My gut reaction would be to say that yes, person-to-person, face-to-face interaction is crucial however the fundamental medium of this class (blogging) suggests otherwise. I don't believe that it is necessary for all conversations to take place face-to-face, however the paralanguage (non-verbal elements of conversation) is just as important for interpreting someone's meaning as the words they are saying. In his article, "What Can a Face Do?", Richard Ruston states that, "ultimately, the face is an instrument whose primary purpose is that of communicating; we cannot dissociate the face from the sender from the system of meaning implied by that face's messages being sent to a receiver."(p.221) While it is not impossible to have a conversation via text it is truly difficult to communicate and convey all aspects of the interaction.
Elements of description that simply cannot be determined via text such as age, sex, nationality (as determined by dialect) are also lost when interactions are no longer face to face. Near true anonymity can be achieved when communications are reduced to text transfered via the internet. With that anonymity comes the perception of decreased personal risk. When having a face-to-face discussion with someone, you are personally responsible for what you say. You will have to deal with whatever reaction they might have. Therefore, in those situations, the majority of people are more apt to be more conservative and careful about what they say. Both one's reputation and physical body are at risk should you choose to make the "wrong" comment. However, in media such as blogs etc. neither of this risks are relevant. With nearly complete anonymity and the ability to converse with people on the other side of the world you (personally) don't have to be responsible or accountable for anything you say.
In this age where technology and communication play inescapable roles in our lives it is easy to see why such media (blogs etc) have become so extraordinarily popular. The ability to say what you want, when you want with no serious repercussions to essentially anyone, anywhere in the world is, well, incredible.
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The ability to say what you want, when you want with no serious repercussions to essentially anyone, anywhere in the world is, well, incredible.
It really is incredible. And I think this is what surprises me about the first class: that the open space of being able to do what one wants was completely frightening.
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