Class wrap-up

      I think the best skill I have attained from my participation in this class is a inquisitive nature about my interactions online. When I first became acquainted with the internet I was not at all prepared for how my personality would be affected by the inhuman quality of online conversation. I allowed myself to be more rude and cantankerous than I would ever be in-person, and I was even somewhat judgmental before I started taking rhetoric courses. This class has especially educated me in the proper and educational means to converse online, and I feel less regret about the things I post now.

     The inclination to utilize technology for my education has also been heightened by my new appreciation for the growth in knowledge that the internet has sparked. A sense of community, however, still is riddled with complications. I feel that people are less capable of developing interpersonal relationships or getting to know each other from online conversation. I think humans need more from dialogue than the internet can provide, but things like Skype that give facial expression is a good step in the right direction.

     Sometimes I wish I could escape the internet, and I have in many ways by moving into a large community house (co-op). I enjoy the ability to seek conversation from other people, next door, rather than looking for it online. There is something so enjoyable about interacting with people that do not necessarily agree with my opinion, and being able to hash it out in-person, among others.

Leaving OkCupid

      It is refreshing to be done with my Cybersubculture project because I didn't like being so integrated into a community I didn't believe in. I also felt as if I was deceiving people and felt like a voyeur taking advantage of their community. In summary, I really enjoyed the capacity for online dating to introduce me to people I would never otherwise encounter, but disliked the comprehensive nature of creating a profile. I felt as if the profile was too much, and the website demands too much interaction which does not actually contribute to a good understanding of who that person is. 

     Now, however, I do not feel it is intentional that people misrepresent their identity. In fact, I think most members are genuinely motivated by the desire to find a mate, and misrepresenting oneself does not foster a good relationship. I think most people know that too. I do worry about predatory members that manipulate the website and people desperate for affection to seek unwholesome things like cheap sex or a free ride. Based on the nature of the website, and the commitment necessary to be a thriving member, I do not think these people make-up a very large portion of the population. 

     Despite all the research I did about people I really don't think I got a very good idea of who they are from their profile, and I would have to take it into real life to have a better understanding of the members.

Improving matches, a questionnaire

  I spent a good deal of class time today answering questions regarding my personality. Some questions seem utterly odd, and invite misrepresentation "Are you happy with your life" would, in my opinion, rarely arouse a genuine and candid answer. Some questions force a division between two values that may be harmonious: "Is passion or dedication more important to a relationship?" would not illicit a dimension of someone's personality that I could relate to because both components are essential, and need the other to balance it out. "What do you care about more now, politically: Economic or social issues?" is yet another example of forcing dualism in personalities and contributes to the distrust people have for the matching software.

   A lot of questions do provide a basis for relative compatibility, "Do you think contraception is morally wrong" can help daters eliminate potential matches based on fundamental beliefs. I feel uncomfortable knowing that people are being so selective, and may be seeking out someone similar to them in too many ways. There is just something I find compelling about meeting people in public, because there aren't any preconceived notions framing the interaction. I have rarely dated someone I agreed with everything on, and like some challenge to the interaction I have with people.

The potential of OkCupid

    The typical user of OkCupid is a web savvy, under 30, single person. Most messages I receive are from people seeking higher education. When searching through potential matches, it is possible to limit the search by factors such as: race, age, distance, relationship desired, body type, and gender. A friend of mine argued in his thesis that race selection for potential partners should be considered racist. I wonder to what extent using certain factors to limit the search field is inhibiting our knowledge and tolerance, and which factors should be considered offensive?

      People on the site seem really offended by being pigeon-holed and assigned percentages. I have found that I too do not trust OkCupid to assess my compatibility with a potential mate. It's almost as if people get to know each other better by meeting online, but also have the ability to craft an identity that does not represent who they are in real life. Some people never transition from searching online to actually mixing their online and real identities to interact in real life.

