Socializing Online

 

            Socializing online is widely prevalent in today’s society. At almost any given time you can look around and see someone one their phone on some type of social media. This type of socializing between either two people online, or large groups is a new thing for people. Our technological advances have made it easier than ever to stay in touch with our friends, families, and loved ones. Everyone that you would want to talk to is potentially only a few clicks away, provided you are near a computer. With a new generation of people utilizing modern technology it has been easier to stay connected, but it is taking a toll on peoples’ overall wellbeing.

           

            In a recently documented study on college freshmen, it is found that socializing online should not be substituted for real world interaction. It was shown that when people spend less time interacting with people in person, and more time doing the same through an online platform, they are more likely to be depressed. The study showed that in recent years people have been going out less and talking to their friends online instead, and the depression rate has gone up five percent as a result. The report says, "Such increases may continue to influence how students conceptualize socializing with friends". Talking to people online can be good for a little while, but if it becomes one’s main source of interaction, it may result in emotional distress.

 

People have also become more dependent on their phones and computers to stay in touch with others. Think about the last you lost your phone, you get a sense of urgency to retrieve it, because you are worried someone may have called and you were not able to talk to them. Our over dependence upon technology is a reflection of how integrated it is in our lives. As stated in the first paragraph, you can almost always find someone on his or her phones. There is even a term called phantom vibration syndrome, which is the feeling of your phone going off in your pocket, when it is actually not even there. It is easy to be social online, because one can do so with very little effort. This is the reason people are so integrated to talking online instead of person. This ease of communication over the internet also diminishes social skills in person.

 

            It is essential to be able to talk to people throughout your day. Most people want to make good relationships with others and have friends. However for the new generations of children growing up who are closer to technology, speaking online may be replacing conversing in person. People who are used to speaking online never fully develop the social skills needed for face-to-face interaction. This can lead to anxiety and stress in social situations. I personally am in favor of a society in which get together and talk with each other rather than all sign in to the same chat room from their bedrooms. This is why I believe socializing online will ultimately be negative for humanity.

 

Resources:

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/02/06/college-freshmen-socialize-less-feel-depressed-more

Online Dating

Online dating is becoming more and more prominent in todays world. Whether it’s for serious relationships, meeting new people, or just hanging out there are different online dating resources that can be used. As we talked about in our class a little bit since the early 2000s online dating has been being used more and more. For example how in 2002 there was a study that showed 50% of online relationships would lead to face-to-face relationships and being just as stable. In 2013 another studied showed that 1/3 of marriages started online and when meeting online you are more likely to get married than when meeting face-to-face.

In an article I read in the Washington Post, it asks the question if online dating really works and then talks about different concepts that are involved with online dating and different positives and negatives along with some interesting statistics that go along with it.  

Looking at the online dating scene from a college students perspective may seem a little different from what people in there late 20s-30s may see as online dating. The differences come down to what we are looking to gain from the online dating. College students may be looking for short term relationships, physical relationships, or just to find people to go out with. Older adults may be looking for more serious relationships with intentions of getting married, starting a family, starting a life together. Obviously everyone was different so there are college aged people who may be looking for something more serious and also older adults who are looking for something less serious.

Some things that the article talked about that were a little different from the statistics we saw in class about how online dating leads to committed stable relationships there are statistics that show otherwise. The differences, the statistics above are more general and based off of all users and probably based off more serious online dating websites. Statistics in the Washington Post article show that for college students who use online dating sites have fewer committed relationships and lead more towards using the online sites for a hook up culture. In 2010 a study showed that more people are using online sites to meet then meeting at schools, bars, or parties.

