A Virtual World Communication. Is Interpersonal Communication Jeopardized by a New Online Symbolics?

Napretkom tehnologije, svakodnevno smo izloženi novim obrascima ponašanja, pravilima komuniciranja koja utječu na interpersonalnu komunikaciju. Osam od deset upitanih osoba na pitanje: “Olakšavaju li Vam emotikone komunikaciju u svakodnevnom životu?”, odgovorit će potvrdno. Samo će rijetki, oni koje bi moj prijatelj “ajtijevac” nazvao “oldskul”, otkriti da im je još uvijek važnija “aj tu aj” komunikacija. Ipak, sve to treba biti uglavljeno u neke gabarite pa se tako na tronu vladavine komunikacije u virtualnom svijetu i online zajednicama, nalazi Nettiquette. Rijeĉ je o skupu “zlatnih pravila” kojim su pod povećalo stavljena ponašanja u virtualnom svijetu. U taj su svijet, na velika vrata ušle emotikone iliti popularni “smajlići” koji nam pomažu shvatiti u kakvom se raspoloženju nalazi naš sugovornik s druge strane “žice”. No, ipak, mogu li emotikone biti dvosmislene i koliko nam korištenje istih zapravo “ide na ruku”, samo je jedno od pitanja na koje ću u ovom radu nastojati dati odgovor. Povući ću paralelu između neverbalne komunikacije i ponašanja povezanih s pojavnošću modernih modela komunikacije. Jesmo li korištenjem kratica i simbola zaboravili na djela? Jesmo li zaboravili pokazati “Poljubac”, „Volim te“ , „Tužan sam”? Znamo li živjeti i razlikovati pravila “online” i “offline” komunikacije? Uvijek je lijepo imati mogućnost “obojati” dopisivanje, no to ne znači da nam stvarna komunikacija treba postati “crno bijela”.Due to technolgical advancements, we are daily exposed to the new forms of behavior and new rules of communication that affect our interpersonal communication. Eight of ten interviewed people confirmed that it was easier for them to use emoticons in their everyday communication. Only few of them revealed that they still needed an "eye to eye” communication. However, virtual communication can succesfully function only within certain set of rules. For that purpose, Nettiquette, a set of rules for virtual communication, is envisioned. Its most popular emoticon, "smiley", for example, helps us reveal/understand the mood of a person we communicate with, the mood of a person we cannot see since he/she is on the other side of the screen. Nevertheless, this paper tries to examine whether emoticons can be ambiguous and confusing and lead to certain communication misunderstandings. It also draws a parallel between non-verbal communication and behavior associated with the appearance of modern communication tools. Have we forgotten how to act by using abbreviations and symbols? Have we forgotten how to show a "Kiss", "I love you", "I’m sad"? Do we know how to live and can we tell the difference between "online" and "offline" communication rules? It is always nice to have the possibility to "paint" correspondence, but that does not mean that our live communication is dull and without emotional colour