Project: How has the internet changed, or been beneficial to you?

[author_by_night]

Just now, I read another story on CNN about online interaction horror stories.

While I find it horrible that teen girls are getting themselves into trouble, and more than urge everyone - even if you're an adult - to use caution, I also find it sad that there are more stories of death and deceit than there are stories that highlight successful online interaction.

So I am conducting a study, in which I would like you to tell me how the internet has benefitted you socially. I'm not sure how I will use the information - I will probably just make an additional LJ entry on it, or find a way to incorporate it into an article or paper of some sort.

Some notes:

1. I may not be able to take everyone's stories, but I will certainly try.

2. I won't be taking stories that promote recklessness. Sadly, it probably won't help my point.

3. Just to make a quick disclaimer - I am, of course, not condoning unsafe internet usage. When I get an email from someone I met online that gives their last name, I let them know (as some of you have found out). And I'm very uneasy about some info I have seen people put in their LJ profiles and entries. However, I do think we also have to realize that the internet is not always easy, and has changed people in a good way as well. :) There are so many stories that can be told - so let's hear 'em!

Comments

[purple-ladybug1.livejournal.com]

Saying that livejournal has changed my life would be a little melodramatic, but it has positively affected my life. I've always enjoyed keeping a diary, but as I got older, it was hard for me to update in my paper diary. But I love typing, and I'm really fast, so now I can easily keep a record of events and feelings. I'm really glad that greywolf2155 introduced me to lj two years ago. It's helped me keep in touch with him, plus I've gotten to know two of his really good friends. I also like how lj furthers my love and knowledge of HP. I read fics, essays, and short discussions. They're fascinating. With some of my younger lj friends, I enjoy the feeling of almost being a mentor. Often they go through the same things I did, and I like being able to offer advice and encouragement. Livejournal is my favorite part of the Internet.

[sixth-light.livejournal.com]

...well, I had homemade aloo parata for lunch as a direct result of the internet. Definitely beneficial.

Filling in the huge gaps in that sentence, the internet was what started me writing fanfiction. As a result of that, I got a review from a girl in India (lady_larla) who was a fan of the Kiwi cricket team and had noticed some name dropping. From there, we started IMing and emailing back and forth. It turned out that another friend and I were looking for a flatmate, and she was thinking about going back to university, potentially overseas. After much back-and-forthing and frantic faxing of tenancy agreements, she enrolled in our university, and two weeks ago, she arrived in New Zealand and moved into our flat. She likes the opportunity to flat (which she doesn't have in India), we like having a flatmate who is happy to put up HP posters in the living room. This is, however, incredibly difficult to explain to other people. "We met her on the internet" doesn't usually elicit the best reactions; we usually substitute "she has relatives in NZ and decided to come to uni here."

[miss-sophia.livejournal.com]

Well, for one, I met my husband on Match.com. And that was way back in 1997, well before it was as popular as it is today. Since we were living on completely different land masses, in completely different countries, there's no way I would have been able to meet him had it not been for the Internet. Well, I suppose it could have happened, but it would have been highly unlikely.

The Internet is also 87% responsible for my obsession with Harry Potter (which, my husband might say, is reason to argue that the Internet is evil ). I enjoyed the books on their own, but it was through reading JKR's Web site, Internet-published essays on the books, and fan fiction that I saw so much more to the books. They became a universe to me instead of several piles of paper in pretty bindings that had a pretty cool story to tell. If the Internet hadn't been around, there is no doubt that I never would have developed such an intense appreciation for Harry Potter.

Even more important, it was this interest in Harry Potter that made me realize (or, perhaps, "remember" would be a better term) how much I love literature. And that, in turn, made me discover that I ultimately want to be a writer...and that I can write. I can't even begin to describe how much of a revelation this has been for me. And I wouldn't have found and developed this passion had it not been for the Internet.

