Virtual Technologies and Its Effects on Human Relationships - Essay Example

Q The emergence and advancement of various forms of technology has transformed almost all aspects of our lives and the society. The internet as a form of technology enables individuals from different parts of the world to connect and keep in touch without necessarily interacting physically. We live in a world full of technology and these help us to communicate as we use emails, facebook, and date online among other activities (Turkle). Due to the development and advancement of the internet, social networks such as facebook, MySpace, twitter, chat, email, and YouTube among others have emerged and have changed the nature of social interactions among people. Today, many of us rely on these social networks to keep in touch with other people especially friends and relatives. More so, these social network sites enable individuals to access or share information, meet new friends and carry out business transactions through video conferencing. The emergence of virtual communities has helped some people to meet friends that they cannot interact with in real life may be because of their physical appearance. Even though the internet and social networking sites have changed and made our interactions easier and faster, there are many negative effects that these social networks have on online individuals and the society. There have been increased cases on crimes such as identity theft, hacking, stalking, piracy among others and these mostly affect those who are doing business online or interacting online. In addition, persistent use of social networks may cause addiction in that online users develop the attitude of not spending a day without tweeting, sending mails, or facebooking. Most of us rely more on technology but less on others to form virtual relationships than real relationships (Turkle). Q.2 With the easy access to the online technology and interfaces such as the internet, online dating has become a popular option for many people and it has revolutionized the dating pattern today. Many people who met through online dating have established a strong friendship bonds and these dating sites assist some people to find love and happy relationships. The lives of many individuals have been transformed through online encounters (Kenner). There are many advantages of online dating, firstly, it enables individuals to know and interact with different people across the globe and share their common interests. Secondly, online dating helps those individuals who are nervous in the presence of the opposite sex to easily interact with others without meeting them personally. In addition, those with negative body image find online dating to be comfortable since they get to know the other person behind the face. Anonymity in online dating enables some individuals to interact freely. McGlotten (136) talks of virtual intimacies influenced by virtual technologies and this affects human relationships. On the contrary, online dating comes with many disadvantages, firstly, there is no privacy especially when people share or post their personal information on a dating site and sharing personal information is always a risk because people can use it against the person, hack the account and it can also put the person’s life in danger. Online dating is not safe because internet is not always the safest place to interact and share important information (Targosz 83). More so, not every person on the dating site is interested in meeting someone special and so some people may give inaccurate information about age, marital status and educational background when dating online. Lack of honesty is a common challenge that those engaging in online dating face (Targosz 82). With the availability of networking sites, many professionals are experiencing the presence bleed which enable them to check emails from home or any other place so as to reduce workload in the office. Time and location are not that important in a working environment or life where presence bleed is experienced (Gregg 2). Q.3 Privacy of online users of social networking services is a major concern for many people as some prefer to be anonymous to protect their privacy while online. Individuals need to think twice before sharing personal information online and should be cautious of what they post or share with others online. Lack of online privacy put the lives of many online users at risk and so there is need to understand the value of privacy. This is possible through privacy interfaces, which provide various levels of control, and surveillance which if understood properly, individuals can use social networking sites such as Google and facebook with more safety and confidence. According to Siva Viadnyathan, there are four privacy interfaces, which include person to peer, person to firm, person to state, and lastly person to public interfaces (Vaidhyanathan). To begin with, person to peer interface happens when individuals develop appropriate skills to help them negotiate what their friends and relative know about their preferences and predilections. For instance, in real life situation, when a teenager engages in substance abuse like smoking marijuana, he or she needs to keep the secret by hiding the evidence from the parents or nosy siblings and friends. Secondly, in person to firm interface, individuals need to think twice before doing something. Practically, a person has an option wither to apply for a discount card at a supermarket or not (Vaidhyanathan). Truly, the card is useful when it comes to purchasing things on sale, however, applying for such cards forces individuals to give out detailed information about their purchases. Thirdly, person to state interface is very essential it is the mostly misused and abused. Due to compulsory requirement to participate in government issues such as census and tax forms, the state keep track of individuals’ movements and activities. The forth interface is person to public interface happens when bullies exposes an individual’s personal information to ridicule and harm them (Vaidhyanathan). Social networks such as facebook, emails can be used to spread harmful and abusive texts to others and in reality, online bullying is common and it affects many online users mostly teenagers. Q.4 Copyright is a law that provides authors and artists with the right to their work and protects their work form copying or distributing by other persons. Those holding a copyright are able to prevent others from copying or using their original work without their knowledge. Any material that is not protected by copyright can be accessed and used by anyone without the author’s consent. Even though copyright has been enacted by many states to protect the artist’s creations from being misused by pirates, some people strongly oppose this law arguing that copyright law is a threat against their operations. The anti-copyright individuals oppose the ban of file sharing claiming that these laws do not promote sharing cultural knowledge. Information is power and some people want to limit its access and keep in for themselves. Everyone needs to get the information they need and share it with others, and so there is no need to respect the unjust laws like the copyright laws (Swartz). They believe that anyone has the freedom of information and so sharing files with others and making information available and accessible to all should not be perceived as an illegal activity. Furthermore, anti-copyright individuals believe that copyright laws damages the entire community as it only helps a few at the expense of creativity and that everyone needs to share their cultural knowledge. Therefore, according to them, copyright is not right because it does not allow individuals to share work and information. Some people think that copyright laws need to be fixed (Prelinger). More so, “the Open Access Movement has encouraged scholars not to use copyright but publish their work on the internet to enable everyone to access it” (Swartz 1). Anonymous is a common “name employed by hackers, technologists activities” among others (Coleman), and many pirates prefer to be remain anonymous so as to undertake their activities freely. On the other hand, advocates of copyright laws argues that these laws are very useful as they help creators of many intellectual works not to be accessed and used by others without the creator’s consent. More so, copyright allows authors to produce and reproduce their work, and to control the use of their work. Works Cited Coleman, Gabriella. Our Weirdness Is Free. 2013. Web. 23 January 2014. Gregg, Melissa. Presence Bleed: Performing Professionalism Online. pp.1-17. “When Strangers Click”. Robertkennerfilms. 2011. Web. 23 January 2014. McGlotten, Shaka. Virtual Intimacies: Media, Affect, and Queer Sociality. New York: State Univ of New York Pr. 2013. Print. Prelinger, Rick. Text of Prelinger, Remarks on Appropriation Art. 2003. Web. 23 Jan 2014 Swartz, Aaron. The Open Access Manifesto. 2008. Internet Archive. Eremo, Italy Targosz, Cyndi. Dating the Younger Man: Guide to Every Womans Sweetest Indulgence. Cincinnati: F+W Media, 2010. Print. Turkle, Sherry. The Flight from Conversation. New York Times. 2012. Web. 23 Jan 2014 Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Naked in the Nonopticon. The Chronicle Review. 2008. Web. 23 Jan 2014 Read More