I'm a little behind this week... still on the first round of posts. Replies will come this weekend.

1. I feel a little bit as though I am repeating issues from week to week, but this weeks readings seemed to circle around an unspoken difference between social and functional online activity. To my satisfaction, Kollock’s article seemed to merge these two issues in examining the motivating factors for individuals to share information and work (arguably a social and functional activity). This leaves me with the questions: how does being on the wrong side of the divide for social activity differ from some of the more obvious drawbacks from being left out from functional online activities? Do people who are not online miss out on any benefits of online social connections, or can they reap the same benefits from a local social group?


2. 2) A devil’s advocate question (courtesy of Cass Sunstein): When people are so greatly able to cater their media consumption into their own very specific interests, where are the common cultural/social activities? Especially when the technology that enables this specialization can be so expensive, what are the consequences for those left out?

-john t