Overview and Thoughts

If there are any two worlds that have ever seem more intertwined than ever, it would definitely be "real life" and virtual life. Over the past month I have touched on various subjects regarding the two. So, for this blog I would like to just go over the main key points for the blogs I have written thus far. 

Distinguishing "Real" from "Virtual" - How much time do we spend in each?

In this blog I defined the two and then asked you to think about how much time you spend on and offline. Then to take a step back and realize just how intertwined “real life” and the time we spend online are. To ask yourself is this a good or bad thing? I hope you have been able to evaluate the time you spend and can now answer this question with confidence.

TMI

In my blog “TMI” I touched on how sites enable us to post and upload just about everything, allowing us to know possibly too much about our friends and vice versa on sites such as: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I find it true more everyday that having a conversation with someone it is rare that one of these three sites is not mentioned in regards in talking about someone we know as a friend or acquaintance.

Meeting new people

I refreshed our memories of sites that we can use to expand our options of friendships. I recently used Chatroulette and made a friend that I now talk to almost every day. It is nice talking to someone about what is going on in my life, especially someone from the outside you can look in and have a different perspective. For those of you who had second guesses, I say give it a chance or another chance.

How you can be there without being “there”

Webcams are becoming more used to stay in touch and they are a great way to be there without actually being somewhere in “real life”. Sites that we can use webcams on are: Skype, Oovoo, MSN, and yahoo! Messenger.

Privacy

Things to remember is that our privacy is not just offline in “real life” but equally online in our virtual life as well. Privacy is something we should pay attention to and we should learn how to protect ourselves from not just others but even ourselves. It can sometimes be hard when you are relying on others to protect your privacy, especially when our friends can post and upload things we would rather not be known, but we can do are best and try to protect it to the best of our abilities.

Delete, reactivate, delete, reactive…

With all the sites we are members of sometimes it can be overwhelming, and we sometimes debate whether or not we really need to continue our membership on sites such as: Facebook, MySpace, flickr, dating sites and so on. But rather we like it or not “real life” and virtual life will be intertwined forever more.

The internet is more than just a tool for communication

We don’t just communicate with others online but we use the internet to free up our time, whether that be spending that free time more online or in “real life”. We take classes online to free time and also go shopping. We all know though that looking at things to purchase online does not always go so quickly.

Overall, “real life” and virtual life I hope you can see is intertwined and maybe you already noticed. If so I hope you can see even more so how it is intertwined. I hope that my blog initiated conversations between you and your friends and have made you if at all more cautious of these two worlds that we weave in and out of every day. 

the internet is more than just a tool for communication

It seems that not only do we use the internet to connect to others but it helps with furthering our education and purchasing items.

Using the internet for things such as taking classes or shopping allows for more free time or sometimes less time in the real world.

How many of you have got a ticket and didn’t want to take precious time out of your day to drive over to the justice of the peace or the court house? Instead you can take care of your tickets online and if need be you can easily take defense driving online too. I think it is very convenient, especially when you can save time and use it elsewhere. However I will say, even though I like being able to take defensive driving online, I question it. Think about it, the irony of taking defensive driving online while driving is something done in the real world. But hey, it works out for our benefit, right?

Online Classes

As students we either know someone who has taken an online class, we have taken an online course or maybe there is one in the future. Online classes are nice to take; you don’t have to worry about telling your work to change your hours or changing your plans with your friend(s) (at least not drastic changes). Having virtual classes enables for more time spent doing what we would like. Sometimes if we’re not careful though we can let our work build up and then we have to spend a couple hours at a time online catching up. So splitting the time we have up wisely between the two is a must! I know that sometimes I have issues with splitting my time up between online and off.

