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Email has become so entrenched in our lives that it has become the common mode of communication in the workplace, and for some, it has become a lifeline to the world as well. Many of us can hardly imagine life without it. That email enhances as well as complicates our daily business is a given. But how it has begun to alter our sense of self is what will be explored in this chapter. In "We've Got Mail—Always," Andrew Leonard discusses how email "saves time and wastes it, makes life simpler and more complicated, brings us together and pushes us apart." Tony Schwartz's "Going Postal" deals mainly with the negative ramifications of email, especially its addictive nature. In "The A-List E-List," David Brooks ponders how to impress one's email correspondents by using the email address list to impress recipients with how well connected you are. John Dyson's "Journey of an E-Mail" explains what happens when we hit the "Send" button on our email. In "Not Exactly the Most Reliable Way to Run a War, IMHO," Roy Rivernburg imagines what might happen if the Army had to communicate via email during wartime. Russ Parsons' "A Shared Sadness" offers another perspective on how electronic communication has helped foster news ways of relating to one another. In "Virtual Love," Meghan Daum, a freelance writer, describes her own experiences with what happens when two people who develop a passionate e-romance actually meet. Esther Dyson's "The Anonymous Voice" examines the consequences of electronic anonymity. In "Cyberspace and Identity," Sherry Turkle discusses how playing in cyberspace undermines the idea of a "core" self where multiple identities are the norm—a trend one sociologist finds psychologically healthy. Alex Pham's "Boy, You Fight Like a Girl" discusses how gender-switching is making online games not only challenging, but also confusing—and potentially embarrassing. The chapter then concludes with Michael Lewis' "Faking it: the Virtual Lawyer," which details the fascinating account of how a 15-year old with no legal training posed as an expert attorney on a major online information site. Note: Internet sources are generally transitory, so if a link given for an activity is no longer available, notify the administrator of this site. The link will be fixed or replaced with a suitable source for the activity.
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