My Thoughts On Communications 253

Aside from the fact that I always enjoy Ted’s classes, I found Communications 253 to be extremely interesting not just because of the content of the course but because of the assignments the course consisted of. I felt that the video project was a very original assignment that probably will not come up again in the course of my university experience. After all the work that was put into constructing the video it was really interesting for me to see the final product. I particularly enjoyed interviewing people and acting as a sleazy guy for one of the scenarios in our video. The blog assignment was also a very interesting aspect to the course. I had never really been introduced to the process of blogging before and it was really fascinating to not only learn about it but to actually participate in my own blog. At times it was difficult to come up with ideas to write about, but once I got going it all seemed to flow nicely from there on. I find the study questions that Ted gives before the exams to be very effective, especially when you are studying with a group. In my opinion, the overall course was very excellent and I enjoyed doing the assignments as well as listening to the lectures. The only downfall of this course I think was the early morning Thursday class and I think everyone will agree with me on that. Altogether I enjoy Ted as an instructor and I am looking forward to taking more of his courses in the future!

Online Dating...A True Story

When using internet dating as a way to meet people, users have to be aware of the risks that come along with exchanging email addresses, phone numbers or chat-line user names. People can create fake profiles and use fake photographs as well as untrue information about themselves. For experienced online daters, it may be easier for them to decipher between real and fake profiles, but for people who are new to the online dating world it is harder for them to know the difference, and they need to take more precaution. For example, a situation occurred where a woman in Canada spent time talking to a man from the United States. They emailed and spoke on the phone several times, developed a connection and decided it was time to meet face to face. The man appeared to have all the positive qualities the women was looking for and they both felt that it was time to meet if they wanted to pursue any kind of relationship. He flew her out to California; shortly after she arrived she began to see discrepancies in what he had told her about himself. For example, the car that he said he owned was in the shop and his main residence was under renovation. Through friends of his that she met right away, she discovered that he didn’t even own a car nor have a house that was under renovation. She questions him about this new found information and he denied it. Immediately after that they had planned an overnight trip to Palm Springs from L.A. When the women went to put her luggage in the car that he had borrowed, she was startled by the sound of several police cars approaching her and surrounding the vehicle. With guns drawn the police arrested the man for passed incidences of fraud and theft. In shock, the women got on the next plane and returned home. This is a definite example of the type of deceit that can be encountered with internet dating. This being said, internet dating has its risks and fortunately the women came to no physical harm but still continues to use internet dating as her only means of meeting men. Therefore, the aspects of dating completely change when internet dating is used because tangible aspects of the other person’s life cannot always be initially verified and it is easier for people to lie about themselves. With traditional dating, the factors of a person’s life and who they are is more difficult to disguise and people rely a lot more on first impressions as well as vibes and chemistry.

Online Dating vs. Traditional Dating

How as internet dating sites have changed aspects of the process we call “dating”. I would like to first state that internet dating is a million dollar industry with millions of users from all different socio-economic statuses around the world, who range from men and women that are single, divorced, in relationships or even married, ranging in age from 18 to 99 years old. Because online dating is confidential and initially anonymous, it raises questions as to whether the person you are corresponding with is honest in their intentions. Traditionally, in dating if you meet someone and you like them you are going to pursue that relationship and perhaps take time to get to know that person. Whereas, dating online you are judging a person by their profile picture and what they have written in their profile about themselves. This creates a type of filtering process where internet daters can quickly eliminate those individuals who don’t appeal to them. Dating traditionally generally confines you to meeting people within your own city or community. Alternatively, internet dating gives users the opportunity to connect with individuals from other cities, provinces and even countries. In order to meet singles traditionally you have to rely on meeting someone through friends, family, work, social clubs and in your daily activities.

Why Online Dating?

