[Air-l] The Internet Is Changing The Way Canadians Socialize

[Ulla Bunz]

I have to say that many of my students seem to be similar to Rhiannon's
students. They like using IM, their phones, and email to stay in touch with
people they know, most of them geographically close by. However, when I try to
tell them about online communities and identity issues in MUDS, Katie.com,
etc., they have the most difficult time understanding why anyone would ever do
something like that, or get so involved in establishing online relationships
with people they don't even know. As a matter of fact, many of my students
seem to think Turkle, Markham, Baym, and others are nuts and some sort of mega
nerds. I have to really establish context for them before they begin to see
why people would want to spend so much time "online" (because to them, IM is
not online), and grow relationships there. Interesting, isn't it? Our students
are a different generation, one who grew up with technologies (and social
acceptance of those), rather than having to appropriate and explore them, as
we did.
Ulla

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Ulla Bunz
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
Rutgers University
4 Huntington Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
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