I also must say that LiveJournal has changed things for me, too. I am completely fascinated by how it allows people to build communities and loose bonds of acquaintanceship/friendship (some of which grow into real-life friendships). Actually, I wrote a paper on this for my intercultural communication class last semester. When I was researching that paper, I came across a number of studies saying that virtual communities based on common interest are going to become increasingly prevalent in the future. Prior to the Internet, we associated with people based on proximity--that is, most, if not all, of your relationships were with people who lived near you. You might not even have had anything in common. Now, people are able to connect with others who share the same interests, even if those people are across the world. This doesn't mean that they will become best friends forever, but it does provide a very fulfilling outlet for people to pursue and develop their interests, passions, and hobbies. LiveJournal is a fascinating channel in this respect, because of the way that its communities are structured.

Another way the Internet has benefited me is that it's made me more aware of language. The Internet is a written medium, and it's really made me conscious of the words I use and the way I clarify my meaning without the aid of sound or sight. As a writer, I think this deeper understanding of language is incredibly helpful.

Anyway, I could probably go on and on, but I have a school project that's practically begging me to quit procrastinating. (Interestingly, the project is on the use of blogs and moblogs in public relations--kind of a related topic!) But thanks for asking such interesting questions!

[arayuldaiel.livejournal.com]

This sounds pretty lame, but I think the internet has made me less shy/more outgoing in real life. Before I discovered message boards (I think I was eleven? Woah), I barely talked in class. I barely talked around my friends, even. But after I started posting on forums and message boards, I guess I just got more... confident. I could express my opinions without worrying about my peers thinking I'm stupid or having people LOOK at me, oh noes! So after I got over that fear, I started talking more. I got more active. I didn't stay in an enclosed shell - I wasn't afraid to try out for that solo or get up on stage in Drama class.

And then came LJ. My writing skills, quite frankly, sucked before I started blogging. I was never able to keep up with a paper diary, so it was sort of a new experience for me. Well, I guess it was for everyone who started a blog or lj the first time - you've never exactly written for an 'audience' in live time, you know? So that was another thing. I got to meet new people through writing about random stuff about my life. Which also made me realize - why should I care what other people think? It's my life, I'm going to live it how I want to. I think reading about other people's lives and day-to-day happenings benefitted to this too - hey, people who live life totally unlike me, but we still have a zillion things in common. So I shouldn't conform just to be 'normal'.

And. Er. There's probably more things, but I don't want to clog up your comments with an essay, so there you go =)

[ziasudra.livejournal.com]

I started using the Internet for browsing purposes, then for e-mailing and researching once I started college. I never got into the instant messaging culture, even though I have accounts and have chatted with people online.

My first blog was over at xanga, which I rarely update anymore. I switched over to LJ because this is where fandom is, and I also have a bunch of RL friends who have LJs.

RL acquaintances:
Believe it or not, I initially used my LJ to take reading notes. It was one way to convince myself that doing my required reading was "fun." Then I started befriending people. My first two LJ friends are also two of my best friends in RL, and from her I got to know her best friend from college and her boyfriend, both now on my flist. I also have three high school friends on my flist, all of whom I got in touch with after losing touch when we were all in college. And one friend from college. But trumping all that are my two most devoted readers: my mom and my aunt. They don't have LJ; they lurk. But I use LJ as a means of keeping in touch with them, to let them know what's going on in my life.

Online friends:
My first LJ friend who I felt could be my RL friend if we lived in the same city is a fandom writer I beta for. I then started befriending people with common fannish or non-fannish interests, and quite a few of them have since become very good friends. I edit scholarship/med school application essays for a couple of them, and I've written fics for/received fics from a few friends.

I crossed the RL vs. online dividing line when I went to The Witching Hour last October. There, I met a bunch of people I've known via LJ. The conference was great, but the best part was hanging out with fellow fans. Since then, I've met a bunch of them for a second/third time, and they're now people I would call up and have a spontaneous hang-out with, as much as my RL friends.

I've also gotten Christmas gifts and cards from LJ friends, and I've sent them gifts in return. The address exchange was done via personal e-mails, and I'm honestly fine with that because 1) I live in a huge city, in a building with doormen (i.e., all packages are checked before they get to the residents), and 2) My address changes so often that I don't even remember many of my previous addresses.

