Can digital communication be real communication?

This question has been on my mind for awhile.  I have written about it in myriad ways, from my course readings of Dick, McLuhan, Turkle and Baudrillard to my own personal discomfort with online interactions.  Through all of these posts, one thing remains as tough to solve for me as proving the Reimann Hypothesis: is the nature of digital communication defined foremost by its "digital-ness" or do personal tendencies have a defining role in digital communication?  Let me try to say it better: Are digital communications for extroverted and introverted people equally at risk for being shallow simply because the communication is digital?

Designing for Collaborative Creation

Today, I focused on making my class site a place where my students are co-creators of our learning and exploration.  This was possible on our ning at a basic level (students creating their own discussions and controlling their personal pages), but there was not much they could do.  I have to admit I did not focus well on maximizing what they could do either.  My new site is going to different because I am designing it that way.  That is a key aspect of true digital design -- looking at what can be done because it is digital versus relying on standard print design principles.  I am not finished with my thinking about this kind of design, but I am pretty pleased with what I accomplished today.