access to certain individuals to bully others. Social media can negatively impact upon individuals in terms of Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, which allow people to remain anonymous and comment or create a fake identity to harm others. Anonymous sites such as Formspring are also a major impact upon the rise of cyberbullying.

Group Presentation on 'Mediated Identity and Interaction'

Here are the slides to my group presentation. 

Week 8: The Code

Mean Girls Rules (Code of Conduct):

1. "On Wednesday's we wear pink."
2. "You can't wear a tank top two days in a row.."
3. "..and you can only wear your hair in a ponytail one day a week." 
4. "We only wear jeans or track pants on Fridays." 

What happens if you don't adhere to the rules, no matter how "popular" you are? "You can't sit with us." 

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Rules. We're all familiar with them, we know what they mean. Some of us abide by them, some of us rebel against them... but somehow, we all know they're there to guide us and to be followed. Codes of conduct occur in society in all shapes and sizes, in different communities and groups, with different rules and consequences. Codes, however, are more so social unwritten laws that basically seem just as important as actual government and council laws. 

Wieder's 'Telling the Code' basically looks into a convict code amongst inmates, which again is unwritten and unofficial, but shapes and affects the way the inmates behave and communicate with each other. It's a set of guidelines that govern the values and beliefs of in the inmates, resulting in a sense of unity, order and alliance within the inmate community. All inmates are required to abide by these unwritten rules in order to maintain the order of the community and not ever challenge the code, otherwise they cause distress and are singled out. 

This is quite similar to all of society as a whole. There are unwritten rules everywhere, in workplaces, schools, bathrooms, you name it! Everywhere. And to maintain social order, we follow these rules. Sometimes they're challenged and sometimes they're rebelled against, but in the end - nobody can deny that we all follow some sort of rule in the community that is society. 

I enjoyed this week's topic thoroughly because it made me realise just how unnoticed these rules go, but we all follow them. Strange, huh?