I try to be the same online as I am offline, and my RL friends on my flist have told me that I don't act differently. I rarely f-lock since locking posts means my mom and aunt won't be able to read them. My fics and excessive fandom squees are probably the only things I automatically f-lock.

I think one of these days I might end up renaming my fandom journal, when I start applying for "real jobs," because I'm definitely Googleable (I've Googled myself a lot of times ;) and I'm all for potential employers Googling interviewees, since I Google my professors and interviewers too. Really though, other than the fact that I'm in fandom, there isn't much else that separates my RL from online.

No full fledged stories here. But if any part of my story interests you, feel free to ask me to elaborate :)

[ex-jo-blogs.livejournal.com]

Like Miss Sophia, I met my partner through an internet dating site and (also like her!), I wrote about it as coursework for my cultural studies and digital media module. I got a good grade for it, and if I hadn't, I never would have got a distinction for the masters overal, which means I wouldn't now be in a position to go bakc to college to do a PhD with funding! So, yes - you could say the internet has helped me change my life for the better in the most fundamental way possible. More recently, it's been the reason I got involved in reading fan fiction and then starting to write for pleasure for the first time in god knows how many years. The last few months have been the most exciting, creative time of my life and it has totally changed my priorities - hence finding the courage to leave my secure job and go back to studying. It's all interlinked. And incidentally, even though it's possible I might have bumped into my boyfriend in real life (or walked past him on the street)as we lived in the same city, though different parts, I know there's no way we would have got talking in the way we did with email and chat as our first medium. We're both quite reserved and both see ourselves as not that great socially when we first meet people. Hope that's useful!

[jamc91.livejournal.com]

Your point number three reminded me...I need to check if I've changed my Hotmail signature yet. Thanks. :D

Anyway, the Internet. I've always been a paranoid person, and since moving to a new school where people play in the courtyard every morning and break and it is just. that. easy to get a ball in the face whether you're in the courtyard or on the fourth floor (seriously, I got hit like three times sitting on the fourth floor), I've become more paranoid. I don't know how, but it happened, and I guess that paranoia has somehow spread to my Internet habits, so I don't give out any information on the Internet if I can help it, not even my first name, usually. :P

Socially, yeah, it's sad to say that I often feel more at ease chatting online with Internet friends than talking with real life friends. I think it's just me, though, since I'm bad at communicating orally. Which is why I get absolutely terrified at the thought of oral presentations.

All my Internet friendships are based on common interests, of course, and usually - or always, I haven't checked - that interest is Harry Potter. Since so few of my friends have even a remote interest in Harry Potter, I often can't find anything to say, and just let them do the talking and pipe up when I feel like it. Which is really not such a good way to do things, you know, but it's hard. :( Alas.

Plus I can't use emoticons in real life, and it sounds so much more pathetic saying 'w00t' or 'wtf' in real life than in MSN conversations. :D

[airriphlyer.livejournal.com]

SugarQuill: Going to SQ has been great for me. Other than kinda-sorta meeting a lot of people who I love to interact with, it's been awesome for my writing. I was horrible before I got to SQ, and I know it. Since then, I've been working on how to refine plot, how to get rid of the Mary-Sues who invade my writing, grammar, and all around writing. Since writing and reading are my passions, I definitely enjoy the time I spend at SugarQuill, whether writing, socializing on the forums, or reading the excellent fics there.

(my voice so changed from my normal commenting, didn't it?)

LiveJournal: I can sum up why I like LJ in two words: Socializing sqeet! :D Siriusly, though, I get to just let my feelings go. I've never been good about keeping a paper journal (never more than two months), and so my five-or-so month LiveJournal is quite a feat for me! The chance to see into others lives, even the people who I've never met personally, has been a good influence on me -- to a small degree, I feel responsible for them, how they feel, what they want to do. I have a small impact on their life, their mood, their decisions. That, I think, has matured me ever so slightly. Plus, the added bonus of people being able to comment on my updates. I get feedback, mostly positive, so I can always be cheered up when I'm down or have fun when I'm bored. And that, as we all know, is most important. ;)