05-18-2013, 03:36 PM
I do believe, that experience of life of self and the emotional-cognitive development may have subtle changes/differences due to technological and social changes. Such generational changes does instigate some friction, as the older generation may grumble a bit about the 'youth these days'. I am looking forward to how the 'internet' generations will do in the future!
Part of the phenomenon called 'empathy' is the ability to understand what others are communicating and to understand the affective (emotional) experience of the other. This is usually done through one's experience with other people - to be able to understand another through the 'lens' of one's own bias. We use facial expressions, vocal qualities (intonations, volume, prosody, etc), and other sensory cues. When communicating through the internet, whether it be interacting with others through a forum or through social media, these cues are not readily available. Thus, there may be opportunities for projection and perhaps misunderstandings. Connections made on the internet affords a sort of distance and more control over what is communicated. We are able to 'role play' in a more overt manner by presenting self through a persona, which may have some connection to the usernames that we select (not all the time tho). This may allow people to experiment with a part of themselves and the emotional experiences tied to this persona. The anonymity might help people to explore some aspect of themselves that they may not feel comfortable exploring with family and friends. In some sense tho, this is no different from how things were prior to internet. We got sent chain letters and wrote to pen pals, now we have spammers and trolls and online buddies.
Part of the phenomenon called 'empathy' is the ability to understand what others are communicating and to understand the affective (emotional) experience of the other. This is usually done through one's experience with other people - to be able to understand another through the 'lens' of one's own bias. We use facial expressions, vocal qualities (intonations, volume, prosody, etc), and other sensory cues. When communicating through the internet, whether it be interacting with others through a forum or through social media, these cues are not readily available. Thus, there may be opportunities for projection and perhaps misunderstandings. Connections made on the internet affords a sort of distance and more control over what is communicated. We are able to 'role play' in a more overt manner by presenting self through a persona, which may have some connection to the usernames that we select (not all the time tho). This may allow people to experiment with a part of themselves and the emotional experiences tied to this persona. The anonymity might help people to explore some aspect of themselves that they may not feel comfortable exploring with family and friends. In some sense tho, this is no different from how things were prior to internet. We got sent chain letters and wrote to pen pals, now we have spammers and trolls and online buddies.