The Victorian Internet: War and Peace in the Global VIllage

Both of the chapters that we have read in The Victorian Internet were very interesting to me. I can relate the invention of the telegraph to what we are currently going through with new forms of digital media. The telegraph was the first form of communication that truly allowed people to hide behind something when conversing with other people. In order to send a message to someone, the message had to be relayed through two operators. This is very similar to how people communicate through the various forms of digital media today. It is rare that people now communicate without the message being relayed through some sort of middleman.

The second chapter of this reading, to me, brought up a great point. With the invention of the telegraph, there was a new standard of how quickly news was supposed to travel. Everyone was hearing about news on a global scale, not just local news anymore. This also caused a change in what people would consider a reliable news source and who people would now consider journalists and reporters. We are currently going through this same type of conundrum with the increasing popularity of social media. Social media have raised the question of what considerable news sources are today and it appears as though anyone and everyone could consider themselves a reporter. These questions lead me to ask the question of what the true definition of a reporter is? Is there one singular definition that all of society shares or is it an opinion based definition?

Chapter 1: New Forms of Personal Connection

This chapter gave a lot of information about what the reader can expect in the coming chapters, before discussing some of the pros and cons of different digital media and some of the key concepts of the media that will be discussed. Of the seven concepts that were given, the one that stood out the most to me was the temporal structure of a medium. This structure can either be synchronous or asynchronous, meaning face-to-face communication and delayed communication, respectively. Baym goes on to point out both the positives and negatives for each structure. She then asserts that face-to-face communication is the most important, saying that face-to-face is more authentic because it puts the "communion" in communication. In this instance, communion is taken to mean the sharing of a person's intimate thoughts or feelings, and this exchange is often more meaningful when it is done in person.

This chapter also raises many questions about the authenticity of the connections that are happening in our world today. With more romantic relationships taking root through media, it can be hard to determine the intentions behind that relationship and whether or not the person on the other end is truly present or absent. This raises the question about what is occurring virtually and what is happening in real life. This can lead to a skewed sense of reality, dependent on how much of total interactions take place synchronously and asynchronously.

Overall, this chapter caused me to question how I currently perceive digital communication and whether or not the interactions that I have with others are truly reality. I generally try hard to be both physically and mentally present when I am having synchronous interactions with others, but this chapter made me question whether or not I'm doing enough to be present.