Connecting with professionals in my community

For this week's assignment we were asked to join an Internet community (the only exception is the OSU internet community and popular social networking sites). It wasn't difficult for me to find a internet community to join. I thought about who and what I would like to communicate about during the week. My brother had told me about a popular internet community of young, established business people in our area. He had joined it for his work as he found the need to be more accessible to be people who may not have email address. Also by connecting with other professionals in his area he was able to keep track of the changes in his career field. A third benefit that came from joining the website is that people who were not customers, clients, could ask you questions about your product or service, with the hope that someday they may become a customer. I find value in this service because my mother is a local accountant and I work directly for her. I am in charge of the office management. One of my duties is to market our services. However in accounting marketing is not as easy as just putting an advertisement in the yellow pages or newspaper. The best referrals are the ones that have had some sort of first hand knowledge about our services. For instance currently our marketing techniques include word of moth from customers and other professionals in our area, and secondarily we have a website. I know that does not sound like much but as there is only one accountant in the office we are almost to full capacity of clients. Therefore we take clients on a somewhat limited basis according to what time allows us to finish and complete services on time.

So why did I join the professional internet community if my work did not need more clients. For me my benefits from using the site differed from my brother. As many professionals had already joined the chat room, because it was easy to find people I already knew outside in my personal life. Later I found this to be a great benefit because some of those contacts emailed me that it now was a much easier way to connect with others. In joining the site you have a web page of your own were others can view a short bio. Then you can link your website to others. The first I linked to of course was my brother. Then you can instant message anyone in the site or even send them a full email. The part of the site that I enjoy the most is the talk rooms. Throughout the week I would spend some time in the chat rooms trying to meet new people, because at first nothing was happening, I did not receive any emails or instant messaging. I thought back to something I was told in joining a new school is that in order to make friends you often just need to initiate conversation.

I was a little intimidated to speak to other business people because I had no idea who may be in the chat room or if I would have anything in common with anyone. I began a short conversation with a young woman who lived locally and was a real estate professional. In Bend, our community is facing a very tough time due to the economy and homes are being foreclosed on at one of the highest rates in Oregon. In our office we counsel many people in regards to this real estate issue as some foreclosures have tax consequences. Therefore both she and I were able to talk about this looming problem in our area. After a week I had many conversations both with her and many others both lived nearby and far away. The economy seemed to be the subject of a lot of conversations. It seems as though people everywhere are feeling some sort of hardship. I guess the bright side of the story could include the fact that by connecting with others I was able to find new resources and help that is available to our current client load. I found this website to be more helpful in connecting with others than it was a good marketing tool.

In the end I began to think about the readings for this week. It is so strange to be in a chat room and connect with others. I for the most part know little about them. After all the information on their biography was personally filtered. The picture may not be them at all. After chatting for a week I felt as if I knew the real estate professional and that we were friends. However I have never communicated with her outside the internet. In Chapter 7 of Technopoly Postman talks about how developers have work to create a computer in the likeness of the human mind. By this I think Postman is saying that most of the websites and software that is out there is created by human and therefore may seem very human like. However there is a huge different between online communication and direct communication. One gains the advantage of using all the senses in meeting someone. Although the networking site was entertaining to me and was a good exercise I found the experience to be forced. I fit into the crowd in the networking site alright but I had a hard time believing that I was truly fulfilled in speaking to complete strangers. I prefer communicating with others over coffee, or lunch.

Emily

Here is the networking site that I joined: Talk Directories

http://www.talkdirectories.com/other/2228-free-business-chat-room.html

Communication via email

This week I sent two personal letters to friends. One was sent via email and one traditionally through the mail. The assignment is the describe the difference in content and response between the two letters. The first letter, which was sent via email I sent to a long time friend. This particular friend and I email frequently to each other at work. This email would be no different I sat down during lunch to send it. I talked a little about a trip that I am planning on going on. I asked her how she was and told her that I had been thinking about her. The email turned out to be a few paragraphs. She responded to the email quite quickly she must of been on her break as well. She answered that she was excited to her about the trip and that she had been extremely busy at work lately. She invited me to dinner at her house and told me that she missed me.

In reviewing the email for this assignment I realized that in email I am very direct. I ask questions and almost always get a direct response to the questions I ask. The second thing that I noticed that I did not ellaborate on the trip very much because I figured I would see her soon and would tell her later. The response was followed by many subsequent emails. It seems as though there was much I forgot to tell her in the first email and we traded a few emails to get it all out of our system. The following emails were much smaller and contained many "Verbalizations". (Wood, Smith 84).

The second letter that I sent was handwritten. I wrote this letter to my husband's grandmother. She did not have email and this was the only way to reach her via mail. I sent her a nice card that said "thinking of you". I wrote about what I had been doing this summer, and talked about my sons camps that he had been attending. I also told her that we missed her now that she lived so far away it was hard to get a chance to talk. This letter turned out much longer than the email. I took up every white space on the card. The content seem to go deeper as well. I felt as though because it was not convenient to communicate with her via email my cards seem to contain more information. I also included a picture of my son swimming. The response was much slower. Almost a week later I got a card back from her with a giraffe on the front. She responded that she too was having a great summer although she missed us as well. She thanked me for the card and thinking about her. I enjoy writing letters to her because it is the only contact we have. She can't hear the telephone and does not receive email. Plus she would never understand the language of the email with it's abbreviations.