Shopping

Where to begin? Just saying the word shopping makes me feel excited and tired all at once! I enjoy going shopping with my friends, but I hate walking from store to store or getting in and out of the car and not find what I was looking for. Shopping on the internet saves me so much time. First, I save the time I would have spent driving to and from the mall or store, second, all that walking and getting in and out the car. When I shop online, I choose the store I want type in what I’m looking for and not only do I get the size I want but I can choose the color. As fast as I got on, I’m off with my purchased items on the way. However, sometimes it doesn’t always go so smoothly or quickly. Shopping online can save time, but how many of you have ever got online to shop and notice hours have gone by? Sometimes, I have to tell myself, “Jerica, you are only buying this and that’s it!” Otherwise, the time I wanted to save from shopping in real life is spent online instead of having more time to hang out with my friends.

There are so many other things we use the internet for and I know I barley opened the envelope on this subject, but please share what you use or have used  the internet for and how it helps or has helped or vice versa. 

Delete, reactivate, delete, reactivate...

Keeping up with accounts and profiles we have online can be exhausting! Think about it, how many times do you check them? How many sites do we need to really participate in? Personally, I participate or have an active account with: topsin, Facebook, MySpace, flickr, Twitter, yahoo! messenger, Chatroulette, MilitarySingles, Skype and my blog (just to name a few). Yet, many of these sites I no longer visit. I guess I choose to keep these sites activated because I may want to use them again, and making a new account would just be a hassle and who wants that?

Think for a minute, how many sites are you a member and visit daily, weekly or monthly? If I were to actually visit all the sites I participate or am a member of on a daily basis, I would not have a "real" life to intertwine with my virtual life. My virtual life would be my only life! This example is a bit over dramatic, okay it is overly dramatic. However, I have friends that have chosen not to have a virtual life, but only a "real" life. I guess that seems overly dramatic too. Separating "real" life and virtual life in this day and age, and I think you can agree, is ridiculous. If we did separate the two I think both worlds would lack. It's hard not to have a conversation without bringing one into the other.

If you are a user of Facebook, then you will understand when I say that more and more people choose to take a break by deleting their facebook account. The best thing about it too is that they can reactivate their account. This allows them not to completely separate themselves from virtual life. Whether you have done this, know someone who has or someone who has chosen not to have an accounts on social networks, it is hard not to visit these sites.

I have a friend who chooses not have accounts on social networks, yet because of the vast distance between him and me, social networks help him to stay in touch with what is going on in my life. For instance, when I post or upload something to my social network that I want him to see, I have to go to my settings and make my profile public. This allows him to look at my profile in its entirety even though he is not a member of the site. Even for my friend who strongly opposes the use of social networks finds himself pulled into my virtual life. Sooner or later my friend, and I strongly agree, will have an account on a social network sometime in his lifetime. Even, though he can view my post without joining, it's not the same as participating and being a member of a social network.

I do not know if you have experienced something similar to this and can relate, if anything I hope you can understand and see that whether we like it or not, "real" life and virtual life will be intertwined forever more.

For next weeks blog I will touch on things we use the internet for such as: education, defensive driving and more.
Too wrap it all up I will review my previous blogs and highlight the key points.

Privacy

In my previous blog "TMI" (too much information) I touched on the fact that we often post and upload everything we do that day. Privacy has a little to do with that, however in this blog I am going to talk about how we can protect ourselves, not just from others but even from ourselves.

Have you ever posted or uploaded something and the minute after doing so you thought, "I can't post that! I need to go delete it before someone sees." Usually, it is something you do not want a certain person(s) to find out. Besides the few mess ups of posting and uploading things we quickly take down, we control what people know about us or what pictures or videos they see of us.

I should warn you, if you do not already know accounts that you have set for only people that are friends with you, specifically facebook, sometimes are changed to public without you consent. I constantly check my settings for my Facebook to make sure that the things I post, personal or not, can not be seen by strangers or unwanted audience.

