In "The Strength of Internet Ties", Pew Internet makes some very interesting points about the effect that the Internet has on our social lives. Many of their arguments go against popular beliefs, but I believe that for the most part their points are valid and firmly backed.

In this week's readings, we discussed the concept of virtual communities and internet ties between people. This is a massively popular form of communication today, people are no longer constructed by the physical nature of life, as they can find interesting people with common interests from all over the world. This internet friendships at times often break through the boundary of cyberspace into the real world, creating an interesting dynamic between the digital space of the internet to real life, and how exactly the two seem to interact in today's day and age.

The study be Pew research shows evidence of what I have always felt about our online communities, they enhance not replace physical relationships. However, I don't necessarily think that makes some of the other readings that suggested they we're destructive, wrong.

Ronell's "A Disappearance in community" was extremely odd. The section that interested me the most was how Ronell said a woman's body has a strong relationship to death, despair, finitude and life. "while the woman's body produced the eternal return of the 'bloody mess of organic matter,' the cyborg soldier, located in the command and control systems, exercises on the fields of denial."

I, like many of you, probably feel that Howard Rheingold’s “The Virtual Community” was a little too idealistic. But this is mostly based on how I personally use the internet. From my experiences on the internet, it seems that mostly fourteen year old boys populate the internet, but I also do not use Myspace or many of the other sites that many other demographics. The internet is not used to expand their intellect but to let them watch YouTube videos, send IMs to their buddies, and stalk people on Myspace. This again makes me think of how the internet is used. Prof.