This thread is very interesting to me as I am writing my dissertation looking at challenges in international virtual workplaces. My focus is on the back and forth communication of the workplace. Much of the discussion here dichotomizes the concept of web culture: there is one culture or there are two cultures. I have collected most of my data at this point and am just beginning to analyze it, but it seems to me that online culture and f2f culture are both strikingly similar and strikingly different. That statement may sound too broad to be useful, but I think it conveys significant truth. Online communication modes shape and are shaped by culture. I would like to refer to this thread in my analysis as you all have made some excellent points. May I ask your permission to do so? Best Regards, Pam Pamela Estes Brewer Lecturer Department of English Appalachian State University PhD Candidate, Texas Tech University phone 828-262-2351 fax 828-262-2133 email brewerpe@appstate.edu Christian Nelson wrote:

I haven't been following this thread, but saw this short note and it struck a chord. Particularly the statement that our modes of interaction "shape" the resultant culture. First question: Do all interactions result in a culture (or the alteration of one)? Second: Do communication modes "shape" interaction or set boundaries for them based on (participants perceptions of) what they afford (in Gibson's sense)? Third, assuming that communication modes set boundaries rather than shape interaction, do differences in boundaries necessarily (or ever) result in differences in culture?

--Christian Nelson

On Jan 18, 2008, at 3:08 AM, Marj Kibby wrote:

...

If there were people who regularly interacted in your toolshed they would develop a 'toolshed' culture - a set of practices, beliefs and understandings shaped by their mode of interaction.

Marj

Dr Marjorie Kibby, Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture Faculty of Education and Arts The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia Marj.Kibby@newcastle.edu.au +61 2 49216604

...

...

...

Mary-Helen Ward <mhward@usyd.edu.au> 01/18/08 6:51 PM >>>

If I had a toolshed it wouldn't have any people interacting in it ...

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This has come up a couple of times in the past. The archives are, indeed, public (http://listserv.aoir.org/pipermail/air-l-aoir.org/), and do not require a login to access. While I think it may be a nice gesture to ask an author's permission before quoting them, those posting to the list should recognize that it is a public forum, and the things written here are published to the world. That makes them pretty much fair game--at least in terms of fair use (brief excerpts, cited to the original author, etc.). Best, Alex H. On Jan 18, 2008 11:54 AM, Hall, Richard H. <rhall@mst.edu> wrote:

This is a really interesting question, to me. First of all, I was the one who originally asked this question and have really appreciated the thoughtful replies. Second, I had thought I might try and collect and summarize and post it to my blog, including quotes. My thinking was that this is a public list, but, now that I think about it, I had to get permission to join, and I don't think the archives are posted publicly (or are they?)

If one needs permission - who from?

I guess you would need to get permission from whoever you were quoting.

... Richard

-- Richard H. Hall Professor, Information Science and Technology Missouri S&T http://mst.edu/~rhall

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-- -- // // This email is // [X] assumed public and may be blogged / forwarded. // [ ] assumed to be private, please ask before redistributing. // // Alexander C. Halavais // Social Architect // http://alex.halavais.net //

It is proper to remind those on this list that they will be quoted for two reasons: 1) to compliment them and inform them that their comments will in fact be quoted and 2) to honor the integrity of their input and respect their contribution by asking whether it is OK to quote reproduce their statements (this encourages future contributions perhaps more than the first point, which is more professional, rather than personal). I don't believe that "much of the Internet resembles face-to-face communication." Web 2.0 in fact rests on eschewing that paradigm, I think, reminding people that they are coming together for public discourse, not private. Perhaps in the early days of Usenet, communication was still private, but these days individuals gather around digital places online, domains known to certain circles, open to the world, regardless of whether viewers have registered with the service. I call "private" what can't easily be traced by higher powers to me. I call "public" what can be traced to me without my consent, and thus, if I were a conspiracy theorist, I would watch my tongue in the coffee shop and not in the woods, when conversing with a good friend of mine. This forum is designed in a way, let's be honest, to propel our own ideas outward, through others, into perpetuity. I don't think anyone Internet-savvy enough to be on this listserv needs to be reminded that many others can and perhaps will view their comments. I do think, however, that at list a few people here would get satisfaction from being asked whether their comments may be republished. There are instances when I think certain individuals operate under the assumption that communicating digitally through unsecured means is "private." I don't think anyone on this listserv subscribes to that delusion. Christian Nelson wrote:

On Jan 18, 2008, at 12:08 PM, Alex Halavais wrote:

...

While I think it may be a nice gesture to ask an author's permission before quoting them, those posting to the list should recognize that it is a public forum, and the things written here are published to the world.

Perhaps this quote is the most useful for supporting Pam's thesis (one I've been working on, too) that much of the Internet resembles face-to-face communication. Why else would Internet researchers have to be reminded that posting emails is a form of publication unless, of course, Internet posting is so pervasively considered to be something other than publishing--e.g., f2f communication.

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On Jan 18, 2008, at 4:53 PM, Conor Schaefer wrote:

I don't think anyone Internet-savvy enough to be on this listserv needs to be reminded that many others can and perhaps will view their comments.

Then why were we all just reminded of that today? And why has this occurred before on this list? And not by people who have some weird need to patronize others. Because folks really do treat the net as a place to conduct close, personal communication.