What makes a computer conference familiar?  For Bob (1997), "You really just need to get in there and sit in it for awhile and figure stuff out.  You need to be with it as they say."

        What is there about “sitting in” a computer space that makes it familiar?  “Sitting in” implies placing oneself into something.  When I “sit-in” a chair, I place my body into it, I dwell in the chair.  For Heidegger, dwelling is “based upon a form of life in which we necessarily dwell” (cited in Dreyfus, 1991, p. 201).  At one point, Heidegger describes how people make judgments because they “dwell in a shared background of meaningful places” (p. 204).   “To dwell” comes from the Old English word, dwellan, “to lead astray” or “go astray” (Webster's, 1979, p. 567).  It is akin to the Old German word, twellan, “to tarry; to hesitate.”  Our current usage of “to dwell” means “to live or reside.”  What does it mean for me to live in the background?  Living for me implies a shelter, a place of comfort, a physical spot I identify as my place.  It is a place I surround myself with familiar things.  It is not only where I live as doing, but also it is a reflection of my living as meaning.  I dwell in the place where I reside—I wrap it around me like a warm blanket.  What clues does my home offer in terms of understanding the basic background against which I experience the world?  Does a dwelling offer an image to explore experience?  Do I form a dwelling place when I sit in a computer conference?   How would I place my dis-embodied self into a world lying inside a computer matrix?  Does an inside spatial orientation depend on a physical framework?

        My daughter “talks” on a computer bulletin board on a regular basis.  The conversation is all in text varied only in color, dots, and dashes.  I asked her what makes the place familiar.

You have to get used to it.  The key is to construct it in your mind.  You can’t watch someone else doing it.  You are able to establish a schema for visualizing the environment.  The words are no longer important.  They just form the framework for what you are visualizing.  What is more important is what you are visualizing in your head than the text on the screen.  It is like visualizing the story while reading a book.  It feels visual and I can hear the tone when others type in the words. (Kimberly)

        Familiar comes form the Latin word, familia, which means household or family (Webster's, 1979, p. 661).  I know my family because I spend time with them.  We live or dwell together.  To know someone or something as I know family is to live or dwell, to form a bond of intimacy and closeness.  How do I form a sense of closeness with a computer environment?  Is spending time in the place or dwelling an essential component for something to be familiar?

        Students vary in their experience with computers.  Some have dwelt in computer space longer than others.  Experienced computer users found the conferencing environment easier to navigate and less intimidating.

I think it [computer conferencing] was easy to use because I am also used to exploring the internet.  And, I think who ever designed it put the little buttons to come up and say there is the class here, the class you’re in.  You go in.  It’s just point and click.  It’s self-explanatory as far as if you think about what you want to do there is a button there that will address it. (Bob, 1997)

        Within a family, trust is built through intimacy and dwelling together.  Trust is an important platform from which to risk.  Students who were more familiar with computer environments were more willing to explore and test the boundaries of the conference.

I guess by that time I had had enough knowledge that I sort of felt comfortable to fool around with it.  You get comfortable after awhile and you are not afraid to try.  (Susan, 1997)