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INTERNET NEWSGROUPS.
Term Paper ID:23608
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Essay Subject:
As electronic communities, focusing on interpersonal communications & Rolling Stones newsgroup (alt.rock-n-roll.stones).... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
3 sources, 7 Citations,
MLA Format
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Paper Abstract:
As electronic communities, focusing on interpersonal communications & Rolling Stones newsgroup (alt.rock-n-roll.stones).
Paper Introduction:
Introduction
Although it began in the 1960s as a way for employees in government and education to establish contact with one another, the Internet today has moved far beyond the purview of bureaucrats and academicians. The public is familiar with the term "information superhighway," and the World Wide Web and newsgroups have received a great deal of media attention as more and more individuals from around the world discover cyberspace. The rapid expansion of the Internet has brought with it several important issues regarding privacy, government control and general access: CompuServe, an American company, recently faced a decision of how to respond to Germany's laws regarding the distribution of pornography on the Internet (Bryant 12290018). Pornography has caused considerable concern as parents and government officials worry
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Because they must livetogether in a particular place, community members establish rules ofbehavior for the community, and communication is conducted in a variety ofways, including oral and written communication. Conclusion Since alt.rock-n-roll.stones offers a place where those with a commoninterest can share that interest, and since those who post to the newsgroupform certain cultural expectations of what is acceptable and unacceptablebehavior, the newsgroup certainly has the hallmark of a community, althougha community which is far removed from the physical communities which shapeour lives in a traditional manner. Introduction Although it began in the 196 s as a way for employees in governmentand education to establish contact with one another, the Internet today hasmoved far beyond the purview of bureaucrats and academicians. The newsgroup tendsto attract fans, not other musicians, and there are few discussions whichcenter on the band's musical technique. "Newsgroup Readers." PC Magazine (October 8, 1996):163-167. Another discussionduring the same period focused on whether it was Jesse Jackson or anotherAfrican-American leader who objected to the song, "Some Girls." However, there are discussions which move well away from the group'smain topic (the Rolling Stones). alt.rock-n-roll.stones This newsgroup is for people interested in the Rolling Stones rockgroup. However, Internet participants have broached the ideathat cyberspace in general and the particular newsgroups of the Internet inparticular are, in fact, their own communities. After reading a message, readers can post a response to the entirenewsgroup (public), or only to the author of the first message (private).Of course, they also have the option of making no response at all, and itis estimated that many more individuals read newsgroup posting thanactually participate in such discussions. The publicis familiar with the term "information superhighway," and the World WideWeb and newsgroups have received a great deal of media attention as moreand more individuals from around the world discover cyberspace. Rumors about the band or bandactivities are often discussed, and during early October, there were sevenpostings concerned with Keith Richards real last name. Internet usershave developed their own cues (called smileys or emoticons) which areviewed sideways and used to indicate when a person is joking :-) or forother nonverbal hints. Despite the apparent difficulties of communicating with other peoplesolely through writing, a number of regular Internet users have indicatedthat they are more comfortable with this type of communication than withcommunication in the physical environment (Parks & Floyd 4). As arbiters of taste, they have alsoappointed themselves the censors and critics of the newsgroup, a situationwhich is common in the cyberspace environment (MacKinnon 117). The argument can be made,therefore, that some newsgroups are communities in which the principal formof communication is written rather than oral. There areleaders in newsgroups, as well as followers, and there are the occasionalparticipants, just as in physical communities. Works Cited Bryant, H. John andMary, in particular, have developed a relationship which extends beyondmerely posting messages to cyberspace. They regularly write about eachother (and even to each other) in their public messages to the newsgroup,and have (judging by their messages) a relationship which is difficult mostof the time, and acrimonious on occasion. But the participants in alt.rock-n-roll.stones have moved beyondmerely buying and selling each other's record collections and debatingwhether the "old" Stones are better than the "new" Stones. While there are postings from many different individuals in thisnewsgroup, there are some individuals who tend to post more often (at leastonce a day) than others. Community standardsdo exist (and vary) from newsgroup to newsgroup, and those standards changeas the participants change, just as in a physical community. In this way, friendships form among those with common interestsand some community members recognize that they may have difficulty gettingalong with other community members. The issue at handwas whether Americans have added a gratuitous "s" to the end of the name(those responding to this query agreed that the name is correctly"Richards," but disagreed as to how the rumor started). The rapidexpansion of the Internet has brought with it several important issuesregarding privacy, government control and general access: CompuServe, anAmerican company, recently faced a decision of how to respond to Germany'slaws regarding the distribution of pornography on the Internet (Bryant1229 18). Where members of a community would once gather in their neighborhoodsto discuss matters of common interest, cyberspace community members gatherin their homes or offices to do the