Self-Review

When it comes to Internet literacy, I already considered myself an expert. When it came to setting up blogs, publishing websites, facebooking - I was an old pro. Although I managed to perform all the actions, I never bothered to consider these services in any sort of a context other than "what one does on the Internet". NCLC 249 really opened my eyes to some larger concepts of community, of the difficulties in separating and joining the virtual world vs the real word, and the entire concept of social capital.

Community
Community exists everywhere. As individuals, we experience the Internet, but these experiences are not necessarily unique. When people share common experiences, it begins the formation of the community. Whether its posting about your experience on a blog, leaving a comment on someone else's post, chatting about it over IRC, or even making a clip about it on you tube - we come together to share our experiences and find community in others whose experience generally agrees with our own.


Virtual vs Real
The emergence of Web 2.0 and social networking services has changed the way that a large portion of mankind communicates. Once we were only reading static web pages, chatting over instant messages and e-mail, solely existing in the realm of cyberspace. Now we incorporate real space and virtual space together - linking people together across geographical and social divides, practically scheduling our social lives around the tools given to us by the likes of Facebook and Twitter.This new phenomenon of blending the virtual and the real is not an easy transition. Whereas the virtual once held a degree of anonymity, the new social networking paradigm departs from that anonymous mindset entirely. More and more of who we are in the real begins to occupy the space of the virtual - medical records, identification systems, even something as simple as the directions to our favorite restaurants.Should you expect a degree of anonymity? What about an expectation of privacy? If its on the Internet, is it secure from anyone who shouldn't see it? Who determines who should see it?


Social capital
Social capital is a concept that refers to connections within and between social networks and individuals. Social networking has capability to link together the aforementioned communities to bring about significant effect. A single example might be the American political process - the Obama administration heavily leveraged social networking for communication, fund raising, and labor management. This was previously unheard of in a political campaign and it was used with an incredibly influencing effect.

I hadn't considered any of these ideas, and this class has truly opened my eyes to the larger picture of the things that I experienced and witnessed over the Internet. I have a great deal of enthusiasm for future sessions to find out if I have overlooked any other concepts that I've taken part in, but not understood.