Chapter 3 – Computer-Mediated Communication and Online Media

Chapter Summary

Communication Tools Online

• The variety of online communication tools has increased substantially in recent years.
• Different types of communication tools may be used for different purposes, or to communicate with different people.
• Online communication can be synchronous or asynchronous.
• Synchronous communication involves simultaneously exchanging messages.
• Asynchronous communication occurs when users may not be simultaneously communicating.
• Online communication tools often have fluidity – they can be easily updated.
• Online communication language tends to have similarities to spoken language, although it is almost always written.
• The change in our use of communication tools may have impacts on society, such as affecting our interpersonal relationships and literacy.

A Very Short History of Computer-Mediated Communication

• Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) has been around for a relatively short period of time.
• Early CMC users noted how non-verbal cues were often lost through this medium.
• This led to the determination of CMC as a lean medium (also known as cues filtered out).
• However, socioemotional content was sometimes included, and more recently it has been noted that online and offline communication have similar levels of emotional content.
• The early World Wide Web was relatively static with little interaction.
• While the majority of CMC is still text-based, there is also an increase in multimodality, with some social media platforms being created specifically for the sharing of such content.

Language and Online Communication

• Communication is not limited to verbal language.
• Various mechanisms are used online to reduce the lean medium effect.
• These include abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons, and paralanguage.

Paralanguage

• Paralanguage refers to non-verbal communication such as sounds of hesitancy, uncertainty, surprise, and other emotions.
• In written CMC, various methods have been adopted to illustrate such communications.
• These include grammatical techniques and written approximations of sounds.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

• Acronyms and abbreviations can speed up response times and use fewer characters.
• Their usefulness is dependent on the familiarity of the receiving communicator with the abbreviation or acronym involved.
• There can be cultural differences in the use of such techniques.
• Also, group discussions relating to specific topics can develop their own abbreviations and acronyms.
• There are specific typologies and taxonomies of such abbreviations, acronyms, and other ‘textisms’.

Emoticons/Graphic Accents/Smileys/Emojis

• Emoticons were developed in the relatively early days of online communication to demonstrate facial emotions.
• This added socioemotional content to messages that could otherwise be misinterpreted.
• An emoticon can change the meaning of a message.
• Socioemotional discussions evoke more use of emoticons than task-oriented discussions.

Communication Theories

• There are many types of communication theory.
• Some have been specifically developed for online communication.

Hyperpersonal Communication

• Walther proposed the hyperpersonal model of online communication.
• He suggested that four elements of CMC can result in heightened levels of affection when compared to face-to-face communication.
• These are the sender, receiver, feedback, and the asynchronous channel of communication.
• Researchers have noted that online communication can lead to intensified disclosures and perceived intimacy.

The Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE Model)

• A social identity might replace individual identity in CMC (the potential positive and negative effects of which are investigated by Postmes et al., 1998).
• Specifically, Postmes et al. suggest that ‘when communicators share a common social identity, they appear to be more susceptible to group influence, social attraction, stereotyping, gender typing, and discrimination in anonymous CMC’ (1998, p. 689).
• The model has significant potential to explain many kinds of online behaviour, such as cyberactivism (Stiff, 2019).

The Shannon–Weaver Mathematical Model

• The Shannon–Weaver model focuses on the mechanical exchange of information.
• It considers factors such as noise, entropy, redundancy, and channel capacity.
• However, it does not consider many interpersonal aspects of communication.

Rules theory/Co-Ordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)

• Pearce and Cronen (1980) suggested rules theory and the co-ordinated management of meaning.
• Their theory suggests that human communication is guided by rules and social patterns.
• Their ‘hierarchy of meanings’ considers how communication may have different meanings, depending on factors such as culture and relationships.
• Communication is also co-ordinated by rules, both constitutive and regulative.

Herb Clark’s Grounding Theory

• Clark’s grounding theory describes how conversation is collaborative.
• Communication partners need to build shared understanding through common ground.
• This theory has particular application in terms of mutual understanding of the meanings of abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons, and paralanguage.

Other Theories of Communication

• Many other researchers and theorists have proposed theories of communication.
• While these were often developed with offline communication in mind, they can frequently be applied to CMC.
• Some important theories include those developed by Watzlawick, Berger, Altman and Taylor, Baxter and Montgomery, and Giles.

Related Concepts

• Online communication is complex – we need to consider other factors such as the topic of conversation when researching it.
• We also need to consider factors such as impression management, privacy, anonymity, interpersonal attraction, and online aggression.
• These topics are considered in other chapters of the book.