Communication on the Internet has been an interesting journey of discovery. It was surprising to discover that a media we use so frequently could still hold hidden so many secrets. It was a pleasure observing the amazing changes that have happened since the invention of the internet and later the establishment of social networking sites. The new technology of computer mediated communication has transformed society in meaningful ways. All this new technology that has made the world a smaller place, allow us to do things we never thought possible, is the same technology that threatens our privacy. In spite of the inherent challenges, I welcome the journey ahead.

The most interesting things I have learned, with respect to these main course objectives, are how people use the internet to develop and maintain relationships, why groups are popular, and how we define ourselves based on our interactions with others through internet communication and also through expressing ourselves through different media outlets.

My understanding of how we use the internet has changed from thinking everyone used the internet for Facebook and Twitter to realizing that people use it to join groups, to express themselves through blogs, and to enter imaginary worlds. My understanding of how we use new technologies to communicate in our everyday lives has changed from thinking that only young adults use text messaging to realizing that majority of people, both older and younger, use text messaging quite heavily.

From my perspective as a user of these technologies, the questions scientist and government agencies need to continue to investigate are the following:  How will our privacy be affected? Where is our posted information being archived to? And, what steps are being taken to prevent this archived information from being exposed?