By Kayla Platz

I found my reading of chapters 1-3 of Web.Studies to be very interesting. All three chapters give specific information in regards to the Internet, a media outlet that seems to be gaining popularity by the minute. I have taken many classes throughout my time spent as a student and have read many textbooks giving information on history, mathematics, theology, philosophy, etc. but none seem to be as relevant to the world in which we live today as this one. The reason I enjoyed reading part one of Web.Studies is because it provided me with a more in-depth of knowledge of something I currently use everyday. It got me wondering how I could go through the majority of my life using the web on a daily basis while being unaware of so much basic information about it.

The section in chapter 2 discussing speed, reach, interactivity, and anonymity drew me in most of all because they focused on online communication, which seems to be something used by everyone in my generation. This chapter explains that these four key features can be found in almost all online communication situations, which in turn may change the way we think, act, read and write. Online communication is allowing people to reinvent themselves by choosing to only show the online world certain pieces of themselves and by changing the way they express themselves, voice their opinions, challenge authority, etc. Through online communication people can now portray themselves to the world as being more attractive, intelligent, rebellious, and successful than they may actually be in real life. These readings left me wondering how my generation, growing up as Internet users, may have a more difficult time deciding who they actually are due to all of the possible personas each person is now capable of assuming.