same. 1229 18. Exchanging information and opinions about a rockband can certainly serve as the basis for a special interest group;certainly it would not be difficult to imagine such a group forming in acity and meeting once a month to have many of the same discussions thatoccur in the newsgroup. Newsgroups are essentially public bulletin boards whereauthors can "post" their messages which can be read by anyone who accessesthe newsgroup. In other cases, writers who express an affection for aparticular song or album are taken to task by those who consider theirtastes pedestrian, while those who are familiar with the band's moreobscure recordings are hailed as being particularly knowledgeable (andgenerally in agreement with their admirers' own opinions). The discussions that take place in alt.rock-n-roll.stones are notunlike conversations that neighbors or co-workers might have. Certainlyprejudice based on physical characteristics is eliminated, but so are manyof the nonverbal cues which individuals use to communicate. This research considersthe question of whether newsgroups can constitute communities, and whetherone newsgroup in particular, alt.rock-n-roll.stones, can be considered acommunity. Friendshipsand even romances have developed on-line which have then moved to thephysical environment, but there are also situations where Internet usershave taken full advantage of the anonymity offered by the medium andchanged significant aspects of their personality or appearance (sometimeseven switching genders). In such a physical place,individuals learn to interpret social cues and nonverbal communication atthe same time that they interpret the verbal content of a message. Three writers inparticular, (called John, Mary and Matthew for the purposes of this paper),are particularly active in the newsgroup. Butnewsgroups are not altogether something new, either. These active users tend to follow "netiquette" as it is identified incurrent literature, and make use of emoticons, asterisks and uppercaseletters to drive home their points. Given the standards of behavior set (and enforced) by the newsgroup,the common interest shared by the members, the personal interaction (andeven relationships) that take place in the newsgroup and the public forumin which the entire newsgroup is situation, it can be said that alt.rock-n-roll.stones (and similar newsgroups) are indeed communities. All newsgroups are not merely a new form of mass entertainment,although those dedicated to jokes or exchanging pictures might fall intothis category. Most of us equate a community with a specific, physical place (Jones11). (1995, December 29). They consist of highly personal exchanges betweenindividuals which are, admittedly, read by a much larger audience. Theseindividuals have come together with a common interest and discuss thatinterest with each other. Gonzalez, Sean. While some of their differencesrelate to the Rolling Stones, much of their discussions are now personalattacks on each other which have little or nothing to do with the topic. Compuserve cuts access to 2 onlinenewsgroups. Interpersonal Behavior in Newsgroups Newsgroups lack the face-to-face aspect of physical communities, whichraises new issues when considering how relationships are formed. One participant was derided for using theword "egregious," which then prompted criticism of the critic from othergroup members. Usingall of this contextual information, community members are able toaccurately assess and respond to the information with which they arepresented. Pornography has caused considerable concern as parents andgovernment officials worry about Internet content which is in conflict withcommunity standards. Some communities are welcoming to new members and to visitors, whileothers (gated communities in particular) shun new members and actively seekto protect themselves from unwelcome visitors. In the case of newsgroups,discussions do not take place in "real" time, but are more akin to pen palsleaving messages for one another in a public place. Some of thepostings indicate a level of familiarity with other users that theseindividuals might well be unlikely to exhibit in a face-to-face meeting,and the personal nature of many of these postings illustrate the level ofcomfort that their authors feel with regard to the newsgroup, perhapsbecause of the relative anonymity that the Internet provides (Baym 154). Because of the nature of telecommunications,newsgroups can also include partcipants from throughout the world, althoughlanguage difficulties must then be overcome, which has prompted somecompanies to offer products which translate from one language to another in"real" time ("Parlez" 298). Typically, newsgroups are comprised of people sharing acommon interest, such as an interest in AIDS research, a love for classicalmusic, or American politics. On average, there are 3 to 4 postings per week, based on aseveral week sampling in late September and early October 1996.Discussions in the newsgroup tend to focus on either buying or sellingvintage or hard to find Rolling Stones recordings and memorabilia, andthere are regular (and sometimes heated) postings about whichalbum/song/version is the best of the Rolling Stones. The newsgroup is also susceptible to "junk"mail in the form of get-rich-quick postings and similar typeadvertisements. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, p. These individuals have deemed themselves thearbiters of acceptable behavior in the newsgroup (it was one of them whotook the author of "egregious" to task) and they tend to write morestrongly opinionated postings than other participants. Authors include a subject line in theirposting, which guides future readers as they choose which messages to read. The Internet and Newsgroups Newsgroups evolved as a way for researchers to exchange ideas andinformation with a large audience; estimates today put the number ofnewsgroups at more than 15, with new newsgroups being added every day(Gonzalez 163). What is a Community? The newsgroup also has leaders (Mary,John and Matthew), followers (in the more occasional authors), and visitors(those who post once, or who read regularly but never post at all), just asa traditional community would. "Parlez-Vous Internet?" PC/Computing (February 1996): 298.
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