Is internet dating an effective way to meet people? Can you trust that people are who they really say they are? For many men and women around the world, internet dating is what they are turning to in order to find a mate. In Canada today there are millions of people who have a profile set up with an internet dating website or have visited an online dating site. Why is the number of people using internet dating today so high and what attracts people to use online dating? The internet, in general, over the past ten years has become increasingly popular. Computers are available almost everywhere you go and wireless internet is being offered in places that we may have never thought it would be. Because the internet is so widely available, people are choosing the convenience of sitting behind their computers and surfing through an internet dating site in order to find singles, rather than going out to a club or restaurant to try and find a date. Not only are computers more available than ever before, but the amount of single people in today’s society has grown rapidly and it is becoming more difficult for people to find good dating partners in everyday social circumstances. People who use online dating see it as a good opportunity to meet different types of people all around the world, who they could potentially have a face to face date. However, this is when online daters run into problems because some people do not always tell the truth about themselves. People are constantly misrepresenting themselves online which makes it more difficult for others who use online dating to find quality singles. Is internet dating just a scam to get people to join so that the online dating site can make a profit, or do internet dating sites honestly provide a convenient and confidential opportunity for users to find a date? Are the risks of online dating greater than the potential outcome of meeting the right person? As I continue to further examine internet dating I will try to answer some of these questions, as well as continue to investigate the world of online dating.

Cell Phones and Surveillance..A Test!

In society today, surveillance is a prevalent issue that has been receiving attention from both mainstream news as well as academia. Some people are unaware of the extent that they are being monitored and watched by the government, corporations and advertisers. When discussing cell phones in particular the amount of surveillance over personal information is vast. Recently I went to Fido because my friend wanted to know some information about her wireless phone account and she didn’t have the time to go and talk with people from Fido herself. I offered to go for her, but she was very doubtful that Fido would give information to me about her account. I went anyways and asked them questions about when her contract was up, how many Fido dollars she had, and where her billing information was being sent. The man helping me at Fido did not hesitate to give me this information and he didn’t even ask me for ID to make sure that I was the person whose account he was revealing information about. I was able to obtain all of the information that my friend wanted to know about her account from the Fido representative. I thought that this was very interesting and it made me think about not only how much information is accessible to people who work at Fido but also how easy it was for me to obtain this information. To this day, I am still unsure as to whether the man I talked to at Fido was technically allowed to give me this information or if he just did it to be nice.

The Role of Cell Phones In Shaping the New Society

With the convergence of entertainment and telecommunications the cell phone has transformed from an expensive item used by businessman and elites, to a personal communication tool for consumers. This has provided the average consumer of wireless technology the ability to use not only the function of a telephone but other accessories such as text messaging, email, internet access as well as camera and video technology. Wireless companies compete for their customers by introducing more technologically advanced mobile phones, like the iPhone, and use contracts that legitimize customers to their cellular networks. The competition for cellular customers is a billion dollar industry that especially in Canada, consists of one or two monopolies that control all of the telecommunications industry. This creates a high amount of competition between distributers, fighting for their consumers by offering newer phones, with more applications, at a reasonable price. Therefore, as the technological advancements become greater, individual’s can access unlimited amounts of information and communication at a fairly low price. The endless amounts of information that cell phone technology provides us today has created a different type of society than ever before. Castells refers to this new society as a “network society” because the role of information technology, like the cell phone, has changed the way in which people access information and entertainment in everyday life. The cell phone allows for the shaping of this new society because it produces an innovative way for people to produce information. The ability for people to access information on a cell phone at any occasion, has allowed for the redefinition of time and space. Castells summarizes this idea in one of his 9 hypothesis of the information society. The “network society” that I believe is present today, has created a new world for consumers, and has redefined cell phones as agents in the production of information and entertainment, rather than solely as communicative tools for human interaction.

The Cellular World

When I take a look at my own experiences, throughout my lifetime of evolving into a true cell phone consumer, I know that my reliance on portable media was, and still is, vast. I think of my cell phone as an extension of myself. Everywhere I go and everything I do my cell phone is involved. From the alarm that wakes me up each morning, to the texting and phone calls that go on throughout the day, my cell phone provides me with everything that I need to stay connected in the world today. People, like me, grow to rely on cell phones in order to maintain the lifestyle that technology has created. This lifestyle has dramatically changed the way that individuals stay in connection with the people and world around them. Rather than relying on person to person conversation to engage in human relationships, technology creates this "virtual" reality that allows the maintenance of human relationships without human physical contact. This phenomena known as the "virtual" world can be applied to many different means of communication in the present day, not just portable media but in other aspects of information technology. Though cellular phones are one technology that is continuously advancing and people are always adapting. Individuals in society have become so immune to the benefits that technologies, like the cell phone, provide us. This has created a world for people like never before. We, as human beings can now achieve and take on so much more in our everyday lives with the use of portable media technology, and most importantly the cell phone.