Holeton, Composing Cyberspace Discussion Threads Chapter 3

Chapter 3 index || Forward Thinking || Research Links || More Online Readings & Resources |

1. re: Lyles and Silberman
2. re: Lyles, Silberman, and Padilla
3. re: Lyles, Padilla, and Martin
4. re: Lyles, Silberman, Padilla, Martin, and Shirley
5. re: Cultural Identity and Cyberspace
New Threads for CC Online:
6. re: Padilla and Larson & Wilhelm
7. re: Rubio and Cyber-identity

re: Lyles and Silberman
1. Based on the articles by Charlise Lyles and Steve Silberman, how would you compare and contrast the participants in CyberFaith International and those in America Online's Gay and Lesbian Community Forum in terms of their motivations, goals, and actual uses of Internet communication?

re: Lyles, Silberman and Padilla
2. Ken Bedell (in Charlise Lyles' article) says that online interaction "has the appearance of being socially blind, colorblind, and classblind" (¶ 16), and Steve Silberman describes online communication as "a venue where individuals make themselves known by the acuity of their thought and expression, rather than by their physical appearance" (¶ 17). How does Max Padilla, in his essay, specifically challenge these claims? Despite the different quality of his online experience, what goals do you think he shares with the CyberFaith or gay-forum participants?

re: Lyles, Padilla, and Martin
3. Based on the articles by Charlise Lyles and Glen Martin, how do you think the CyberFaith founders or Native American activists on the Net would respond to Max Padilla's conclusion that the Internet "is no Netopia, but an all-too-painful reflection of the real world. America Online resembles America, all right. Majority rules" (¶ 9)?

re: Lyles, Silberman, Padilla, Martin, and Shirley
4. The narrator of John Shirley's story describes the Plateau as "the whispering plane of brain-chips linked on forbidden frequencies" (¶ 126) -- a subversive, black-market haven for the ruthless and the marginal. To what extent do you think the Plateau, in its subversiveness, is a force for social good or social ill? How do you think the other writers in this chapter, or the subjects they write about, feel about the subversive potential of the Internet?

re: Cultural Identity and Cyberspace
5. Glen Martin quotes Tamera Crites Shanker as saying, "If we don't define who we are on the Net, other people will do it for us. And when that happens, part of who we are disappears" (¶ 42). From what you've read and experienced, how well do you think that important parts of your own cultural identity are being represented on, and helping define, the Internet?

re: Padilla and Larson and Wilhelm
6. To what extent do you think Max Padilla's concerns about "affirmative access" in cyberspace are addressed in Anne Larson and Anthony Wilhelm's policy brief?

re: Rubio and Cyber-identity
7. Based on their article or story, how do you think the other writers in this chapter would respond to Steven Rubio's criticism of the "solipsistic nature of home pages," his argument that the expression of identity on the Web emphasizes aesthetics over interaction and is dangerously self-absorbed?