Online and Offline Relationships

In this chapter Miller discusses the common distinctions made between offline and online and some of the concerns surrounding the difference between the two. One common fear is that technology is making us less authentic and less human. For example with the development of the television and video games, some people have become couch potatoes who stare at screens far more than they might actually interact with an actual person. Some also fear that technology reduces our attention span because the overwhelming amount of information and entertainment that we are constantly bombarded with online that prevent us from focusing on one thing at a time. However Miller argues that similarly to how technology can limit communication, like the maximum word count on a tweet, social conventions and etiquette also limit the way that we can interact with people in person.

Miller also mentions how though typically the same level of familiarity is expected in both the online and offline world, in some cases people use the anonymity of the internet to discuss issues that would be difficult to discuss with people they know in person. Though conversations do not always happen on this website I think that omegle and chatroulette are good examples of how people use the anonymity of the internet to share very intimate and personal things. I'm not sure if the social understanding and use of omegle and chatroulette has changed at all over the years since I first heard about it in high school but I think its interesting that something that used to be exclusively between couples or at the very least someone that you knew in person is now being shared with random strangers on the internet that one will never meet.

Overall Miller demonstrates in multiple dimensions the ways that online life has become integrated with offline life. As a result of this integration, rather than technology making us "less real" the online world has merely become a new platform through which to be "authentic". For example Miller mentions a men in China who wished to publicly announce their love for their girlfriends. They did this by creating group chats with their entire contact list and messaging "I love you". Rather than making the action less authentic, technology actually enabled these men to make their action far more public than would have been achievable in person. By doing so, they demonstrated how real their love for their girlfriends were.

Overall, despite the common assumptions about technology making people less "real" or "authentic", technology can actually have the opposite effect in certain circumstances. The influences of technology are completely dependent on one's use and understanding of it and as a result the uses of technology are mixed and very diverse. Claims that technology takes away authenticity and realness is an overgeneralization of the its actual role in interpersonal relations.