In, “Quality of Online Social
Relationships,” the author’s talk about the significance of Internet use to a
work place and to relationships compared with other communicating tools such as
face-to-face and the phone. An interesting thing I thought about was how much
has changed since the studies done in this article. Studies were conducted in
1991 and 1998 on bankers and college students. In 1991, “eighty-one percent of
them used electronic mail in their jobs, sending an average of 15 messages per
week.” And in 1998, “students used electronic mail extensively, estimating a
mean of 11 messages per day.” Today both of these numbers are blown way out of
proportion with both bankers and college students sending above 20 emails a
day. I also think that online relationships have increased as technology
advances. There are now religious dating sites such as christianmingle.com and
jdate.com among the hundreds of regular dating sites. Groups seem to be more
popular than single one-on-one interaction and I think that even today, social
online interaction is the most popular.
Jinxx21, I could not agree more on the point about groups; I think the volume in what end up being whole online communities would astound this researcher. While they mentioned the USENET (which I used to use heavily), I was surprised that this survey did not delve into that space.
ReplyDeleteAll things considered too, I am amazed at the perception of email volume. I'll take a survey out of curiosity from my sent box to see what those numbers look like in a random week, last week: Counts: 6/4: 38, 6/5: 30, 6/6: 21, 6/7: 41, 6/8: 31 - That's 161 total for 5 days (M-F). That's an average of 32.2 messages a day.
These totals do not count calendar events to which I needed to respond nor messages that were sent from my cell phone. This also does not count any email from the weekends. The time, ya, they changed...
1. RE: ~~~I don't even want to know~~~ :)
ReplyDeleteHello Jinxx 21, what you have written/ repeated about the quality of on line relationships is scary. It made me think about my own emails. I have over 7 email accounts of my own that I check daily, mostly to toss junk and then communicate with whomever. I did that ( started all those account) so I could keep my personal, business, social ( like that fake email we all have for entering contests) , etc. lives separate. Had I know how crazy it would turn out - I am pretty much a slave to the internet now- I would have never done that. I have considered using forwarding for my yahoo accounts which I have been told will cost money and do so with my Google accounts for free, but it's still pure insanity for now. And, how people treat other people socially while they are on line has become deplorable in some instances. I was recently told by my father that my Grandma died by email. When I told him that it hurt my feelings he laughed about it. I had gotten an email about a short term acquaintance passing away which carried fewer stings. Then, when I started sharing people that this (notification of death by email) kept happening to me I found out that more and more people were becoming notified that way. I have used Jdate, match dot com, etc. It was a roller coaster ride to say the least. I am unsure that I will ever do that again- but it turned out successfully this time.
Jinxx21,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you when you say that bankers and college students send above the average reported of 20 emails per day. It seems like these numbers would be trampled by the new statistics that would be reported today. I know that I personally send over 20 emails/Facebook messages a day. When I actually picked a random day to check my own statistics, I send over 50 messages that day.
I also think that you made a good point by bringing up online dating sites. Years ago, I don't think these sites would've been very successful, but with today's technology, people are all but meeting face-to-face. They get to hear each other's voice and see each other on the monitor. I still feel that nothing beats a face-to-face interaction when starting a relationship, but like I said in my post, these sites have shortened the gap and made it more convenient for individuals looking to start a relationship.
Jinxx21,
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny to think how electronic messages have grown so fast over the past decade. I can remember when cell phones first started to become popular. The cell phones with the black and white screen and texting seemed to be so complicated then. Now people practically carry miniature computers as their cell phones. Sending twenty plus emails a day seems like nothing when you are able to reply to them wherever you are. Dating sites have made it easier for people who don’t have the time to go out and find their soul mate. Yet these sites sometimes have the perception that it’s “lame” to use them to try and find someone who could potentially be your husband or wife.
Hey Jinxx21!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have to agree with you and the rest of the people that commented. Today, Im 1000% sure we send more than 20 emails a day...especially at work...I guess depending on the industry. Reflecting on the article, it is amazing that so few emails were sent back in those days. It seems so inefficient. Online relationships have undoubtedly increased with the rise of technology. And I believe, in the busting lifestyle of most people today, its probably easier to meet online than to go out and meet others. I know most of my co-workers, typically 28 or older, have used dating cites to meet people because we work so much.
-Rob