in CCR 711: Network(ed) Rhetorics
One of the questions that I am pondering about Small Pieces Loosely Joined is how writing about interests creates relationships.
It is easy to agree with Weinberger when he writes about people being joined by our interests on the web. When we participate in a group’s conversation we add to the conversation, and in doing so, we form relationships with others who have similar interests.

But, are we doing anything lasting? Or, are we just forming relationships that will dissolve when the purpose for contributing fades or offline responsibilities take priority, etc. It’s hard enough to maintain offline relationships and harder still to create and maintain online relationships. In the preface Weinberg states, “social connections, until now have almost all be constrained by geography and atoms: the real world” (xi). I’d agree with him about social connections, but if we take that one step farther and talk about moving from connections to relationships, then I think we have a ways to go before geography and atoms aren’t constraints. That is not to say that I don’t think what has been done so far isn’t promising.

In the preface Weinberger states that “The conversation I believe we need to have is about what the Web is showing us about ourselves” (xii). I am with him so far. But, I think he loses me when he says, “The Web helps us to embrace without embarrassment who we really are” (191). Maybe. Maybe not.
I think I am becoming more of who I am (slowly), but I think that has just as much to do with finally being open about what I want to do for a career and just getting older and learning more about what makes me tick. In the past, I��ve masked my true desires or used alternate skills/abilities in order to get/keep a job and advance in my career.

Then, there are a lot of people who blog anonymously. I think this might let them show more of who they are to others online, but if they weren��t, in part, afraid (I hesitate to use Weinberger��s term embarrassed?) of the professional or personal ramifications, then wouldn��t they feel free to blog without a pseudonym?
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