The vitality of self-presentation in online dating

The vitality of self-presentation in online dating

Coulter Ebbert

 

Online dating has proved in many cases to be a lifesaver for some individuals who have been less fortunate in the face-to-face dating world. Personally, I hope that I won’t need to use dating sites in the future but hey who knows what will happen. Regardless we hear both success stories and horror stories about online dating. Such shows like “Catfish” have informed many people on how disappointing and unreliable online dating can be, but after watching the week 4 lab assignment “When Strangers Click” and reading such articles as THIS ONE I have come to realize that online dating isn’t as cut and dry, creepy, and (for the lack of better terms) hopeless as I previously perceived. Online dating seems to be a calculated effort in presenting one’s self. The act of self-presentation is the way in which you as an individual choose to present yourself to others, whether in face to face situations or online. In the CNN article, a woman named Amy leads us through her perilous online dating adventures until ultimately she finds a man on a dating site named Brian who eventually became Amy’s husband. In the article, Amy discusses two botched dates she was part of as result of her online dating. The two men of whom Amy went out with were both untruthful in there profiles and not what Amy had expected. This is an example of self-management on the part of the two men who used strategic lies and behavior to achieve a goal. – Self-management is the manipulation of self-identity through social means where you “manage yourself” in order to be thought of in a different light. The really cool thing about the article and Amy’s story is how she created an experiment in order to fully understand the “rules” of online dating. In order to conduct her experiment, Amy created a list of 72 “ideal husband” characteristics based off of her personal preferences. She then proceeded to apply a weighted score of each of the characteristics and determined that in order for her to go out with a possible suitor he couldn’t have a score lower than 700. After completing her list she then created 10 male profiles on various dating websites in order to learn everything about her “competition”. Through her experiment she learned that the most popular profiles often had short brief descriptions that often peaked the interest of suitors. She also found (with no great surprise) that the women who interacted with her 10 male profiles often were a tad bit untruthful with their weight and physical descriptions. At the end of it all, Amy developed her 10 rules for online dating which range from advice on how to choose the proper pictures to display to more obvious rules like “don’t act like a stalker”. Another thing that I picked up from this article is though I have never used one of these dating websites, the whole process and ideas behind them does not greatly differ from other sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder were we use self-presentation in order to interact and meet with new people. If you’re interested in some solid online dating advice or just want to entertain yourself with a positive feel-good story I would highly suggest you check out the article.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/living/online-dating-amy-webb/index.html

 

Online Dating

Shakita Jarrett

Blog 2

Online dating is the practice of searching for romantic partners on a designated internet website. This topic has emerged in the past decade with individuals having trouble finding that true love and search online because going to social gatherings, blind dates, mutual friends and etc. have been unsuccessful. Also, the development of popular dating websites such as Match.com and eHarmony proven to assist individuals with finding their everlasting love. A good percentage of happily married couples met online compared to couples that met face to face and based on the statistics of how effective online dating is, I wonder will that influence the way people seek love and do away with the traditional meeting them at work, school, mutual friends or events. There are many benefits to online dating such, for instance individuals are more self-disclosing since that face to face interaction is invisible which allow people to break from their comfort zone and not as nervous. In the article “5 reasons why I’m so glad I tried online dating” the author provided five gratifications of how online dating has helped. One of the five reasons included that online there is a variety of people to meet compared to real life which allows one to reject individuals without feeling bad and looking at options. Also, you are not just meeting people that live in your community or state, individuals can be from outside the state one lives or another country. For example, the documentary we watched called “When Strangers Click” one of the successful love stories ranged to another country. The girl Kim traveled to Prague to meet her romantic partner Dennis whom she later married and now they have a beautiful family together. This story illustrates that online dating can long distance relationships are also effective. Moreover, I have relatives that met online as well and are happily married and my older brother is on an online dating website as well and stated that he likes it and it’s something different. I concur with the hype regarding online dating and will recommend it. However, there are some negatives about online dating as well including people misleading others with inauthenticity and online predators. There are levels of self-management exhibited on online dating sites because online dating is a strategic endeavor because we control what we put on social networks to manage our identity.  For instance, people may project themselves as this good person to protect their image and proliferate profile interests and others may not have a profile picture enabling anonymity because their identity is unknown. This self-presentation of online daters may assist with an insecurity of the individual but at the same time build that bond with individuals they are serious with; in the documentary Dave concealed that he was below average height for a man in his profile due to shame and think women will not give him a chance but communicated with people regularly even though he has that secret that could possibly deter his potential future partner. As mentioned above, I agree that online is good but I do not think I can partake in online dating because I feel there’s trust that has to be built in a relationship and communication via technology will not gain someone that trust. I need to see their reactions and nonverbal cues that occur during face to face interaction for that genuineness. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexa-cortese/online-dating_b_5134756.html