The differences in email than in hand writing a letter have to do with the idea of convenience. This idea is that someone is always accessible via email. Therefore we are able to send them information at any time. Therefore when I go to email them I feel as though I should only talk about things briefly and will save conversation for in person. When I mail a letter I fell as though this is an inconvenience. Therefore I include more information as it may take me a while to send another one. So I tell as much as I can at that point including more personal thoughts and ideas.

This was an interesting assignment because I did not think about the difference.

Emily

My Myspace

I would first like to start this blog with the explanation that I have not in the past subscribed to my space or Facebook. In my professional life I have heard horror stories about people who lost their job or lost the opportunity to be considered for a job due to the employer reading their myspace page. My son's dentist once told me that when hiring the first thing they do in researching applicants is to go on my space. He explained to me that in working with children it was very important to hire people without an out of control personal life. I thought that was very interesting that the information that they had disclosed online was the very thing that limited their employment opportunities. It was then that I decided that I would not subscribe to the popular online meeting spots. The reality to me that my friends and family members can contact me via email or phone. The one benefit I do see of these online sites is to find long lost friends or to make new ones. To me the risk did not outweigh the benefits.

So for this assignment I was reluctant to disclose much personal information. I decided that there was some information that was central to my lifestyle that was easy to disclose. For instance my hometown, where I live, school status, work life and family life. This was information that I would disclose to anyone. This part of my "social identity" was important to me as I am proud of the benchmarks I have made in college and in my career. In creating the myspace page I decided to create more of a marketing page for future careers. I wrote about what I was studying in college and what outcome that I hoped my education would bring. I also posted careers that I would like to apply for after my schooling.

As for the more personal information such as music, hobbies, mottos etc. I left this area very general. I spent more time on the hobbies section than the music. To me the music one listens to reveals a window to their soul. In looking at others my spaces they talk in depth about the music they listen to. This leaves the reader open to interpret things about the poster. If someone posts that they like heavy metal than we have certain ideals about this person. Others who post they like opera music than we have a very different idea about who this person is. Therefore I chose to not describe my favorite musicians. As for hobbies that was a similar issue, my family is into hunting. How much of that was appropriate to talk about? Well in real life if someone asks me about hunting I am hesitant to talk about it so why should my myspace page be any different. I do not think these are negative parts of my life. I do however think that readers of this information create a judgemental picture of who I am.

This is the main issue that I have with myspace. If I disclose personal information I am open to judgement. My true friends and family already know these parts of my personality. So who exactly is benefited by personal knowledge about myself. In doing this assignment I realized that myspace is meeting place for people that you do not know. Therefore I created my profile with that in mind.

Emily

Online Identity

For this weeks assignment I viewed the movie, You've Got Mail, in order to think about online identities. The movie's two main characters are played by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. I have been asked to think about how the characters both portrayed themselves online and the interaction between the online personalities. In the movie Meg Ryan's character corresponds via email with an online companion who turns out to be Tom Hanks. In her emails Meg's character finds delight in being able to talk about anything with her online companion. She enjoys the anonimity of openly talking with her companion with no personal details. The online relationship progresses into talking and discussing issues that they are each facing in their family and work life. Meg's character mentions that she is happy that they converse openly without judging one another but they are like to lost friends discussing the world around them. This idea interested me most as a viewer and a student of Online Communication. The idea of sharing intimate decisions and debates with someone you have never met seems like it could have dangerous outcomes. However since we are watching a romantic comedy only one ending came about a romatic one. When the online conversation turns to work Tom Hank's character perks up and as he states, "I will role up my sleeves, and help you." It is clear that Tom Hank's character finds satisfaction in sharing his knowledge about business with Meg. In fact when the conversation turns he begins to find himself in love with his new friend. All the while the online relationship grows the pair begins a separate real life relationship which is quite different. When the characters meet in real life they do realize that it is the same person they have been corresponding with via email. This real life relationship is very different. In fact the two can't stand each other. The negative aspects of their personalities clash in the real world and both overlook the good things that they see in each other.

In the lens of studying Online Communication I find the story to be very relative to what we are learning. Both of the characters use their online personalities to portray the best parts/important parts of their own personality. When they finally meet in the real world both the good and bad parts of their personalities are shown. This is a very important thing to remember in communicating with someone you have never met online. The person on the other end no matter how well you think you know them can be a very different than you expect them to be. An online personality only portrays what you want others to see. Not many people mention their faults, problems, and issues online. The movie turns out with a happy ending for the couple because in discovering the truth about who they are communicating with online forces the couple to create a real life relationship as well. With both the good parts and the bad parts of their personality.