her story

I used to have a friend called Erykah. She would constantly be online in chat rooms and joining over 2 or 3 sites that shared similar purpose. She was a tough chick on the outside and swayed in the intimidating unit in the eyes of others. Always had something to say, always said it hard. This is why it amused me tremendously the first time i viewed her profiles online ( for example : hi5) which our mutual friends and myself did not utilize. 

She was a completely different person . Or maybe it was just another side of her which she was able to let out through a different medium. Space and time are factors of constraint through cyber space, which can be problematic when it comes to communicating and expressing through this “faucet”. However, i guess in her case it acted as more of an aid than a detrimental tool to communication. Though loud, rough and intimidating in character this does not mean she had no difficulty expressing her inner feelings. This is what she later disclosed to me, that the distance between her and another person online gave her a sense of security because of the amount of time it gave her to process and take in information and respond ideally. She was the type of individual who when confronted by massive amounts of information, panics and finds difficulty remembering everything stated. I presume that through the internet less amounts of data can be sent to and fro via chats as compared to verbal communication through phone or face to face communication, this being another aid for Erykah.

In class we learnt about how anonymity of identity is possible online, this is true. Through both Erykah and myself i’ve found out that it is very much possible to shadow ones real identity and recreate identities to however one desires themselves to be seen. Be it a fully fake persona or just another side of someone that does have as easy an opportunity to be disclosed. The internet acts as a medium that easily allows this deception, and for others, faucet to let various personalities go.

Another one of my friends Daniel plays in a band. The band had their own myspace music page set up exclusively in relation to their band. The page allowed fans or passerby’s to read up on their biography, check out their informal pictures as well as tour pictures, read up any self written information the bands willing to disclose and most importantly it gave them the choice to choose between any song from the selected ones that get uploaded by the band. In reality when somebody comes across a new band playing at a gig and happens to dislike their first and second song, most of them will “give up” on favoring the band. But through these pages people are confronted by various types of information of the band thus increasing the chances of someone favouring the band. 

Ultimately what I reckon is that online platforms such as myspace, facebook, friendster and hi5 etc. have the ability to capture ones attention clearer through multiple ways at time as well as allowing certain persons enough space and time to feel comfortable and communicate efficiently in.