It is easy to keep the things you wish to be private when the only person you have to worry about posting or uploading something is yourself, but that is not always the case. Have you ever got online and saw you were tagged in a post/picture/video that you did not want others to see? It has personally happened to me on more than one occasion. One particular instance I did not want to hang out with certain group of  friends, so I lied about what I was going to do that day. Only to have my real plans posted on my wall and tagged in a photo revealing my true location. I was busted by my friend via Facebook. I should not have to constantly think about what I am doing and keeping it off the internet, but how can I not when both worlds are intertwined the way they are. So now I let my friends know not to tag or post things in order to keep my "real" life off the internet. These are some slip ups here and there but I understand it is hard not to tag friends in a post especially if what you are doing is awesome!

I do not mind if people get information about me online, but the things I do mind I delete. For instance, a month ago I realized that my phone number and address were on my Facebook. I thought to myself, "why does this need to be posted?" Maybe making our numbers and addresses private is a good thing. If someone wants to know that information they can ask, and if they don't feel comfortable asking than I guess they don't need to know.

The purpose of this blog is for you to think about your own privacy issues, not necessarily separate the two, "real" life and virtual, but to be cautious and better protect yourself. I mean, you don't want your boss or teacher to find out that you went partying the night before or tubing when you said you were sick! It is your responsibility to make sure your privacy is protected, even if that means reading your friends the riot act!

How you can be there without being "there"

Being in school and/or far away from family and friends can make it hard to stay in touch, but sites make it easy to be a part of friend and family gatherings such as birthdays, holidays, special events or allowing us just to be "there".

Video chat sites allow us to be "there" without being there. There are sites that allow up to six people to chat at once if you have a big crowd, such as Oovoo.com. Skype, which is very popular, has video chat too. Chatride.com, a site I found not too long ago, is also a good choice. You just send the url the site gives you to the person of your choosing and begin video chatting.

Out of the three sites I use Skype the most because of the added bonuses to the site. However, I use sites similar to Skype to see my family and friends and to be a part of what is going on. I can see what they see and seeing their reactions makes me feel like I'm really there with them.

The person I video chat with the most though, is my sister. She moved to Hawaii after getting married last November. This past Christmas we got on video chat so we could see each other open our gifts, likewise we do the same thing with our birthdays. Sometimes though I just video chat to get her advice on an outfit and vice versa, you know girly things. My brother does the same thing with my brother-in-law, but more manly things, like showing each other their knives or seeing you can sport their favorite team the best.

Sometimes video chat is used during memorable moments like graduations or proposals. Recently, I was over at my friends house and her cousin texted her reminding her his graduation was that evening. The only problem was that he reminded her 15min before it started, not to mention she lives on the north east side of San Antonio and his graduation was on the other side of the city. She made it though, via live video feed. She was able to watch her cousin graduate and take part in being there without being "there". I took part in a memorable moment via video chat, when my future brother-in-law, asked for my sisters hand in marriage. It may not seem that intimate but it felt like he was in the room, even though we was overseas.

Video chat also can make us feel less lonely at times, just by hearing and seeing a familiar face that we cherish dearly. My sister and I sometimes leave the video chat on while doing chores and watching TV. Even though we aren't talking to each other it feels like I'm there in Hawaii with her hanging out. I occasionally ask her to show me the ocean and she'll take the laptop outside and amuse me.

Video chat is a wonderful thing! I love how it allows us to see and not just hear what is going on somewhere else allowing us to be there without being "there".

I hope after reading this you take time this summer and next school year to video chat with someone who is special to you! Maybe you haven't had time lately or you haven't video chatted with that person(s) at all, but it is never to late to start!

What to look forward to next week: Privacy and to deactivate or reactivate?

Meeting new people

Do you ever want a break from meeting new people the "hard" way, in person? Do you ever want to get on your computer and go somewhere you can easily meet people? Well, it's easy to mix the two, so don't worry! Our generation is well aware of dating sites, chat rooms. It is fair to say we all personally know of someone who has met a person(s) through sites such as these either pursuing a friendly or romantic relationship. Sites such as: MySpace, Chatroulette and Second Life make it easy to meet people and pursue new relationships. What may draw us to using these sites and looking for these new relationships is that with them we are enabled to connect to people and easily expand our options of friendships.

