This article discusses how a virtual community of people came together to help a woman find her lost, and stolen, cell phone. After riding the taxi, a woman named Ivanna accidentally left her phone in the cab. However, upon transferring Ivanna’s information into her new phone she was able to identify a teenager who stole her phone and contact her. Sasha, the teenager who took the phone, did not respond kindly to these messages and refused to give the phone back. Using the internet, Ivanna’s friend Evan was able to form a large group of people all dedicated to the same common goal of retrieving the lost phone. After receiving help from numerous individuals and groups, including the NYPD, Evan was able to help put the phone back in the hands of its rightful owner using the amazing powers of communication technologies.
The word “community” has had various meanings over time. Traditionally it means a physical gathering of people, but as time progresses humanity has evolved into virtual communities as well. Our ways of connecting through the internet and other growing communication technologies have developed immensely. For example, we all know that it only takes a few short moments to share a viral video or tag our friends in a popular meme. In my own experience, I have been a part of many Facebook groups that serve the purpose of regulating a group and informing its members on new information and upcoming events. As time progresses, our ways of efficiently sharing will only continue to grow and thrive.
On page 17 of the article, the author mentions Tim O’Reilly’s concept of “an architecture of participation”. I believe this means that we participate in the online system of building up our lives and showing it to the world. This is why Ivanna was able to retrieve her phone, because Sasha had built up her life using these new communication technologies and others were able to find it.
It is said that when we change the way we communicate, we change society. If online communication did not exist, I am pretty sure Ivanna would not get her phone back. Since the primary form of communication in this case was online, users were able to follow discussions, updates, etc. on the case and could voice their opinions. Had these new communication technologies not existed, the case would have died, for obvious reasons. Since these new communication technologies do exist, the phone was able to be put in the hands of its rightful owner and Sasha was forced to do the right thing. This story is just one of the examples of how this new form of communication has changed society.
It is interesting to think about why people are motivated to share information about themselves. I think it comes from wanting to prove ourselves to society. When we post online, we usually post good things that have happened to us or things we are accomplishing in our lives. Although sometimes it can be risky to share so much information, we do it because this is what is socially expected by others. Also, as mentioned earlier, many clubs, classes, etc. rely on online communication within their group. Take D2L for example. As students, we are expected to check D2L for our assignments and class updates. If we did not use D2L, we would be very lost in class.
There are a few important lessons to learn from the article. The first lesson is to always do the right thing. This article shows us the humiliating consequences that come with dishonesty and works great as an example of what not to act like. Also, we learn about how communities of people are formed online and how they play a role in other people’s everyday lives via the internet.