 

Online Relationships

Anna Hernandez 
CAS 283
Blog 2 

   
           While sitting in lecture on a wednesday afternoon, I was listing to my professor speak about online relationships and socializing online. I became intrigued at this topic, due to the simple fact that this is something I have engaged in before. Not to get too personal, but I guess you could say I am in an "online relationship". I am dating my high school sweetheart who lives across the country. We make the distance work by calling, texting and video chatting. I would say, if it wasn't for those technologies, we would not be together. As Professor Jackson stood in front of the class discussing how online relationships are more interactive than ones face to face and how people who met online were more likely to marry, I looked back at how my relationship started and if what she was saying applied to my situation. I noticed that even though we had met face to face initially, we used online communication to do most of our interacting. In fact we hardly ever talked at school. Because of this, I implied to myself that if it weren't for the constant chat rooms and instant messaging, I would not be where I am today in my relationship. I am sure many can relate to the things that I had just mentioned. One concept that was talked about was the fact that online relationships were so effective and almost the same as relationships that were face to face. While I quickly judged that statement, I then took a minute to step back and analyze. I believe that we do get excited when our crush messages us, or when you spend several hours talking on the phone with someone. I understand the hype that everyone is talking about and it is some what due to the fact that we are not physically there with that person, so it leaves all the non verbals to be left to our imagination. For example, the tone in which the context was said. This can also have a negative effect however, because without being able to identify the persons tone of voice and facial expressions, we can not identify if the context has genuine meaning. In Psychology Today, the article mentions several pros and cons of online dating. Mentioned in the article as well is the unlimited opportunity of choices as well as the fall back of it becoming overwhelming. The communication perceived online may not be what would have happened in a face to face scenario. In my situation however, I was able to apply what was happening online into face to face communication and it made my relationship much stronger. One thing that I use often and really enjoy is video chatting. This is because I can see and hear the communication as if I was face to face even though I am only talking to am image of what is real. Overall, online relationships in this day in age do work, just be careful of all of the wrongs that can happen in between.
Nicholson, Jeremy. Psychology Today.April 30th, 2014. February 11th, 2014. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-attraction-doctor/201404/pros-and-cons-online-dating

Blog #2: Online Identity

Online Identity is defined as an online persona or social identity that is established through the internet. Most of us have an online identity whether it be through social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) or something as simple as an email address--we all have one. Most people use their online identity in a harmless way as an extended means of communicating with friends and loved ones, but as I found in an article from Wired, "The Online Identity Crisis," not everyone uses their online identity for good (including the owners of the sites). 

The article discusses a little bit about the prevalence of identities being stolen through online means and the issues that come with anonymous social media (Whisper, Yik Yak, Secret, etc.) and anonymity in general. It brought up a good point that in "real life" there is really no reason for anonymity unless you are committing some sort of criminal act which is very true, and some real problems can arise from anonymity. For example, last semester the idiot that posted a threat to Penn State via Yik-Yak. Whether or not the kid was serious about the threat or not it caused quite an uproar over campus because no one knew who posted it. Luckily the poster was not very intelligent and the authorities were able to track him down and make sure nothing bad happened, but that may not always be the case. 

Identity theft has been a huge problem for a long time whether it be stealing someone's identity and opening credit cards in their name or creating a fake profile of someone else, it's definitely a problem. To me, it's always been kind of a scary thought meeting people through an online source because you never really know who the person is. Someone who appears to be a teenage girl online could really be middle aged man in real life. 