MySpace

In High school it seemed everyone had a MySpace account. Facebook was slowly, but steadily coming along and now seems to be where everyone, young and old gather. I still have my MySpace account and I don't know why, maybe it is because when I look at it, it reminds me of when I was younger. In case you deleted your account, as many did when they switched to Facebook, MySpace is alive and well. I think what I enjoyed and still enjoy about MySpace is that besides adding people to my profile that i know, I can search for people. How many of you are guilty of that? I know I am. I did and still do get on time to time and go to the search box and see if there is someone in my town or far, far, away around the same age as me that I can talk too. MySpace is a place to meet new people, make those new relationships and a place to feel connected to people. Just thought I would remind you of the site in case you've forgotten how great it is for meeting new people.

Chatroulette 


Chatroulette is something that is new to me and just in case it is for you too, be forewarn. When you hit enter after typing, www.chatroulette.com, don't freak out! You probably have just been redirected to a third party site. It's not a porn site or a spam for live Adult chat. It is for those 18yrs and older though and for those reading this who aren't, when did you ever pay attention to age requirements on sites anyways? However, if that is not your thing type it in again, if you get the same result the IP address may be blocked, using a proxy site will easily fix this problem. If you have forgotten what that is or have never heard of it, it is the site you or someone you know has used to get on MySpace or Facebook at school because it was blocked (refresh any memories?) But back to Chatroulette. For those of you who don't know what this site is, it is very simple, all you need is your computer and webcam; upon entering the site you video chat at random with other users and if what you see isn't what you like, click the Next button and your on to someone new (provided you're not "nexted" by them first). Who knows, you might find your next friend or that special someone thanks to Chatroulette.


Second Life


Second Life is another site to meet new people. I know most of us like to play games online (I presume we play them more on Facebook, PS3 or Xbox live), so why not combine not only meeting new people online but interacting with them too. On Second Life I didn't realize how many things you can do besides meet other residents. I think what astonishes me is that other than participating in group activities, I can also take virtual classes (Yale, and UT for instance). That makes me think about taking online class in a whole new way. I mean, wouldn't it be cool if we could take class not just online but be in a virtual classroom? We could meet new friends and possibly more could come from that relationship.  Romantic relationships are common on Second Life, so you won't be the only one going on virtual dates. Keep in mind there isn't a shortage of people you can meet, since how as of 2011 it has more than 20 million registered user accounts.


I know there are many other sites; so feel free to comment and post them! Also, if you use any of these sites that i mentioned and would like to share, please do so and/or maybe you've started relationships online that now thrive on and offline you would like to share.

In this blog I wrote how you can take virtual class on Second Life and video chat on Chatroulette, and that goes a little into what my next blog is about, "How you can be there without being "there". Hope you enjoy reading!

TMI

Too much information?

How is it I can know everything about you by looking at your profile, without having any actual interaction with you? Do I really know you?

Let's start with Facebook

As you know, just by looking at your profile I can know things such as: your birthday, past and present employment, (cell) phone number, e-mail, relationship status, where you where born, where you live now, who you are related too, your likes and dislikes, and if you check into a place I can know where you are and where you've been. This shouldn't be scary though because I'm your "friend", after you or I accept the friend request of course. Upon the acceptance of the friend request, I can decide without even talking or spending any "real life" time with you if I want to be "friends" with you. Maybe though, we can be friends because I see we have some similar interest. In reading your profile, along with wall posts, it enables me to strike up a conversation with you like some long lost friend. Twitter, though different, has some similarities as Facebook.

Twitter

Twitter may not be as popular as Facebook but it definitely can hold its own.

On Twitter you can follow who you want and as many people as you want.
Your friends and others you have chosen to follow you on Twitter may not get all the personal information as posted on Facebook, but tweeting (posting updates) can have similar effects as facebooking.

