Loud Thinking

I did not attend the initial sessions so instead of commenting about what I got out of the sessions I thought I will just jot down some thoughts that have been wandering in my mind …. what I call ‘loud thinking’.

Thread 1.
I thought I was a digital native but I am not sure anymore. I started blogging and then it fizzled out. I was very excited about Orkut and its capability to connect me to people with similar interests and now I am lukewarm about it. I don’t seem to be getting excited for an extended period about any social networking site, community, forum or wiki. So what motivates other people to actively participate in such interaction, to share information they have, and go to the extent of actively finding information so that it can be provided to some random user they don’t even know. I have done that but not so consistently. So are these sites alive because of spurts of activities from numerous people? Or is it much more a part of a generation’s social life? What makes it so important for them and what is it that I don't see as the priority / necessity in my life.

Thread 2.

I have been observing a community on Orkut almost since its inception. It is interesting to see the group dynamics develop, group objectives getting formulated. I keep wondering, why are these people here? Many are much older than the traditional netGeneration. What makes Orkut so attractive to them in spite of their love-hate relationship with computers?

Orkut calls the space created for their interaction, a ‘community’. Are they really a community? Is online interaction just a precursor of actual traditional interaction or they will continue to flourish in virtual space? I am planning to look at this community and its development with respect to whatever we read, discuss and the conceptual lenses the readings provide.

hmmm... lots of questions. Good place to start.