 

The other subject that was discussed in this article is the issue of social media sites taking the things you may search for or "like" and creating their own online identity of you. The example used in the article was a man who had health problems and loved classic cars. The man may or may not want the people he associates with in the classic car realm to know that he has health problems but if he were to search about some sort of health issue, social media sites can post ads relevant to that wherever they want--therefore disallowing him to keep parts of his identity private. I recall many times that I was on Facebook and noticed the ads on the sides and being like, "How do they know I like that?" It's a weird thing to know that nothing you do online is truly private. So the question remains, should sites be allowed to use the things you have searched for their own monetary benefit? I don't think so. It's freaky when I buy a pair of pants online and then ten minutes later I see ads for those same pair of pants all over my Facebook, like what? Banana Republic has nothing to do with my Facebook but that ad still shows up there? Weird. 

The last thing I found pretty interesting in this article is the huge push for people to sign in online with one ID. Google has already pretty much done that, I mean that's how I signed into blogger. At first glance that sounds awesome, one identity means only one username and password to remember, but that could be detrimental. If we sign into everything with one singular ID all of our media sites will have access to the things we do, and that may not be a good thing.

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/the-online-identity-crisis/

A Life of Connectivity

Here in the 21st century, it's difficult to imagine a life without computers, to say the least.  I was born in 1995, and have grown up around the Microsoft and MacBooks my entire life.  The progress in communications technology has been absolutely ridiculous.  Before the internet, long-distance communication meant either talking to someone on the telephone or mailing them a letter, which would take days or even weeks to successfully send to your recipient.  With the advent of the internet however, you could now write up and send letters to your best friend overseas in the matter of minutes, via email with the click of a few buttons.  When in the 2000s communications took a matter of minutes with emails, these days communications take a matter of seconds with the use of Apple iPhones and iMessage, using just a few taps of the thumb on the smartphone.  Notifications that pop up on your phone means that you will immediately know when your friends are contacting you, and the data and wi-fi capabilities that our smartphones have gives us the ability to reply back promptly.

There are numerous benefits to this constant connectivity. Before the advent of smartphones and iMessage you had to make plans with your friends hours before, usually by Facebook messages or calling.  Nowadays, you can plan things almost instantaneously and change plans with your pals as you go, thanks to smartphones and smartphone notifications. 


Other than human-to-human interaction, this constant connectivity our smartphones provide allows us to have constant interaction with outside events.  All smartphones have the ability to constantly update us with news, weather reports, and the latest trends on social media with the single buzz of a notification. Being updated with a constant stream of updated information would prove useful in most day-to-day activities.  Trying to plan your next vacation? You could simply pull up travel apps on your phone to find the best hotel and restaurant deals, book airplanes, and voila!  Got lost in downtown State College? Simply click on the navigation map, and you'll be able to orient yourself and look up directions to your destination.  Smartphones are not only convenient, they could also be literally life-saving.  Before smartphones, we only received disaster warnings or campus alerts when we switched on the TV, often being unaware of possible dangers until it could be potentially too late.  Nowadays we promptly receive them with phone notifications, and would have much more time to react to possible dangers.


Although being in a constant state of connectivity is very useful at times, it can also be a curse.  Being constantly connected to world events and social media via smartphones is slowly killing off our human-to-human interactions.  When we are waiting in line, sitting on a bus, or walking off to classes, it seems as if everyone is glued to their smartphones, scrolling through their Instagram feeds or playing Trivia Crack instead of making small talk to their fellow Penn Staters.  I've seen this phenomenon at parties too, where it seems as if people are completely glued to their phones, and would rather take a picture of their party experience than actually live through it. Many people spend their times making themselves look good on their social media sites, and don't spend enough time with actual interactions, such as when girls spend hours upon hours editing their own Instagrams and when guys chill together in a room, everyone on their phones instead of actually "hanging out" with each other. I believe we need that although smartphone and computer technology is very useful for many day-to-day activities such as navigation and research, it is detrimental to our social interactions.