communicating on the internet (reaction to Kollock & Smith)

In the reading by Peter Kollock and March Smith called “Managing the Virtual Commons: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities,” it discusses many issues having to do with communicating on the internet such as the problem of cooperation, the Usenet, social dilemmas in cyberspace, and managing the virtual commons. With the rise of the internet, a lot of good things have come out of it as well as the bad things. As I mentioned in my reaction to the first reading by Adams & Clark, people have become so dependent on technology that we no longer have to go out and do simple little things for ourselves. This would include communication. Computer-mediated communication systems such as the Usenet can be very helpful to us. However, it can also lead to some sort of miscommunication as well. As stated in the first section of the reading by Kollock and Smith, cooperation becomes very hard when you are communicating in the internet. Systems such as the Usenet enable people to filter out what they want and do not want to read. Therefore, while posting things on forums and sending out mass e-mails about a certain topic, there may be a lack of cooperation due to people not thoroughly reading everything there is to read about that certain topic. There was a short discussion in one of our previous class sessions about how communicating on the internet can alter the meaning of a message someone is trying to get across. A good example of this can be when we are e-mailing someone or instant messaging. It can also refer to text messaging. When communication is done only through text, you cannot hear the tone of the speaker’s voice or see their body language. I believe communication is more than just talking to someone verbally. You cannot clearly get your message across without the use of body language and altering the tone of your voice. As the conclusion of this reading state that “computers are being used, in effect, to manage networks of relationships between people,” I cannot say anything more than the fact that I agree 100%.