What stood out for me about the Walther reading is the relation of affection in a relationship to how asynchronous the communication is. I immediately thought of my own online relationships. I have two good friends across the map. One is in Australia and we talk everyday via bbm, and instant communication application on my black berry. The other is in New York and I speak to her once a week. We communicate via email. In trying to analyze which relationship had the most affection and deeper level of communication, I realized it was my friend in New York. Whilst our conversations were not everyday they were also not limited to short quick conversation. Relating closely to Harasims point on the advantage of delayed responses being that one can formulate their responses more effectively, my conversation with my friend in New York had more substance.
What was slightly worrying was the effects internet is having on offline relationships. The studies relating to the amount of time taken away from family in lieu of the Internet was a worry I brought up in my previous blogs. This weekend I was traveling. On the plane for those two hours I sat next to a very chat lady. She and I spoke for the whole two hours and had a great conversation. However, as soon as we landed and cell phones were permitted I was as good as a stranger again. Her offline relationship had become a substitute for her online relationship. I couldn’t help but remember the good old days we would text someone only because we were lonely in a room…
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