Hello fellow yellow bloggers! My name is Lindsay Bass. I am a sophomore communication/
I would guess that most of you use
When away messages were first introduced, the default ones such as “I am away from my computer right now” and “I am away” were very popular. While these are still used, more people now choose to display personal details about themselves for extended periods of time. Many Cornell students update their away messages multiple times during the day, since it has become a common practice to stay logged on
A common reason for away messages is to let friends know how to contact you. Many people post their phone numbers, their current location, or even a break down of where they will be at specific times throughout the day. Sharing this information makes it easy for anyone to contact you, including people that are not necessarily friends but have your screen name on their buddy list. I would assume that friends would already have your phone number, so I am curious to know why people are so comfortable giving out this information.
Quotes are also often posted on away messages, sometimes because the person is a fan of their music, but other times to allow a person to broadcast his/her feelings to their entire buddy list. When someone is sad, it is often obvious because of a quote on their away message. Is it because they are looking for sympathy in the form of instant message to cheer them up? Is it because they have a personal problem with a fellow
2 comments:
Lindsay,
Your post is very logical and well-written. I can find myself checking away messages, not that often, but when I do, I see the same things as you. This makes me think that this is a universal issue or concern. Is it that The Dave Matthews Band (ironically, my favorite band) is the most popular source for inspiring quotes, they have the biggest fan base, or a popular trend among college students? Who knows; further research and/or investigation will only tell..
It is interesting to hear your take on personal/private information being given out online, such as phone numbers, addresses etc. I agree with you, but take a different approach as to say that when people put certain things on their profile (such as a fraternity/sorority, or another group affiliation), they put that information on their profile to express their pride for that group. Whether it is necessary to post or not is a different question; a question that can only be answered through the hands of the typist.
I too find away messages quite fascinating and almost wrote about them as the one phenomenon that interests me the most. I too specifically wonder what people are trying to express when they post lyrics to a song. Is it that they just like the song lyrics or do they feel they are applicable to their life? One aspect of away messages that you could have considered is why people put up away messages in the first place. How many people do they expect to look at them? Would they be surprised if they knew how many actually did? I wonder how this relates to the “focus on the self” phenomenon that Wallace talks about in the text in relation to homepages. I would have to guess based on his writing that people usually think that many more are scrutinizing their away messages than actually are in reality, however, who knows, the answer may surprise us.
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