"Maybe the World Does Revolve Around Me…"
How Cyberspace Affects Individuality

by Julie A. Carvey

   A Web Version of this Project is available at http://www.miamioh.edu/~carveyja/IND.shtml

    As cyberspace merges with reality, the world continues to globally transform so that society will become much more interconnected. As society is constantly striving to augment the latest technological state of interconnectedness, an important facet of the interdependence is often overlooked. This is the individual. Whether consciously realized or not, the individual is changing, too. This series of websites looks at the different means in which individuality is influenced by cyberspace, and vice versa.

    The first section, entitled "A Self-Identity Crisis: The Weakening of the Edge," discusses the appeal of "going online." The notion that the Internet makes the individual lifestyle easier is attractive to many. However, a futuristic virtual reality and reality exist on different sides of the computer screen, or "edge," which always separates the two. What is going to happen to the individual as the edge is allowing cyberspace to affect the daily "real life?"

    The second section, "Surfing Through the Crisis: Understanding the Online Self," contrasts the tenacity of stability being destroyed by a new era defined by instability and change. The search for an ultimate self is being replaced by multiple selves in a virtual reality. How will this affect the ability to understand and express oneself?

    The third section, "A Head in the Classroom: How Education is Becoming Personalized" discusses how schools are behind the times. The teacher's job description needs to be reassessed, not to mention the curriculum. Computer technology can augment or hinder an individual's education. How are classrooms being changed to meet the demands of a changing population of students with individually unique educational goals?

    In "The Self-Oriented Changes in Corporate America," the mutual influence between big businesses and individuals are discussed. Big businesses have been putting money into the school systems, but where is the line between creating a consumer dependency and building children's computer skills? Corporate America gets more than they bargained for as a new generation of employees creates pressure for radical change in the culture of the workplace geared toward the needs of the individual employee.

    The last section, "Private Marketing Eyes: They're Watching You," focuses on the new Internet marketing strategies targeted towards the individual consumer. The ideal of businesses coming to the individual creates convenience. However, is the knowledge that institutions have about everyone potentially dangerous to the individual?