Joshua Zalinger
Sociology 022 – In the Facebook Age – Spring 2010 – Dhiraj Murthy

Stream of consciousness:

“Privacy is basically a modern invention, towns used to be too small to keep any secrets.”

“When we’re left to our own devices, we make lousy choices.”

Light humor about the woman blogging in the same room as a person reading it.

People behave badly because no one’s holding their every action accountable. Blogging forces people to actually think about what they say and do.

A reader of the blog in Singapore asked the hospital how hard it would be to donate a kidney to the woman. The strength of purely online relationships.

Blogging can be a higher form of communication than a face-to-face physical relationship.

“Sometimes it’s easier to open up to people who aren’t looking at you.”

Is asking “strangers” for advice on a life decision inappropriate? She wants “feedback” on a serious decision that will impact the rest of your life.

You never have to be alone on the internet. But blogging about everything “turns our lives into entertainment.” Now, a legitimate “real” relationship is threatened by “virtual” relationships. Which trumps?

“I hate that you don’t have a blog. I hate that I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Now she discovers she has cancer, with a year (ish) left to live. How does she react? I’m betting straight to the blog.

“Figuring out who people are takes time. It takes twice as long when that person is trying to impress you.” Part of the subplot, but perhaps also a statement on the blogging culture: without the need to physically impress those in face-to-face contact, online relationships are more pure and deep.

When she discovered she had a year to live, she was surprisingly steady (and I maintain went to the blog). When told she had days, she turned to the physical companion next to her. In an emergency, she still turns to the “real,” not the “virtual.”

“We all need some secrets. As long as they don’t kill us, they keep us safe and warm.”

In the end, she chooses the treatment that her significant other wanted, and then blogs about it with his support. Happy ending, and the threat of death makes her realize that the “real” is more important in the end than “virtual.”

Definitely believes in post-industrialism.
“online ideology that wants to give power to the people”
“I am appalled by wikipedia. I use it throughout the day.”
“You can control what they believe if you can control what they have access to.”
Early internet was focused on freedom of expression and thought.
“A paradigm shift on par with the invention of the printing press.”
CERN was the catalyst for the creation of the modern world wide web.
Fundamental aspect of the internet: no central authority
“[libertarians] created their ideological wet dream.”
Early clashes between Gates (and others) wanting to be paid for their programming development, against hobbyists who believed in open and free sharing.
“… the web could destroy traditional business models.” (i.e. napster)
Online newspapers represent the conflict between wanting all voices present, but still desiring quality.
Whether central control is exerted from the government of large companies, the web should remain free and not used in fear.
Is the web inherently unequal, or does its inequality come from human nature?