Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!lll-lcc!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor From: shane@deepthot.UWO.CDN (Shane Dunne) Newsgroups: comp.society Subject: Re: Technology, Media, and Social Interaction: The Phone System Message-ID: <1162@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> Date: Sat, 5-Dec-87 23:14:59 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsz.1162 Posted: Sat Dec 5 23:14:59 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 10-Dec-87 23:45:38 EST Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Western Ontario Lines: 44 Approved: taylor@hplabs Dave Taylor writes: >[...discussion of phone services such as 900 & 976 profit-making > ventures, leading into discussion of BBS's and net-news...] >The other question that arises, and I believe is the crux of all >of this, is *where did this clique [of users -sd] come from*? >Is it a new group of people, these that use technology as a vehicle >for social interaction, or is it a natural outgrowth of other factors? > >My suspicion is that it's an unsuprising result of the expansion >of media and the consequent strengthening of the media's 'perfect >person'. >[...] >What exactly is this saying about our culture? The "perfect person" notion hits it right on the head. People in TV shows, movies and plays are bound to be perfect; their every utterance has been carefully scripted. How can "ordinary" people compete with that? By using media such as the phone services, CB radio, BBS's and net-news, which allow them to conceal their own "imperfect" identity and, in the latter two cases, spend nearly unlimited "scripting" their contributions. Where did this clique come from? They're just ordinary folks, grabbing onto an opportunity to be like their media heroes. Well, nobody's perfect, as the saying goes, and so to become perfect I must become someone other than myself. The most obvious way is to use a false name, or at least withhold my real one. BBS's and similar systems facilitate this by presenting new users with a prompt like "Enter name:". It disturbs me somewhat that this net-news/mail facility is inconsistent about including users' real names with news postings. It seems that although my local system automatically includes my real name, some distant systems will remove it. A popular argument against using real names is that anonymous media can help shy people reach out to others in a "safe" way. I cannot believe that sitting in front of a terminal engaging in such "safe" anonymous interaction can help anyone learn real social intercourse skills. (It might be of value in pathological cases, but then the situation should be much better controlled.) If our goal is to help the shy ones, we must not force them to hide behind assumed identities for protection against a hostile social environment; rather we must strive to make the environment gentler. This means, primarily, giving up the childish practice of flaming, and remembering the little things we used to call "politeness". - Shane Dunne, UWO Computer Science, Canada