Week 3 Response
In our readings this week by Nicolas Carr and Darin Barney, we explored some of the ways in which the Internet has affected our minds and also our sense of community. While Carr examines how Google changed the way people think, Barney questions the social effects of virtual worlds on communities. Both authors make interesting points, however I find Carr’s argument far more convincing than Barneys.
Nicolas Carr discusses the effect Google has had on changing the ways individuals read and think. I can certainly relate to the cognitive effects he warns about: scan-style reading, key word searches, shortened attention span, shortened memory for long readings, etc. It frightens me to think how severely my reading and thinking have changed since the invention of Google and the Internet.
When I was younger, I was able to immerse myself for hours in books. Now, I can hardly sit for 15 minutes to read a novel for pleasure. I also used to sit in libraries for hours looking through hundreds of pages while researching for projects. Yes, it was a long and tedious process. However, it was a quiet and enjoyable time for me. Nowadays it feels as though I am rushing to read through as many sources online as possible, not really soaking any of them in thoroughly. Thus, I find one of the biggest losses Google has caused for readers is the enjoyment and sheer pleasure that used to be a major part of reading and researching.
Darin Barney’s article questions whether community can exist in the same way it does today on the Internet. In her article, she concludes that it cannot exist in the same way. However, based on my past personal experience, I can say that some of the strongest and most supportive communities exist online and are actually strengthened by the fact that they exist in a virtual medium. Therefore, I completely disagree with Barney’s article. Many strong communal relationships are formed on the Internet, especially in virtual worlds such as Second Life and There.com, two communities I was once an active member of. Throughout my experience on these virtual environments, I met and interacted with people on a regular basis.
One of the first things I did after I was “born” in There.com was join a car racing league called that eventually became a second family to me. While I was not spending time with my real family or friends, I was spending time on There.com at my racing league’s home turf or competing at events. At one point in the game, two characters who were married in the game even adopted me to be their virtual There daughter. They spoke to me and treated me like their own child and when they got divorced, I was caught in the middle of the drama, as I might have been in a real life split up. Later, when my There Dad got remarried, his new wife saw me as a step-daughter. The relationships and life-long bonds I created on There.com have followed me even after I stopped logging on to the game. Thus, the communities also transcend into instant messaging, real life phone calls, and in some instances even real life meetings.
A Screenshot of my Second Life Avatar
The digital age creates a dangerous environment for young children who enter these worlds and form meaningful friendships with people who they may later be inclined to meet as they feel they can trust them. Unfortunately, often times people online are not who they say they are, and this can lead to devastating consequences. On the other hand, mature adults who take the time getting to know each other in these virtual worlds often meet in real life and continue their relationships offline. For instance, I met a couple on There.com who met in the world and then decided to meet in real life and eventually got married in the real world. To that extent, digital environments can have a huge impact on providing a meaningful platform where individuals are able to form real relationships. The more real the world looks perhaps, the more real the relationship feels.
The other world I used to visit, Second Life, is even more realistic than There.com. Again, there are many strong communities within it of people with like-minded interests or goals. There are nightclubs, business opportunities, universities, workshops, and even skydiving. Anything you can do in the real world, Second Life allows you to do, and more. These digital environments continue to become increasingly realistic and make it easier and easier for individuals to get lost in the fantasy and lose sense of their realities.
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