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By Dr.
Philip Baczewski, Director of Academic Computing and User Services
BBC News recently
heralded
that "virtual pals soar in importance." The BBC article quotes a
report by the Center for the
Digital Future at the Annenberg School of the University of
Southern California. That
2007 Digital Future Report
is based on observation of a "representative sample" of Internet users
and non-users over a six year period. The BBC article quotes the
report as saying that "43 percent of Internet users who are members of
online communities say that they 'feel as strongly' about their
virtual community as they do about their real-world communities."
However, that "soaring" figure may be tempered by the report summary's
later statement that "42.8 percent of Internet users agree that going
online has increased the number of people they regularly stay in
contact with -- marginally less than the 46.6 percent who voiced the
same response four years ago."
There's no doubt that more people are going online as Internet access
becomes increasingly available. However, not all that is virtual is
necessarily new. Virtual communities grew up around mailing lists and
news groups in the early days of the Internet, and although we don't
have the statistics to prove it, it's likely based on anecdotal
observation that a number of strong relationships have developed out
of those virtual communities. That includes a number of marriages that
resulted from Internet-initiated relationships. Of course, not all
virtually-based relationships are friendly. A British man was
jailed resulting from what was characterized as "Web rage" after
he physically attacked another man with whom he'd exchanged insults in
an online chat room.
Another item in the Digital Future
Report is that "a slightly lower percentage of respondents age
16 or older say that the Internet has become important to political
campaigns; 59.5 percent agree or strongly agree that the Internet has
become important for political campaigns -- down from 64 percent in
2005." As the 2008 presidential election approaches, its seems that
the candidates are not discounting the importance of the virtual
world.
In early February, a campaign office for John Edwards was
opened within
Second Life, the online game that
lets you inhabit a virtual world. It didn't take long for the virtual
world to imitate the real. Recently, it was
reported that the virtual headquarters was subject to virtual
vandalism attributed to Republican gamers (the spirit of Dick Nixon
apparently lives on online.)
Not to be outdone, Barack Obama has
reportedly established his own accounts on
Facebook,
Flickr, and
YouTube. It's obvious that some
candidates are better at using the technology than others. If you
search for Barack Obama on YouTube, you see videos like,
Barack Obama, My Plans for 2008
and
Meet Barack Obama. If you
search for John Edwards, you find
Tomorrow Begins Today,
but also a parody video entitled
John Edwards Feeling Pretty
(getting his hair fixed), and a video of the now infamous Ann Coulter
comment. If you search for John McCain on YouTube, you find titles
like
John McCain Vs. John McCain and
Sleepy Senator John McCain
(during the State of the Union address). Clearly the McCain is less
effective in getting their message heard in the virtual world of
YouTube.
An interesting pattern in the 2007
Digital Future Report is that, in many categories, the
importance of the Internet is rated slightly lower than in the past,
even though more people in the sample have home Internet access. This
seems to indicate that the Internet is becoming integrated into every
day life and is not as frequently seen as some kind of savior
technology. It's not. The same teachers in your school are the
teachers on the Internet. Politicians are still politicians even if
they are on the Internet. A friend is still a friend, even on the
Internet. The difference is that your scope of potential friends has
greatly increased, and there are fewer places to avoid the
politicians.
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