Well, this 1kg monster is my window to the world. And communication is really made much easier with each wave of technological advancement - new inventions and features continue to marvel me every day.

But compared to the more traditional modes of communication (eg. speaking face-to-face), there are important differences in this virtual bubble which humans have created.

There's the possibility of remaining an anonymous character in forums, chat rooms, multi-player online games, and even blogs. In fact, most people are often advised not to reveal too much personal information through these avenues - it's the most important rule in Internet Safety 1101.

How does this affect communication then?

Irregardless of our cultural backgrounds and physical appearances, we have an equal power to choose a 'virtual identity'. We can choose which characters to play in online games, we can design their appearances, we can select which avatars (virtual representations of self) to use in forums and instant messaging devices, we can even lie and pretend to be people we are not.

Outcasts in reality can suddenly feel included in an online community, while stereotyped groups can break free from the evaluative gaze of others in real life. Suddenly, we are free from judgments based on our appearances and the way we behave in front of other people. While this sounds positive, there are important problems to note: How do we know the other party is saying the truth when we cannot even see them? Can we trust them when their words are all in short-forms, exaggerated with capitalizations and punctuations, and full of typo errors?

And finally, how do we reconcile differences between our 'virtual self' and our 'reality self', if any? It's food for thought...

Another big difference in computer-mediated communication, compared to traditional forms, is how it always seems to make communication easier, yet discourages people from meeting up with one another physically.

Can online interactions replace face-to-face conversations?

I doubt so. Even with the latest video conferencing tools available, there's still something lacking without the physical presence of your friend sitting 1 meter across the table from you.

Technology is supposed to aid us in communicating with people who are far away from us, but it is slowly becoming the major mode of communication, even among family members staying in the same house.

There's even an extreme case of a young Chinese boy committing suicide to be "reunited with fellow cyber-players in heaven", leaving behind his family and friends.

(http://play.tm/news/5928/chinese-suicide-shows-addiction-dangers/)

Perhaps it's worthwhile to look into the dangers of gaming/internet addictions and study how this can impact our relationships with people in real life. This is especially pertinent because a recent finding suggested that on average, Singaporean teenagers play 27 hours of MMO games every week, which works out to be 1/7th of their time.

(http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/27759/singapore-teens-play-mmos-27-hours-week)

tat is juz 2 scawy, duncha tink? =S