Technology and Anthropology

[€uroMeinke]

3894's intro post triggered a pet interest of mine about the ways technology is changing (or not changing) the ways we relate to one another. Many of us at one point or another, looked to our experience on the Disney boards and said "we ought to write a book about that." But I think the experience is not limited to our Disney board experience but much broader and more universal.

I was reading an article in Wired about a Murder that evolved around a group of My Space friends, that such a thing could take place is no real surprise to me, but what fascinated me was the mention of people's MySpaces continuing on after death becoming tribute sites for the dead. Again, the dead always leave artifacts and have memorials, but these are relegated to cemeteries, and places away from most people's ordinary lives.

The connectedness that technology brings us also seems to change things a bit. I can be in contact with my chosen communities at any time, and almost from anyplace. I catch up on email and do my Live journal posts while I commute. At work I can check in on LoT and see what's happening. Even traveling abroad, I never need to lose touch, never be alone. And yet focused on our machines we can easily ignore the strangers sitting next to us. The occupants of the real world alienated from us, and perhaps even self-selected away.

Anyway, those are my random musings for the moment. I'd like to hear from others how they think things have changed - or remained just the same.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Interesting subject.

ITs my feeling that technology has moved the whole dynamics of social life from what used to be people hanging out at coffee shops or the mall in a group or in-person contact situation, to one where everyone goes home and signs onto Yahoo or buries their nose in their laptops, cellphones or whatever. Oddly enough with the technology I would have never met any of you and thanks to message boards and the such, I hope, you have all gotten to know me as more than my "social in-person" status. If you were to take what you know about me from my posts, etc. and then think about how I am in-person, would my acceptance into this "group" really be possible. Use of this technology makes use of a whole other set of social skills. Instead of face, hand gestures, vocal inflections and personal presence, the "technologies" have words and usage of language. Because, as we all know way too well, you could say ANYTHING in this setting and 10 people can read it 10 different ways. That changes the whole playing field socially and it’s all due to the technology. I think it breaks down some of the stereotypical in-person boundaries and unfortunately creates whole new ones in the sense that alot of the people we interact with online could be anyone, unless we’re lucky enough to meet them in person and know how they are. And that’s sort of an exercise in sociology, which I’m sure someone like SCAEagles would know what I’m talking about.. If there were no pictures of me or if no one had met me, what would you think of me? Maybe I was asian, 5’ 4”, black hair, glasses, skinny, mid 40’s? Or maybe I was a female just pretending to be someone else.

That’s my little ramble... I guess...

[alphabassettgrrl]

I have a love-hate relationship with technology. On the one hand, I can chat with all of you and that's wonderful. I enjoy Disney more now that I have people to hang with on occasion.

On the other hand, it's easy to pretend to be someone else and it's not easy to know who to trust on-line. It's easy to disappear. I tend to keep my virtual circles somewhat separate from each other- a few people know multiple ways to contact me but most of you do not. I'm not one of those people who has everything in my sig line. Personal choice.

I do like that on-line one can present different faces; we do this in real life as well but on-line it's easy to keep them separated. For the most part, I try to present a united face to everybody but it's natural that some of it sifts out. On the whole, my identity as a stagehand doesn't apply much to our discussions of Disney. My identity as a student sometimes has validity. My identity as wife rarely does. My identity as a gay girl sometimes comes up.

I'm a chatty girl, which is generally clear. I can on occasion have a good eye for detail- which is something on which this group thrives.

Technology has enabled us to widen our contact pool, but I think in some ways that pool has become more shallow with the occasional deeper well. We can pursue the appearance of intimacy without actually risking ourselves.

It's fascinating.

[€uroMeinke]

I think things are evolving to where there isn't such a dichotomy of online versus real life friends. More and more among the people I know the two blend. Real life friends join each other's social networks which beget new friends that often you eventually meet in real life. Lisa and I have met people in Paris and Tokyo that we never had seen before in real life and got along just as if we had.

To be sure you can spoof your identity, change your gender, and all that, but I think more and more that becomes a diversion and not an everyday practice. I see parallels to the work life and home life dichotomy, we assume certain identities at work, have relations with our colleagues, that are separate but often blend.

