Help! I'm all alone!

Stereotypes with heavy Internet users include cave nerd, loners, geek, and forty-year-old virgins staying home with mom. Nothing positive.



Data supports this critical thinking. “In short, no matter how…and…which type of social activity is considered, time spent on the Internet reduces time spent in face-to-face relationships, and concomitantly increases time spent alone (Nie, Hillygus, Erbring).”



But without the Internet, we may be less likely to keep in touch with our long distance friends and forever lose them. With programs like Skype, we can keep up face to face contact.



So the key idea is go out and socialize! Spend time with your real life community.



But have some online time to your friends and you, too.



If a balance isn't maintained, then the real life community could be destroyed by the Internet.

“The 40 Year-Old Virgin.” 23 Aug 2005. Artists Direct. 13 Sept. 2009. .

“FaceToFace.” Transition Towns WIKI. 13 Sept 2009. < http://transitiontowns.org/uploads/TransitionNetwork/FaceToFace.jpg>.

Klepek, Patrick. “Fat Princess.” 31 July 2009. G4. < http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:01Ik1iykEmvISM:http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/170642_S/Sony-Aware-Of-Fat-Princess-Online-Issues-Working-On-Solution.jpg>.

Nie, Hillygus, and Erbring. "Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the Internet: Reconciling Conflicting Findings."
American Behavioral Scientist 45 (2001 Nov): 420 - 435.

“Skin Alone.” Skin. 13 Sept. 2009. .

“Socializing Women.” July 2008. Awaken Your Soul & Change the World. 13 Sept 2009. < awakenyoursoul.files.wordpress.com/2008/07>.

Online communities: Are they really communities?

“Welcome to "We Bang Steinways!"

You don't belong here if you are not a fan or a student or a performer of the great classical piano repertoire composed by gods such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart…etc That means NO B.S. crap like "Heart & Soul" or … even "Fur Elise"… We just won't accept weak sauce like that around here. We've all practiced … TOO much to deal with lowly Pop & Rock pianists! …Okay, that was a joke... sort of...Interested in studying with a professor at a school you have never visited? Have a question about a passage from your Bach fugue? … Sick and tired of those lameass YAMAHAs [a type of piano] in the practice rooms? … Is the Piano turning you into her own little bitch? Now you can vent your anger, share your knowledge, and ask your questions to your fellow pianists on the Discussion Board! (We Bang Steinways!)”

When I first clicked on this Facebook group, I read this introduction and was extremely interested in being part of a group of piano aficionados. Being from a small Southern town, very few classical pianists were present in order for me to speak about subjects like whether Mozart piano concerti were more developed than Beethoven sonatas. When talking to others, the lack of pianists is a problem found everywhere, especially teenagers who are not enrolled in a music conservatory. What’s intriguing about this group is that it pulls people all over the world and lets them express their frustrations, announce to the world about an accomplishment, or help each other through difficult times. The “We Bang Steinways” group is like a safe haven for pianists, especially for those who do not live in more cultural cities such as New York or LA.

Although I do not believe every online group or even Facebook acts as a community, “We Bang Steinways” definitely exemplifies one. Some leadership is enacted in the group by having administrators. The list of officers is substantially large because each person represents a specific school/conservatory. The creator of the group is from UCSB, one officer from Juilliard, the list goes on… Even with a wide array of members and locations, everyone can understand each other and focus on a single topic. For example, right after the Van Cliburn competition (the Olympics for piano), one of the contestants thanked the group members for their support while he was competing, and a flurry of members continued congratulating him for his fine performance and couldn’t believe they were talking to a piano celebrity (We Bang Steinways!).

Yes, most of the group members have not seen each other in real life, with the exception of the famous members. In the group, we express ourselves through words in a wall post or a Youtube video of our playing. We are all connected through our passion with classical music and piano.


We Bang Steinways!. N/A. Facebook. 6 Sept 2009 .

Community: An All-Encompassing Term

Community (n.): a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage (“Community”).

When I try to understand something, I look it up. In this case, the dictionary was used as a source. But, I cannot wholeheartedly agree with the definition. Firstly, can a community really be of any size? When I glance at a couple enacting in PDA, I immediately think, “Ew.” In context of community, I do not classify a couple as a group either. The dictionary consequently lists what a community’s members have in common:

1. Locality
2. Government
3. Heritage

I can quickly find a flaw to each point. A community does not necessarily need to be fixated in a certain area blocked off by certain boundaries. People can still be members of a community through electronics (i.e. cell phones, e-mail, Skype, et cetera) (Wellman and Gulia). The various localities of these members also affect the idea of government. Yes, a community may abide to similar rules, but not necessarily the same government. For example, everyone in the United States abides to the same national laws. However, state laws differ. Lastly, the United States is known as the “melting pot,” breaking the idea of one specific cultural background.

Georgia Tech is a prime example of community. Yes, the football players ("GT Football") to the partiers ("GT Party")to the computer nerds ("Nerd") are all interconnected in this little area in the midst of bustling Atlanta. How is that so? What makes Tech a community? Simply, all of us came here wanting something not at Georgia State, U(sic)GA, and/or MIT. We came to Georgia Tech for a reason, taking similar classes, and being part of the Tech college environment.

Although community is a difficult term to pin down, most people can identify it. I highly doubt anyone would disagree that Georgia Tech is a community.

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 2009. Web. 29 Aug. 2009.

"GT Football." Photo. blog.islandcasino.com. 29 Oct. 2007. 29 Aug. 2009. <blog.islandcasino.com>.

"GT Party." Photo. s.wsj.net. 20 May 2008. 29 Aug. 2009. .

"Nerd." Photo. andrewsteinhome.com. 2009. 29 Aug. 2009. .

Wellman, Barry, and Milenia Gulia.“Net-Surfers Don’t Ride Alone: Virtual Communities as Communities.” N/A. N/A. N/A. Print.

Buzzing Beginnings

An oasis within the sprawling lands of midtown Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a place where college students roam free and take the cheer of "Fight, Win, Get Naked!" to heart. From the nerds to the frats, Tech is home to everyone, and I suppose it's my home for the next four years (or maybe more? I hope not).



This blog is dedicated to my "adventures" as a freshman and will chronicle my opinions about various topics in my English 1101 class. Closing my first blog post EVER is probably the most definitive video from Georgia Tech. Just watch--you've probably already seen it or at least heard of it.