As we follow others and they follow us, we along with them update what we are doing, our thoughts, and plans that we have. (whether short or long term)

If you have friends like mine on Twitter they either occasionally tweet here and there or they seem to be tweeting every thirty minutes. Do I really need or want to know what my friend "sally sue" is doing 24/7 or that "John" is contemplating whether or not to get his genitals pierced. Do things like this really need to be shared with everyone? I may be your friend but some things should be left unsaid. This also goes saying this about Facebook, as well as YouTube.

YouTube: Broadcast Yourself.

Their tag line says it all. I know YouTube is used for many things, but being able to see videos by or with our friends in it, we see a side of them we may have not known.

For instance, the other day I was over at my friends' house when someone says they have to show all of us this video. Lo and behold the video was of my friend. I watched it and all the while I was thinking to myself, "I didn't know he did this kind of stuff." After watching the video I got on Facebook and wrote him telling him what I thought about his video. As I was writing him I felt as though I was there and in some way I was a part of what was going on in the video. In reality though I wasn't and why was I talking to him about it as if I was there?

This story is just one of the many times where conversations I have with friends end up with us talking about one of these three sites I have mentioned.

I was going to talk about Skype and how it is used, but I am going to save that for another time. I will say though, Skype while it may not give us much information as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube it like the others enables us to be with our friends without really being there "IRL". I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise if "real life" and virtual are intertwined, why wouldn't are friendships be.

In my next blog I will be taking a look at places you can meet new people and possibly have relationships with on sites such as: Second life, MySpace and Chatroulette.

Distinguishing "Real" from "Virtual" - How much time do we spend in each?

Where do you draw the line? First things first, what is "real life"?  "Real life" on the internet refers to life in the real world. The real world is where things actually exist. The internet, therefore, is a place of fiction and fantasy (for the most part). Life online is known as virtual reality. Distinguishing what happens on and off online is easy, because users use the acronym "IRL" meaning "in real life" opposed to life online.

Now that you know how I am distinguishing the two worlds ("real life" and the internet), where do you spend the majority of your time? While you are not busy with work, school or other leisure activities, do you find yourself spending majority of your free time using the computer or cell phone? Where are you spending your  free time online? Your list may include: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter just to name a few. How many hours are you spending uploading, posting, commenting, tweeting or blogging? The Internet seems to have such an impact on us that I find most of the time our body may be in the "real" world, but our minds are usually thinking about what we read/saw online. 

I know personally every time I pick up my BlackBerry (cell phone) I check my e-mail and my Facebook. With almost every phone on the market being a Smart Phone it makes it very easy to stay in touch. Having the internet at home and especially on the go, thanks to my cell phone, if I want to know something my first response while pulling my BlackBerry out of my pocket is, "[let's] Google it."

The time I spend online, whether it is on a laptop, Desktop or cell phone is an average of 4-5 hours a day. Some may not spend that much time online or maybe it is roughly the same. For some it may surpass my hours drastically. Some days I can spend 5 hours straight online and then all of a sudden I realize how much time I just wasted. I know I didn't accomplish much, if anything if I see all that time spent online as wasted. We update, post, tweet, upload pictures and videos and people respond back to us or least we hope they will. Is this really communicating with others? Being with each other without actually being with each other "IRL"? 

Maybe it is time to take a step back and realize just how intertwined "real life" and the time we spend online are. Is this a good thing or is this a bad thing? Only you can answer the question. I hope over the course of this blog you will be able to evaluate the time you spend between these two worlds and be able to answer this question. 

In my next blog I will be looking at the Websites and social networks the majority of us spend our time. More specifically, looking at how Facebook, YouTube, Skype, Blogs and a few others on how we use them in our lives and "learn" about others. 

Welcome

The purpose of this blog is to encourage and engage your thoughts on finding a balance between the worlds of Real life and Virtual life. Also, questioning where and how we spend our time communicating our thoughts, ideas, opinions, and memories. Hopefully this blog will strengthen your relationships in communicating with people in both worlds, simultaneously or choosing to separate the two.