Oz Round Table

The Oz Round Table boards => The Round Table => Topic started by: *CountessA* on January 05, 2011, 08:42:16 PM

Title: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *CountessA* on January 05, 2011, 08:42:16 PM
Some people use the acronym RL (real life) to describe their lives off-line, or off-line transactions, and so on.

Some people apparently use this term in opposition to IT (where IT describes online activity - I have to admit I haven't really heard the acronym IT used in this oppositionary way myself).

Most people familiar with online buying use (or know) the term b&m (bricks and mortar) shop to distinguish between a "real" shop and an online shop.

Which of these irritate you, if any - and why?

Which of these seems appropriate, or not appropriate, and why?
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *r3830* on January 05, 2011, 08:59:21 PM
LOL                   (snipe!)
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *Ubbie Max* on January 05, 2011, 10:22:33 PM
A number of acronyms annoy me because I don't know what they mean. I've never bothered to get into the acronym language of the net.
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *smee* on January 05, 2011, 10:57:25 PM
I disapprove of the terms real life and bricks and mortar , its not the use of acronyms I disapprove of ,  but I just think a better choice of words would be more apt thats all, but maybe I take them too literally

I dont understand the bit about IT though Countess, im confused there
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *Brum6y* on January 05, 2011, 11:18:12 PM
I had wondered about the 'real life' reference from another member's post on the subject and have this thought to throw into the melting pot...

The nature of forum posting allows for the stretching of the truth, with little or no opportunity for close examination by others in the cold hard light of day and it is clear that many have ventured into this world to varying degrees of fantasy.  Thus, to redirect one's attention away from the forum situation necessitates the relinquishing of any and all fantasy to face the realities that surround them - those things that demand their time and energies.

As such, these realities represent the (often wearisome) obligations that we must honour - and that the term 'real life' is expressed more in the sense of a 'necessary drudgery' than a specific semantic use of the word 'real' over any antonyms.  To illustrate this, I would suggest you could replace the phrase 'real life' with 'the grindstone' ** in just about all instances and the meaning would not be significantly altered.

(** I'm sure there might be a better substitute - but that's just one that came to mind.)
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *Brum6y* on January 05, 2011, 11:19:54 PM
Ah, Smee posted whilst I was typing...


I dont understand the bit about IT though Countess, im confused there


Me too.
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *CountessA* on January 05, 2011, 11:59:31 PM
It was in response to this (and the replies that followed):

http://www.ozroundtable.com/index.php?topic=3478.msg150276#msg150276

Quote
I know its difficult isnt it ... but I had a real shop that was of wood and iron constuction , so I guess that doesnt count ?
on the real life thing ... am I correct in assuming that if people socialise on a forum and thats not classed as real life then that people whom work in IT dont have a real job ?
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *smee* on January 06, 2011, 12:11:10 AM
in that case I think you mis-interpreted what I was saying

my point was there that is that IT or information Technology employees work mainly on computers
some people socialise on computors or do other things in their lives on computers , so if the other things that people do on computors arent considered real then why would work on a computor be considered real
and then I went on and gave examples as to things on line that I considered were real including IT work as being important , and I believe that to some people socialising on a forum is very real and I just think that people whom refer to it as not real life could perhaps use another term , Brumby in his post here has explained it a little and as I said , perhaps I take the terms too literally
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *CountessA* on January 06, 2011, 12:16:45 AM
For me, using the acronym RL (or the term "real life") as opposed to online activities is legitimate in some contexts. Take a look at some of these instances: http://videogames.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Video_Game_Related_Deaths

When someone becomes so obsessed with online games that everything else in his life is shoved out of the way, there is STARK OPPOSITION between his online life and his "real life" - to the point that his real life is damaged by his online fantasy life.

There's also this story - http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/10/woman-kills-baby-for-interrupting-farmville-session/
Quote
"A 22 year-old woman from Jacksonsville, Florida has pleaded guilty to killing her baby son over a game of… Farmville. Alexandra V. Tobias says her three-month old child, Dylan Lee Edmondson, had been crying while she was trying to play the popular Facebook casual game. This angered Tobias, who told authorities that she shook the baby, had a cigarette to calm herself down, then shook him again. It’s believed he “may have hit his head during the shaking”. Dylan’s death was classified as second-degree murder, a charge that carries the possibility of a life sentence in prison."

