Anthropology 295: Anthropology of Media

I really feel that the internet, because of the anonimity and/or social distance it provides, creates the opportunity and nexus for all kinds of nasty and passive agressive behavior. As such, some users avoid resolving conflicts through direct face to face communication, instead choosing to send emails, messages, and angry posts to vetn frustrations. For instance, I am living in a house next year with eight other people and right now we are trying to figure out who will have what room. We picked a date and a time to go and look at the house over email because it is just too hard for us all to get together and agree on a time. During this process, one of my housemates (#1) told us that she wouldn't be able to make a time that was good for everyone else because she had cook crew at Slade (our current house). Another housemate (#2) responded stating, " [name ommitted]! its at 7!! you can still cook dinner, save yourself a plate, and come back to clean.. i think its really important to do this now.. and it seems like this time works for everyone else not to mention the 8 people who live there..and we all know its impossible to find a good time.. so coooperate woman! :)" After speaking to housemate #2 about this later on, she told me that her email was meant to be a friendly reminder about a meeting based on rational arguments and what she felt was best for the groups. However, because housemate #2 could not convey her tone in the email, housemate #1 interpreted her email as being hostile and mean spirited. Accordingly, #1 responded, "Wow [name omitted] I can feel the hostility through your email. I'm not sure why you have to "yell" at me over an email about this. It makes me feel really shitty when you do this and you do it a lot, so please, especially since we're living together next semester watch your tone of voice and be mindful of how you are addressing an issue you have with someone, even if it is over an email." Even though they live less than twenty feet from one another in their current living situation, both parties used the internet to avoid direct communication while also using the social distance to express harsher emotions than normal. Also, using words like "yell" and "tone of voice," #1 perceived a tone that wasn't present because email as a medium limits users to textual expression. While exclamation points can indicate stronger emotion, they still do not convey the range of emotions expressed by vocal tone, as they are ambiguous. Obviously, ambiguity allows for misunderstanding. In this case, when the two housemates sat down and talked face to face, they realized that there wasn't an issue and they apologized to one another. This, in my opinion, confirms the necessesity, even in this digital age for face to face interaction, as it allows those involved to use non-verbal communication (facial expressions and tone) to deal with conflict. I just have to wonder what type of social impact indirect nasty commentary has on people that don't know each other and can't eventually have that face to face interaction. What happens if someone gets says something on second life that's misinterpreted and a huge argument erupts? Has the internet made people feel more entitled to be nasty? Were they always this way? I think its interesting when media types claim that they internet has made communication more convinient and more readily available because while those things are true, the web, if anything, has made communication that much more complicated and alienating.