[CoasterMatt]

Are we not men? We are DEVO!!

[wendybeth]

I think we are definitely at an evolutionary crossroads with regards to technology and interpersonal relationships. The thing that fascinates me about the whole online experience is how very tenuous the whole thing seems to be- not that much has to happen, either naturally or by design, to knock this whole experiment on it's ass; then it's back to letters and ponies. I plan on enjoying it while it lasts, and adapting if it bites the dust. In the meanwhile, I am grateful for all the wonderful people I've become friends with, and for having a forum to express thoughts and feelings I might not otherwise.

[3894]

In the old-fashioned world of tribal societies, all human relationships are immediate and face-to-face. As societies get larger and more complex, the relationships tend to become less immediate, more distant and the consequences of behaviors are less profound. Obviously.

Anthropologists who have studied small-scale hunting-gathering societies are always struck by the high degree of social control. On the internet, people can choose when, how, and in what manner to communicate with people. I don't have to respond to you; I can move shop to another board; I don't have to deal with anything, really. I'm safe in my home or in my office or wherever. You're not "real" so I don't have to deal with differences.

It's a mixed bag. Electronic devices allow you to be very selective in who you interact with and when. The internet is a shortcut to finding people with similar interests. People need to ask themselves, Am I sacrificing diversity for an increased comfort zone in my interactions? Am I sacrificing variety for more control and personal security?

My own answers to the above are that the internet increases the diversity of people I meet.

[innerSpaceman]

All of the above.




With the proviso that - safe and selective as it may be - I have little interest in non-face, techno relationships that don't eventually and periodically cross the line to IRL.

To the extent the tech can add a wonderful dimension of inner thought sharing and other communications not usually found in face-time social settings ... I think it's a wonderful newish component of friends-and-lovership. By itself, however, I think it's a poor substitute.



And when I'm dead, I want all my posts and profiles and live journal entries erased.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

When I'm dead, I want all my posts bound in a book and published.

I love all your posts, you guys really nailed it in your own ways. I've tried many times to write a book on this message board thing and it's too big an idea for me.

The stigma IS going away, and it's a wonderful thing, as well as an obvious conclusion. When only freaks and weirdos spent time on the net, saying you met someone there was embarrassing. Now that most people (in certain income brackets) have an online presence, everyone understands that the person you met online is just another person.

I believe our little board here is a wonderful case in point on internet relationships. We met on a larger board with a broader appeal. Those of us that stuck together and remained here have one huge thing in common - our posting ability. We all use punctuation, capitalization, and pretty good grammar and spelling. (Yeah, there are plenty of exceptions, but have you BEEN to most message boards??) We do a very good job of explaining what we mean, and most misunderstandings are cleared up quickly. To steal an analogy - we are the highly evolved versions of message board posters, and as such, we have survived for years in this same format.

Speaking of evolving - I feel like a chimp every time I need to text message on a phone, especially when I see a 13 year old blazing away on one. For the first time in my life, a popular technology seems out of my reach, but not because I don't have the smarts, but because the technology has splintered so much that I'm not a part of that side of the revolution. This tech thing has become bigger than anyone can really master, unless you're still a hardcore geek. Can you really be a perfect message board maven/text messager/console gamer/Warcraft master/digital cam wiz/photoshopper/manic mp3er/etc etc etc? A lot of invested time and practice is required to use all the myriad tech devices correctly....or maybe I'm just excusing myself from falling behind.

So what's the same......I'd say, finding people that click with you. Chemistry online is still chemistry, though a different kind of chemistry....but as we've seen, it transfers rather neatly to personal relationships IRL. Much like any pursuit that gets people together, posting is a great way to bond with people, and once you have met them IRL, your posting experience is greatly enhanced. I remember the early days of putting faces to names and then coming home to post and read - it was a heady time. It's still endless interesting to REALLY get to know people in person and see their posts in a whole new light.

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

When I'm dead, I want all my posts bound in a book and published.

Even the ones that no longer exist in cyberspace?

I find it depressing that most of my relationships outside of work exist only in cyberspace. I have not found a good way to meet people where I moved, so I've pretty much just maintained the ones that started virtually, morphed to IRL, and now have moved back to virtual again.