Existing outside of eXistenZ

Released in 1999, the same year as The Matrix, eXistenZ is a movie which depicts a game as an experience so realistic that it blurs the line between real life and cyber-life. Allegra Gellar is the game’s designer, playing with twelve volunteers to demo the new module, a fleshy, amphibious controller that taps into the spinal cord in order to project the virtual reality experience. Not long into playing Allegra is shot by a bizarre, organic gun and is whisked away by Ted Pickul, a marketing intern. On the run from “realists,” people believing her game is evil, Allegra Gellar escapes into her game in an attempt to repair damage done when she was unexpectedly disconnected. However, the bioport that Pickul receives from a gas station attendant is yet another attempt to foil Allegra. At a safe place Ted is fitted with a new bioport and begins playing with Allegra. In the game Ted and Allegra utilize different modules provided in the first scene, at a game store. With these new modules they are transported to the assembly line for gaming systems. A man from the assembly line directs Pickul to a Chinese restaurant where Ted consumes a grotesque assortment of amphibians that form the gun used on Allegra; Ted compulsively kills the Chinese waiter. Ted and Allegra then discover a diseased pod that Allegra attempts to repair by jacking-into. However, the pod is too far gone, and it latches into Allegra, and Ted must cut her free. A man from the assembly line, who directed Ted to the restaurant, burns the pod as Allegra looks on in horror. The safe place Allegra had chosen turns out to be a subversive plot by Cortical Systematics to copy her game and infect her game pod. Ted then reveals he is also a spy sent to kill Allegra, but she kills him first. It is then revealed that they have been playing tranCendenz, and the man from the assembly line is the creator. Allegra and Ted kill the game designer and his assistant.
A main theme of this film is the tension between people desiring innovations in technology and those terrified that it may run amok. In some ways the issues are already upon us, because there are some people so involved in alternate realities that they neglect their real lives. A good friend of mine had to sell his high powered computer to force himself to quit World of Warcraft. He felt powerless to resist the game because it had become such a significant part of his life. Allegra is similarly attached to her game, so emotionally invested that she would sacrifice her life to remedy an illness in her gaming module. For now, movies with virtual reality seem absurd because technology has not yet caught up with the imagination of David Cronenberg. The addiction some people have to gaming consoles, technology in general, mirrors those of drug dependency, but the problem is not pervasive enough to have a program teaching our youth to resist technology and form true identities first. In eXistenZ, Pikul is mocked for being unfamiliar with Allegra’s game. In our society it is similarly unacceptable to resist technology. I am grateful that I grew up alongside the inception of the Internet, and my family did not purchase a computer until 2000. I learned the necessary developmental skill of entertaining myself and played sports with kids in my neighborhood instead of logging on and instant messaging my afternoons away. At this point it is still a choice to become consumed with the Internet and alternate realities, although it does not feel that way with Facebook (I must have logged on 15-20 times while writing this paper). However, with advancements in technology it will only become harder to resist the allure of a world where you are in control and could be a hero.

"The Google of online dating" (Boston Globe)

Participating in an online dating forum has been a fascinating experience because profiles are specifically tailored to enhance a person's image, even more overtly than something like Facebook. The difference is motive--people are inclined to represent themselves in an idealistic way to attract a partner. I have become fascinated by the thought that people are skewing their identity subconsciously, much in the way that people cannot objectively see their reflection in a mirror.

I personally had difficulty describing myself, because I had never been taught to write so candidly about myself. There isn't a portion of the profile to represent any pitfalls or problems you may have... until it comes to the personality questions. The most disturbing question I have answered so far, was: If, by causing a car accident, your partner suffered horrible injuries, and they resented you for them, would you continue a relationship with them? Answering questions helps OkCupid's program to assess your compatibility with other members. I wonder how accurate the questions are, and if I would truly be attracted to people that OkCupid suggests. Physical attraction is, of course, not accounted for in the percentage they assign between you and another member as either: Match, Friend, or Enemy. I firmly believe this information is vital, despite the website's assertion that attraction isn't nearly as important (surely, it's not the only thing, but I believe this information should come first.

Another issue is misrepresentation though the use of outdated pictures. I have often encountered a profile that has drastically more glamorized pictures than those which appear on their corresponding Facebook. My sister, an avid user of dating websites (she actually married a man she met on OkCupid), attests to many dates with men that had gained weight or aged significantly since the pictures they chose for a profile. This deceit is a common fear people have about dating websites, and is one difference between meeting people online and meeting them in person. People still lie and deceive about personality when meeting in person, so the difference is that when online you can employ an edited/outdated photo or even a picture of someone else to delay a potential mate seeing your genuine appearance.

The World Wide Safety Blanket

People seem terrified of making other's uncomfortable, which prevents them from accessing ideas outside of their own and discussing issues with people that may challenge their perspective. It is inappropriate to discussion religion, politics, or personal issues because people don't want to tolerate the tension. This fear also translates into avoiding people of other races, religions, and sexual orientations.

I live in the reality Boyd describes both online--on Facebook and in a co-op that touts diversity-- but has few members that are not white or Atheist. I have a lot of pseudo-hippie friends that complain of injustice, but do not experience it or do anything tangible about it. I take some comfort in the fact that my friends make posts about political issues, and most of them are sensitive and conscientious.

What intrigued me about Boyd's and Stepaneck's articles is the expression of pervasive racial issues that are subconsciously expressed by aligning with certain social networks. This issue reminds me of my friend's thesis on racially-based sexual preference as an indication of underlying racism. I wonder how can we solve racism we don't acknowledge or understand.