Week 3 Topic 1- Questions A to E

A) Page 64 In what ways can the Net be thought of as an "open architecture?"

I think this question relates to the fact that the internet is not made up of large companies that control the internet but small companies that contribute their own ideas, inventions, democracies etc etc that build up the internet. It is open to anybody as it is not a fixed product but one that we can all independently customize.

B) Page 66 Do you think that assuming an online persona (via screen name/handle, avatar etc) encourages people to play with the identity they present online and take risks in the ways they express themselves?

I do believe people play with their identity when it comes to online personas for example with screen names or screen pictures through the use of selection of material can portray themselves in a different light. For instance i could put a digitally remastered picture of myself as my profile picture which may not look anything like me as it has been manipulated and my screen name could be "Amanda loves life and everybody" when it actual fact i could hate life and not be very fond of people at all. This is a minor case of manipulating identities there are much more serious cases for example when it comes to older men trying their luck at being a much younger, modern man than they are. Similarly they could post a profile picture which may not even be them and change their profile names to something completely different to their actual names. The risks with doing such things is being reported to the company of which the profile belongs or worse being handed over to the authorities depending on the kind of behaviour involved.

C) Page 167 What do you think of postmodern views which stress the fluidity of online selves and their apparent disembodied status, which has been argued frees people from being represented through signs of race, gender, class etc?

I believe that our online selves have potential to free us from the negative signs of race, gender and class as being online gives us the opportunity to be whoever we want to be. For instance Jim is a white, working class factory worker and Bob is a black middle to upper class lawyer. Online these personal facts play no part in the conversation they hold over conversation on MSN messenger as usch conversation is un personal as it is is not face to face however if it were these factors may contribute.

D) Page 168 Do cyberidentities constitute an alternative to 'normal social reality'?

Cyberidentities are an alternative to what is considered to be 'normal social reality'. However this notion of normal is dependent on the individual as we all have an idea of what is considered to be normal.Moving on as i have already expressed cyberidentities relates only to the 'cyber' identity not identity as a whole 'through the telegraph, the telephone, mass media and now online communications we have learnt that the self does not subsist only as an embodied presence but als0 as a networked presence'. Cyberidentites i feel serve as an escape for those who do not like the elements of their physical social reality and use cyber space to produce a person they would prefer to be.

E) Page 170 Are online relationships the same as offline ones?

Depending on what the relationship is depends on whether it will be the same offline or online from a personal point of view me and my boyfriend speak the same online as we do offline. However i do know that for some people talk online is easier for them as they may not be as confident in real life as they are online. It is far easier to say what you feel online than it is offline as you do not have that face to face interaction this i see as a negative rather than positive you could for example be arguing with somebody online more so than you could do face to face, it prevents interuption, body language and facial expression. Sometimes it becomes apparent that their is a degree of falseness and that through cyberidentities we can be more or else who we want to be online than offline. So yes in most cases i do think that relationships are different offline than online.