Reflection on my Cyberhood Experience

Myspace, Facebook, Blogspot, Match.com are all different forms of online communities. Some are promoting their community as "A Place for Friends" while others are promoting romance and love. However so someone looks at these online communities, there are a few credentials that are not met in order to truly have a community-based relationship with other people. In congruence with Barlow's beliefs, I found that through by experience with the cyberhood community, both prana and other less in depth, but equally important, qualities found in neighborhood communities make or break relationships and played a vital role in the un success if growing closer through our blogs.

Throughout my blogging experience I have realized how impersonal cyberhood communities can be. By both seeing my classmates in class and than trying to make relationships with them online as well, it was very easy for myself to compare and contrast both communities and my relationships I have made from them. From our class blog I have learned a few interesting things about some of the people, like if they have a passion for sports, movies, etc. However, just knowing someones' likes and dislikes will not help me establish a relationship with them. In contrast, from class discussion and face to face interaction I have been able to learn about my classmates' hearts, their motivations in life, and what truly is important to them.

In Barlow's article, "Cyberhood vs Neighborhood," he discusses a Hindu term prana. He describes prana to mean breathe and spirit; "the vital element in holy and unseen ecology of relationships." My interpretation of prana is the face to face interaction someone has in conversation and the physicality of a neighborhood community. In my opinion the only way I can develop a relationship with someone is with the presence of prana because the physicality of one's breath while speaking, the tone carried in their voice, as well as their physical body standing before you is what creates interaction.

I did enjoy the blogging experience but it was not because of the relationships I developed. It was because my blog was like a mini-journal for me to write about things in my life that are special to me. The topics I chose to write about make me happy so by writing about them I was able to encourage myself and realize how truly important my family, my horses, and my health are to me and how I never want to lose any of them to anyone or anything!