Evaluation

For this assignment we are to evaluate the topics of the blog. I really enjoyed learning the system of blogging. This is not something that I have tried before and realized how easy it was. I think it is a great way to inform people of what you have been up to, what you are thinking about, and things that are on your mind. In class I particularly liked the assignment in which we interviewed three generations of internet use. This was very enlightening to think about what different people used the internet for. In my mind the internet is not used so much for recreation as for school and work. It was interesting to learn how people keep in touch online. After that assignment I decided to get in touch with family that I had not spoken with in some time. Although this was fun to check in with them. I realized almost instantly that email was a difficult way to communicate. I often mis-read what they had written and had to re-read emails again and again. If this was a face to face conversation I believe it would be much easier to carry on a conversation. The reality is that in an online conversation the person emailing you may send you something days later. By then I lost my train of thought and had moved on to new things in my life. This made it difficult to remember just what I had emailed to them. I often use the reply system so that I can go back to my original message. However this seems a little strange in emailing family. A second assignment I enjoyed was watching the movie, Got Mail. Because I have not dated online, I forgot how difficult dating on line can be. The truth is that we are emotional people and it is difficult to share emotions on line. It often seems ingenuine or is lost in translation. The text of Wood and Smith provided me with new terminolgy in which I can now explain communication problems with definition. For example I like the term, flaming. This is when someone emails you a nasty note or side comment to get a reaction. I have had this happen to me many times and was unable to explain to others what had happened. In the assignment that we did last week with an online challenge that we have faced helped me realize that these flames are not always directed at you, but are a sign of frustration with the system. The client I wrote about for this assignment was not angry at me but wanted to state their frustration. In not being able to talk to them face to face I had no idea why they were angry. In fact I took their flame personally even though it was not a personal attack. I enjoyed all of the assignments and I do not think there were any you should do without. This class has been very informative, and easy to follow.

Emily