Monday 16 November 2015

Love in the time of Cyber Space

One of the first things to intrigue me about this course  was this quote from Blake (2013:18) about attributing human characteristics to a computer:

"users are polite to computers and respond to the personality of both the interface and whatever computer agents or avatars that are present"

Human beings have always had a knack for anthropomorphising animals and objects, sometimes with deadly consequences - such as expecting a wild animal to behave like anything other than a wild animal, but I never realised how this could be  used to our advantage in online education, interacting with people and programmes online in a personal manner.

But it is possible to make real meaningful connections solely through technology, or are they simply tricks of the brain to trigger certain emotions or states of mind? Recently there have been a plethora of movies probing this topic, though admittedly through far more advanced tech and robots than we have available today. For now, I will try and steer away from the realms of science fiction and keep the discussion grounded in the real world.

Putting a face to the Avatar

Making connections is difficult enough in the real world. Many people have more affinity with their pets than with other human beings. How so then can we be expected to empathise and truly communicate with a user online, who may be nothing more than a faceless avatar to you?



Facebook's  default avatar

This is quite a common occurrence on social media sites and forums online, where new users are gifted with generic profile pics or anonymous usernames. In fact, on the forums of the Fantasy Football website I frequent, it has become a common issue. New members often wonder how to get more replies on their questions and the general consensus has always been to get a distinct Avatar so people can more easily recognise you and to comment more on other people's threads so people will see you are an active member of the community and not some 'grav-less' poster selfishly looking for their own needs to be filled. Being new to a site can often be difficult, as Roed (2003: 169) points out 'Once a group's identity has been formed it is a difficult and slow process for newcomers to break in and play a part. It takes time to build up the necessary trust'

Online Dating

Online dating is growing in popularity these days. With apps such as Tinder or OKCupid, it is beginning to shake free from the shackles of stigma once associated with it.  Yet, can one truly socialise or fall in love online? Subconsciously at least, I never felt any real trust with people I met online until I had met them in real life. Physically, they could be blatantly lying about who they are, or more subtly by only showing their most flattering photos. There are emotional hang-ups too. Being connected solely through the internet, they can easily just disappear from your life in an instant. It's hard to put a lot of emotional investment into someone who could then turn around and delete you from their lives at the click of a button. In order to fall in love online, surely a great level of trust is needed and though it may be naivety on some part, to simply accept what someone on the internet says as truth,  is their love any less real?


Online Presence

While such trust is needed to establish romantic relationships, is the same level of familiarity required for more platonic activities? Is trust a key factor to establishing an online 'presence' and if so, trust in what?

Naturally, the first thing you must trust in is that you are communicating with a human being on the other end, and not some annoying spambot, but once this basic hurdle is over, what does it mean to have a presence online? For me, this is the key. Not so much that they are truthful, but that they are genuine and real. After all, our friends in real life lie all the time. Many of us lie to ourselves from time to time. It appears to follow a similar path to suspension of disbelief in movies, in that it doesn't have to be real, but certain things can detach you from the illusion. For example, someone could have an avatar of a badger and you wouldn't bat an eyelid, but if his/her avatar was a famous person like Hugh Jackman for instance, it might resonate with you that it's not really Hugh Jackman and the suspension is gone as you become aware that you are online and this person could be anybody.


Take the above picture as an example. Did you read it in your own voice? Or did you hear the voice of Samuel L. Jackson in your head? It's not easy to disassociate the words with the imagery attached to it. You could begin to project traits or a persona onto a user,  loud and aggressive or shy and cute, simply by their avatar. One could view an intimidating avatar as aggressive or hostile, or a smiling avatar as friendly and welcoming.

What then if the avatar you see is not well known, just some unknown pretty girl online? To some it may seem like a blank canvas to create your own persona for the person. With a beautiful photo and a perfectly crafted persona of your own making, one can begin to see how many people may be catfished online.

Even what is written is open to interpretation. With the lack of nonverbal cues, or the ability to read ones face, it is hard to detect subtle nuances in written text. Are they being funny or sarcastic? Does the use of Caps Lock and exclamation points imply that they are angry or excited? Roeds (2003:171) again notes that 'it is not only that students’ behaviour changes but also the perception of students’ behavior' Given an ambiguous statement, a person may apply a different meaning or tone to the conversation. Emoticons and clear statements can go some way to curb misunderstandings, but then again aren't misunderstandings a part of everyday life too? It is clear to see that feelings and emotions can be inferred through technology. Just ask anyone who has cried at a sad film. It now becomes a matter of honing that ability online to truly make your presence felt. As L.M. Montgomery put it


"It's dreadful what little things lead people to misunderstand each other."

Bibliography:
  1. Blake, R., Brave new digital classroom: technology and foreign language learning. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, [electronic resource]. 2008
  2. Montgomery, L.M., Emily's Quest. 1983 New York: Dell Laurel Leaf
  3. Roed, J., Language Leanrer Behaviour in a Virtual Learning Environment. Computer assisted language learning. 2003. 16, 2-3, pp.156-172

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