This week we talked about impression management online and different pre-web forms of communication that use technology. Before the World Wide Web was established, there were three main forms of communication using the Internet, all of which contributed to the way we use the Internet to communicate today.
During the pre-web era, impression management online wasn't really an issue. Typically, users remained anonymous, so your online identity did not define your offline identity. Because of this, there was no real need to manage an online presence.
The first of three forms of communication we used before the WWW is Bulletin Board System, or BBS. BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program, like the command prompt. Once you are logged in to this system, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading the latest news, and even exchange messages with other users that are in the system. Exchanging messages could be done in a variety of ways, including e-mail, public message boards, and direct message chatting.
The second pre-web communication system is the Multiple User Database, or MUD. This is a single database managed and accessed by multiple users. It was very popular during the pre-web era due to this anonymity, since users could remain anonymous while contributing and accessing the database. MUD still exists in today's Internet, and is used on sites like Wikipedia, where any user can edit information on pages within the database.
The final pre-web communication system is Internet Relay Chat, or IRC. It's a protocol for live interactive Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. IRC is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, which are called channels. However, IRC also allows for one-on-one communication via private messaging as well as chat and data transferring.
One part about this week's lecture that I found to be very interesting was the Social Presence Theory. It evaluates the communication technologies and how post-web communication technology are new and improved ways of communicating than its predecessor. BBS, a useful way to chat with others online, has been replaced with instant messaging, where users can instantly communicate with others and have online identities to refer to each other with. However, phone calls to be a more personable way of communicating than instant messaging, since you can physically hear the voices of those communicating. And to be even more personable, video chatting using programs such as Skype, where you can see and hear the other people.
Overall I think we've come a long way from pre-web era forms of technological communication. Nowadays, we can even video conference one another from our mobile phones. Today, we have instant access to communication technology wherever we go. My question is; what's next? With today's technology, we can send and receive messages in an instant, send and receive phone calls and video chats on the go, and so on. It really makes me wonder how we can improve our forms of communication from where we currently stand, and what the next step in the Social Presence Theory will be.
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