Online interaction vs. Face to face setting

It can be agreed upon that both the online and the traditional class setting can have various pros and cons. Personally, I do not believe that one is better than the other. I believe that the way an individuals personality will be shown depends on a wide variety of variables; such as the professor, the class size, the students personal learning and social interaction abilities and even the course. For example, in a 400 student lecture, the concept of self is basically lost. Although you may be face to face with fellow students, there is no, or very little interaction. The first impression is made solely based upon appearance and the way one carries themself. However, there is the possibility of learning large amount of information about someone, just by their words, actions, dress, mannerisms, etc (Gergen, 53). To answer the question if we as online classmates can ever really know eachother if we haven't met in person, my opinion is yes. This is my first online class and after reading everyones introduction blog, I feel like I know more about my fellow classmates than I would with a traditional lecture classroom setting, where I would get lost in the crowd. However, in a small traditional class setting I have had certain professors who like to do introduction workshops, but even then I still haven't told more about myself than the constant, " Stand up, tell us your name, grade, and major."
I do agree with Goffman when he assumes that when an individual appears before others he will have many motives for trying to control the impression they recieve, however I think this can go both ways, in an online as well as the traditional (Goffman, 49). In an online class one can express whatever personality they wish and never really give their true self. Using his example of the "dormitory girl", in the traditional setting many assumptions can be made for many actions, whether they are are false or true, only the indivudual knows.
The main difference between the two is that online classes lack the face to face interaction. The assumptions and judgements are skipped, and you know about the individual only on what they choose to share. As long as they are truthful in their description of themselves, it is easy to get a feel of what their personality is like. Do i prefer one setting over the other? No. But by being able to read from the individual themself, on what their likes and dislikes are and even on what they view themselves as and having the option of reading their opinion on the given articles makes it easier to get to know one another. After completing this course, I do not feel like we will be strangers!