There're four things listed that we do with the Internet which are; mail, discussion groups, long-distance computing, and file transfers. These are almost like our daily routine once we switch on the computer, other than that will be online gaming, social networking, or surfing the net and etc. And it will be surprising to find someone who is NOT on any social networking sites, it is just too unreal to not be in one.
Sterling explained why do people want to be on the Internet, and the reason was simple: FREEDOM. Who wouldn't want that? Since "there are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders", basically there will be no one to boss you around, therefore it's easy to express yourself on the internet, especially on social networks. Social network is a place where people would be able to share/ express themselves, whether it be blogging or bragging about their horrible lives on Facebook, it may somehow be a comfort zone to them.
Lastly, it would be about online gaming. Personally, I do not play any online games, and don't have much interest in it, so when you guys start talking about it, I would need subtitles. However, I am often curious why are people so interested with it, I can never understand games like WoW, NEVER! Besides that, I honest hope that people who plays these games could differentiate between reality and their second world.
I've link a video of a boy whose WoW account got deleted by his mum, and see what happens. He literally turned into a Monster! Nuff said.
Cheers,
Nat :)
That video ... is so funny and scary. Wow thanks for linking that hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you talked about the internet and freedom, that we have the control and there is no boss or board of directors to control how we want to express ourselves on the internet. I really have taken it for granted how lucky we are to have such a great resource.
Like being able to watch this video... lol. I wonder what the kid's mother said when she found out this was uploaded to youtube - or more importantly, the actual crazy kid.
I too struggle to understand the obsession with online gaming, it doesn't interest me at all!
ReplyDeleteI think that is why i'm so critical of the people who struggle to differentiate it from the 'real world'.
I also hope that individuals would be able to distinguish between online and reality, but it is pretty clear from your video that some people can't !
Kind of hard to describe this in a way that can be easily understood but here goes my take on it.
ReplyDeleteFor some people WoW isn't just a game, but rather a means to an end. When you play the game beyond the first couple of hours you find that it gets fairly boring and repetitive (there's only so many times you can see purple words and yellow numbers on a screen) and the only reason you keep playing is because you have friends there.
The game in a way works to help you make concrete bonds by putting you up against challenges that require teamwork (if someone slacks off, everyone loses) and decent levels of attention, creating fairly strong bonds between everyone involved.
Trying to think of a real world example for which it relates...
It kind of functions like a pub in which you can go down and meet people or hang out with friends. If there were no other people there or even only people you really disliked you wouldn't go down there by yourself just to get drunk - That's not the point of it. It's a social environment.
I'm with you Natalie, I've never played any online games. It's never really interested me.
ReplyDeleteThat video is pretty heavy! It's obviously a pretty addictive game once you start playing...