Do people who use the Internet extensively end up being similar in the way they perceive and think about common issues?
This is a very interesting and a broad question. Generally every action that takes routine in daily life has influence on our senses; in this context also on the way of our perception. Consequently, it influences also our opinions (see for example the shaping of opinions of media or new media). The question is to what extent and if changes are cultural-, habitus-, individual-specific and/or dependant from social background what kind of effects and influnces are observed...hope these impulses helped a bit...
Influencing yes, normalizing no. Take for example the community at RG. Lots of continuous discussions on multitude of issues, value is added to the issue in question, but there is no normalization at the end.
This is an enriching thought. But I believe the research community is the exception rather than the rule.
Ok, another example. The community in FaceBook, I guess the main area where contributors follow a normalized behavior when it deals with favorite singers, social events that are common, etc... When political views are shared only alike people will normalize, different opinions will not (example Arab Spring).
Dear Mohamed
The use of computers and the Internet significantly influence human relations , especially with regard to communication. However , no other form of communication can be considered more natural than what happens " face to face " . Therefore , Knock (2001 ) comments that other forms of communication, including those that are mediated by the computer , require a much greater than that which would be required course in communication " face to face " cognitive effort . Moreover , the knowledge we gain through our relationship with the environment also influences the perception of naturalness of the media and causes the man to learn different forms of communication despite the strangeness that may initially feel . This shows that man is able to biologically adapt to changes promoted by the rapid development of technologies . Therefore , technologies influence the man and the man also influences the development of technologies .
The internet can influence in some way but I believe that does not change human behavior
Thank you Hussin for the additional thought and thanks Nelson for the elaborate answer.
It would be interesting to explore the effect of technological artifacts on human behaviour. Or rather, the outcome of the joint interaction between artifacts and humans. I believe the sociomaterial approach (Orlikowski ans Scott, 2008; Latour, 1992, 2005) has been adressing this issue and I recommend you to read these works.
Hi Mohamed! Agree about Hussin's comments. You are talking about the social behavior impact, correct? Because your description for the question is more about perception and way of thinking. Behavior more or less describe way of acting and reacting which can become automatic and programmable to a certain extent. The emerging phenomenon ever since the concept of online social networking become popular is that the mass population are able to publish and exchange whatever information they deem worthy to be shared on a global scale. You cannot compare academics or the thinking individuals to the mass online population. Too many differences at too many levels. I do believe at certain levels of education/cultural background or even age groups, popular behaviors and opinions do rule (the main word here is "popular"). So, yes, I think both aspects can be normalized through the mass online social network phenomenon to a certain degree at certain levels of the population.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Methodology
- Research Methodology
- Qualitative Research