When the World Wide Web was created in the early 1990s, few predicted how successful and important it would become. Who would have thought that we could make a phone call to someone and see the person on the other end of the screen? Who would have thought that emails would become such a vital part of our every day lives, and that we could check them whenever and wherever we may be in the world? Who would have thought that we could buy whatever we wanted or needed, from clothing, to gifts, to groceries, all from the comfort from ones own home? And, who would have thought that we could type a word in to a search engine, and find absolutely anything we would have ever wanted on that subject, all by the click of a button?
Yes, the Internet has changed our lives dramatically; almost everyone could agree that they would be lost without it. Yet, ten years ago, if one was making a prediction about our use of the Internet and its role in our lives, most would have predicted something much different than what its function is today. There are some theories or phenomena, however, that will always hold, and they include:
1. Hyperpersonal Model: As described in detail in a previous blog post, Walther’s Hyperpersonal Model is made up of 5 components, the over-attribution process, developmental aspect, selective self-presentation, re-allocation of cognitive resources, and behavioral confirmation. Although, the increased amount of cues through the use of videos and pictures in CMC will change this theory slightly, this theory, in general, will always hold true.
2. Fundamental Attribution Error: Attributing how someone behaved to their personal traits, but believing that our negative behavior reflects situational constraints. No matter how the Internet changes, this theory will always remain.
3. Law of Attraction: The proportion of shared attitudes, beliefs, and interests leads to attraction, and this is something that will forever be accurate.
4. Social Support: Due to social distance, anonymity, interaction management, and access, social support on the Internet is extremely common. Although some of these factors, such as anonymity, may change, turning to the World Wide Web for social support is a phenomenon that is sure to remain in the future.
Although nothing is certain, there are a few theories or phenomena that are most likely going to change. These include:
1. Problematic Internet Use: As more and more things become Internet based, and as new technologies and games develop, PIU will become a much larger problem.
2. Digital Deception: As more and more cues and information become available on the Internet, it will be much harder to use deception. The nonverbal cues that are usually lost in CMC will become available.
3. Anonymity: As video is becoming an extremely common phenomenon on the Internet, anonymity, and all the theories associated with people being anonymous to each other on the Internet are certainly going to change.
In predicting what I think the future issues and technologies that will need to be addressed are, I will begin with what I like to call the “crackberry craze.” More and more people are turning (and are becoming glued) to their blackberry’s or other PDA devices, and I think the future will make these items a necessity for all. Furthermore, as noted earlier, I expect the use of video in CMC to grow. Although technologies such as SKYPE are popular among college kids, I predict that hard telephone lines will eventually become obsolete, and that all computer mediated conversations will turn to videophone calls such as these. As also mentioned earlier, this will largely transform many of the current theories that center around anonymity.
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No one can predict where the Internet will be in the future, but it is very interesting to speculate and see where our predictions take us. While I did truly enjoy every subject covered in COMM245 this semester, I have one suggestion for future classes. Because the evolution of the Internet is so interesting and is changing so rapidly, perhaps 245 could cover a little bit of the Internet’s history: how it has changed, what people thought it would be like, and where people think it will be in the future. Although no one can know for sure what the future holds in regards to the Internet, it would have been interesting to see how it has changed, how and why it is different than people thought it would be like, and what experts believe is to come.
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