But even that seems less "sick" than this extraordinary example: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/7376178/Korean-couple-let-baby-starve-to-death-while-caring-for-virtual-child.html

Quote
Kim Yoo-chul, 41, and his partner Choi Mi-sun, 25, fed their three-month-old baby only on visits home between 12-hour sessions at a neighbourhood internet cafe, where they were raising an avatar daughter in a Second-Life-style game called Prius online, police said.  Leaving their real daughter at their home in a suburb of Seoul to fend for herself, the pair, who were unemployed, spent hours role-playing in the virtual reality game, which allows users to choose a career and friends, granting them offspring as a reward for passing a certain level.  The pair became obsessed with nurturing their virtual daughter, called Anima, but neglected their real daughter, who was not named.  Eventually, the couple returned home after one 12-hour session in September to find the child dead and called police. The pair were arrested on Friday after an autopsy showed that the baby died from prolonged malnutrition.  "The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life, because they didn't have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby," Chung Jin-won, a police officer in Suwon, the Seoul suburb, told the Yonhap news agency.

Less extreme examples are when married people suddenly become so obsessed with their Facebook friends that they seem to abandon their everyday lives and the people in those everyday lives. They can become secretive - hiding their Facebook from their partner - because mentally they are committing adultery. Look for example at this: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Adultery-2037/2009/4/Crushing-Facebook-Friend.htm. Single people too can become so utterly engrossed with their Facebook lives that their family and friends are ignored and treated as not real.

Their online lives become SO real that nothing else matters.

To that extent, I think it is legitimate to discuss "rl" and online lives as being disparate.

I am not talking about friendships formed online and kept in a balance with other friendships, or friendships that began online and are extended and maintained through meetings, phone calls, letters, etc., along with friendships that began through school, work, social activities, etc., which are also extended and maintained through meetings, phone calls, letters, etc. It's perfectly healthy. With the internet having blossomed into such a pivotal part of our society, we'd be fools if we denied the social opportunities of the internet as part of our society. But equally, we'd be fools if the internet REPLACED all other contact, or minimised other contact so as to damage our ability to interact face to face.

Does that make sense?
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *smee* on January 06, 2011, 12:41:30 AM
yes that makes sense because you have differentuated between virtual online games and actual online friendships / socialising with actual humans  ... I consider online virtual games as a fun/entertainment thing and of course real people and real jobs etc must take priority that to me is a no brainer but  I also consider talking to people in here and to people I have met online and become personal friends with as very real , and its in that context I disapprove of the term , but again I accept that its just a term and I probably take it too literally


Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *CountessA* on January 06, 2011, 12:43:44 AM
No, I understand exactly what you mean; the friendships we've made here are very real, as valid as friendships made in any other arena.
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *smee* on January 06, 2011, 12:51:56 AM
speaking of which ... my virtual friend ... that pesky Yankee Mr Tellomon is a bit crook thats why he has been quiet for a couple of days .... I knew those anthrax sammiches I sent would do the trick
now I have never met him , but I know he is real ...( he thinks he is unreal ) because no one would have the mental incapacity to create such a beast in their minds ...it has just mutated into something real ....and I hope he gets better at some stage , almost as much as if he was a friend living in the same city whom I had actually met ....get well soon Amigo   :amigo:
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: Centuries on January 06, 2011, 11:23:41 PM
I have used the term " real life" in a tongue in cheek way and without thinking about what it meant bar the fact that I was closing down the computer.  :blush:
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *smee* on January 06, 2011, 11:32:48 PM
welcome back Nanna ...you have been missed lots
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: *CountessA* on January 07, 2011, 01:04:33 AM
Centuries!  :-* :grouphug: Welcome back in either RL or online or upside down or right way up - just happy to see you again.
Title: Re: RL or IT/online; online vs B&M; terminology to irritate?
Post by: Centuries on January 08, 2011, 12:08:09 AM
Countessa and Smee , thank you  ;D ;D ;D The end of 2010 was absolutely chaotic, but we managed to survive---just!  :)


 :kisshug: