Hello world. (I remember having to write code to produce those two words in my very first computer science assignment in high school…all I have to say is thank God I don’t have to take CompSci again…)
Anyway, my name is Kristie Lee and I’m currently a sophomore Comm. major/AEM minor from northern Virginia! I was undecided in Arts last year, but finally managed to find a home in the Ag school this semester, so I’m definitely excited to see what’s in store for the next few years. I enjoy editing videos (short movies, music videos etc.) and I’ve just recently started getting into artistic photography. Most of my friends would probably consider me a fairly normal person in real life: relatively fashionable, somewhat athletic, able to relate to people, and not too awkward (I hope anyway). But my online persona is totally different and, to be honest, I’m one of the biggest nerds I know. I’m a Threadless loving, forum lurking, anime watching, bizarre music listening nerd. :)
I find this assignment rather interesting as far as my own hobbies are concerned. For over four years now I’ve been a member in a relatively large online community with a forum and continuously running IRC that would leave any regular reader or visitor amused. The community website/forum/IRC gets hits from members all over the world. But what I find particularly fascinating about this community is how people develop such close friendships and “cliquey” behavior through what seems to be very limited interaction. It is strange that cliques are so easily formed, even in an online environment where forum members lack the capacity to express one of the most basic forms of communication: nonverbal. One group of the most active members in the forum (containing both males and females) originally met in this online community a few years ago and they are currently sharing an apartment (two of them are even dating!). What also strikes me is the development of online jargon only familiar to community members. Though many of the phrases can be considered general web lingo, I’m sure comments such as :up:, “that was all sorts of win”, yayCen, EADFAG (not a derogatory term, just an acronym), and boochsack would make absolutely no sense to outsiders. How do terms like this develop? Is this generally a result of any community of people whether online or IRL (in real life)? It is interesting to see just how an isolated online community can thrive so well as to develop its own social norms and language.
In The Psychology of the Internet, Wallace describes two environments that are vital to the development of this particular online community (as well as others, I’m sure). Both the synchronous chats (via IRC) and asynchronous discussions (via forums) provide havens for members to come together at all hours of the day, regardless of geographic location and time, to build online relationships and form connections with others that share the same interest. Wallace was quite right in identifying these two environments of the Internet, as they are still quite effective even after 7-8 years.
Anyway, my name is Kristie Lee and I’m currently a sophomore Comm. major/AEM minor from northern Virginia! I was undecided in Arts last year, but finally managed to find a home in the Ag school this semester, so I’m definitely excited to see what’s in store for the next few years. I enjoy editing videos (short movies, music videos etc.) and I’ve just recently started getting into artistic photography. Most of my friends would probably consider me a fairly normal person in real life: relatively fashionable, somewhat athletic, able to relate to people, and not too awkward (I hope anyway). But my online persona is totally different and, to be honest, I’m one of the biggest nerds I know. I’m a Threadless loving, forum lurking, anime watching, bizarre music listening nerd. :)
I find this assignment rather interesting as far as my own hobbies are concerned. For over four years now I’ve been a member in a relatively large online community with a forum and continuously running IRC that would leave any regular reader or visitor amused. The community website/forum/IRC gets hits from members all over the world. But what I find particularly fascinating about this community is how people develop such close friendships and “cliquey” behavior through what seems to be very limited interaction. It is strange that cliques are so easily formed, even in an online environment where forum members lack the capacity to express one of the most basic forms of communication: nonverbal. One group of the most active members in the forum (containing both males and females) originally met in this online community a few years ago and they are currently sharing an apartment (two of them are even dating!). What also strikes me is the development of online jargon only familiar to community members. Though many of the phrases can be considered general web lingo, I’m sure comments such as :up:, “that was all sorts of win”, yayCen, EADFAG (not a derogatory term, just an acronym), and boochsack would make absolutely no sense to outsiders. How do terms like this develop? Is this generally a result of any community of people whether online or IRL (in real life)? It is interesting to see just how an isolated online community can thrive so well as to develop its own social norms and language.
In The Psychology of the Internet, Wallace describes two environments that are vital to the development of this particular online community (as well as others, I’m sure). Both the synchronous chats (via IRC) and asynchronous discussions (via forums) provide havens for members to come together at all hours of the day, regardless of geographic location and time, to build online relationships and form connections with others that share the same interest. Wallace was quite right in identifying these two environments of the Internet, as they are still quite effective even after 7-8 years.
1 comment:
Kristie,
You had me from “Hello” and I can also remember writing code to produce “Hello World”. I thought you did a great job with giving the right amount of personal information to make your blog both an interesting and enjoyable read. Not only did it tell me more about yourself, but it effectively led up to your interest in online communities and language.
The points you make about language being developed by isolated communities was in a sense an eye-opener for me. I play online games but after reading your post I thought about the words I now use because of my interaction with such communities. Noob. Pwnt. Roffle. Some I know the origins of (Newbie → Newb/Noob/Nub) and some I have absolutely no idea! I am now interested in the slang that is created from online communities and why new slang is invented rather than using words we use IRL.
Thanks for the great post!
Lauren
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