Abolition under Jerry Kang explanation is a way to wipe off and invisible racism elements on the Internet. Because of the characteristics of cyberspace, interaction are not face-to-face which eliminate the visualizing of skin color, furthermore, using nickname in communication can also reducing race-mapping. However, Jerry thinks abolition is becoming not applicable as the introduction of webcam (face-to-face communication online) and text structure can still be an element of race-mapping. The second strategy is integration; Jerry suggests that cyberspace can increase interactivity and diminishing the geographic boundary. He took virtual community as an example, interaction is voluntary and based on common interest, experience and topics but not ethnicity. Still, integration is not a perfect strategy, since not everyone able to access the Internet. Furthermore, there is a phenomenon of intimacy within the same ethnicity group. He then suggests the third function – transmutation. Netizen is free to choose identity and race online, Jerry advised that the cyber-pass (identity online) allow a person to experience in different ethnicity, people would no longer being judged by their skin-color.
To diminish racism, cyberspace can be the role providing short-term delay in communication. People will have more focus on the communication content but not the race. We met friends online is mainly based on common interest but not race. Through text communication, relationship is already built and people would decrease their personal prejudice on ethnic. In summary, Jerry Kang propose interesting discussion on cyber-race and we have a few discussion questions that hope you to think about it
Question:
1. In an occasional online chatting, your net friend, Daisy, realized your race (Asian) because of your profile picture. Daisy became rude to you and called you ‘chink’, what would you response? After this happened, would you try to abolish or transmutation your identity?
2. Jerry Kang suggested that cyberspace can increase interactivity of different groups of people and eliminate geographical boundary (communicate to foreigner), have you ever experienced that? To how much extend do you think online communication is as accurate as Jerry described.
3. Virtual community is it only based on common interest and experience? Do you think that it is also a community that built because of regional culture difference? Give some example.
4. Due to the development of technology, is the race-blinding effect strong in virtual community? Is our communication format nowadays still limited to text-based interaction?
There is an interesting thing here. One of my friend, who study in Australia and US, likes to call white people "ghost"(鬼佬). Many of her friends and mostly schoolmate, who are also Chinese or HK people urge her not to do it, but her responses was: what is the problem? They don't understand and it is the way that I call them, I mean nothing more than calling someone. So what i want to say is that she sees the nickname no more than some name to call out someone, the question is, is the question one important if it is the case? And pause I always think that to communicate with text-base, there are something you cannot understand, you will not realized when you texted it until people on the other side tells you that you are angry or sad. Maybe it was not the case, the text confuses us sometimes.
ReplyDeleteElaborative summary of Jerry Kang’s reading about Cyber-race.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point for discussion is that whether there is an absence of racism created in a virtual community.
Netizens with religious, cultural or racial similarities gather together and form different online communities. Racism still appears in online spaces, as we’ve mentioned during the tutorial session, cultural difference is one of the factors. But I think to a certain extent, the cyberspace is still able to provide a classless/raceless environment since sometimes people group together because of common interests, regardless of the race. :)
I think it is right that text-based communication would delayed our perspective or even discrimination, and somehow it can igonre emotional communicate, therefore when we having online communication content are being the most important concern within us. However, the disadvantage of text-based communication might be we cannot receive emotional signals from people's face.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jess:)