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The Virtual Community
Abstract
Cyberculture authority Howard Rheingold was the first to write about online communities in this style that is part-travelogue and part-anthropological guide. This groundbreaking classic explores the entire virtual community, beginning with a selective but probing look at the author's original online home, The Well. Rheingold relates plenty of anecdotes that demonstrate the upsides of online life, such as how he was able to get information on removing a tick from his child before his doctor could respond to his phone call. But the bulk of the material relates to how individuals interact online much as they do in a face-to-face community. Rheingold speaks to how both friendships and enmities are formed online and how people come together to support each other through misfortune. He gives the example of how computer-moderated communication enabled members of one Well community to send vital medical aid to a friend hospitalized halfway around the world. Rheingold goes on to show how communities can form by various electronic communication methods, using the conferencing system of The Well as one example. He also examines how people interact through mailing lists, live chat, and the fantasy cyberenvironments of online role-playing games. In the process, he questions what kind of relationships can really be formed in a medium where people can change their apparent identity at will. This book questions whether a distinction between "virtual" communities and "real-life" communities is entirely valid. The Virtual Community argues that real relationships happen and real communities develop when people communicate upon virtual common ground. Rheingold also shares his far-reaching knowledge of how technology effects our social constructs. If you are involved in an online community, here is your cultural heritage.
... La aceleración de los procesos de globalización a través de la incorporación de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (en adelante TIC´s) facilita el intercambio entre los individuos y propicia el surgimiento de nuevas formas de organización. Entre ellas, se encuentran las denominadas comunidades virtuales que emergen y establecen relaciones personales en el ciberespacio 3 (Rheingold, 1993). ...
... Para Rheingold (1993), la comunidad virtual se generó inicialmente con propósitos comerciales, recreativos y culturales. Posteriormente, docentes y alumnos empezaron a utilizarlas como un medio para construir conocimiento y retroalimentar sus aprendizajes formales. ...
... Según Rheingold (1993), los individuos en comunidades virtuales usan palabras sobre pantallas para intercambiar información o conocimientos, discutir, participar en la disertación intelectual, dirigir el comercio, compartir apoyo emocional, hacer planes, tormenta de ideas, chismes. Las personas pelean, se enamoran, encuentran a amigos y los pierden, juegan a partidos, coquetean, entre otras actividades que las personas hacen en la vida real. ...
Caracterización de la dinámica organizativa de una comunidad virtual de aprendizaje de acuerdo con las versiones de actores implicados
... The paradox of community, however, is that they foster "closure and insularity" that can hinder knowledge creation and diffusion (Freidson 1988). Communities, even those that are virtual, are defined by "boundary work," or the "purposeful individual and collective effort to influence the social, symbolic, material, or temporal boundaries; demarcations; and distinctions affecting groups, occupations, and organizations" (Langley et al., 2019; see also ;Gieryn 1983;Schwalbe et al., 2000;Glaser 2001; Rainie and Wellman 2012;Rheingold 1993;Faraj et al., 2016;Autio et al., 2013;Marquis et al., 2011;Lamont and Molnar 2002;Vaisey 2007;Tonnies and Loomis 1957). Community behavior is motivated by "belonging" to a common identity. ...
... In many cases, however, boundaries are ambiguous or otherwise porous. Virtual communities, for example, are unencumbered by physical gates and boundaries Jones 1998:19;Jones 1997;Rheingold 1993;Marquis et al., 2011;Sproull and Arriaga 2007;Preece et al., 2004). In place of legal or similarly authoritative boundary demarcation, these communities rely on identity-based boundary work (c.f. ...
Virtual communities of practice invoke novel forms of boundary work that are newly visible via publicly recorded discourse and failure narratives. This boundary work has critical implications for occupational knowledge, membership, and stratification. Building on social exchange theorization of network gatekeeping, the author tests the assumption that centralized peers are more competitive gatekeepers, in that they react more negatively to remedial narratives. The author tests this theory using empirical data from a virtual entrepreneur community on Reddit. The author finds that a peer’s tenure in the community network is directly related to exclusive, competitive boundary work of remedial members. However, by looking beyond the network structure to the content of the tie, the author finds that exclusive boundary work is not as impactful as inclusive, collaborative boundary work in this open network setting. The author builds on relational cohesion and exchange commitment theory to explain how remedial practitioners circumvent central community gatekeepers through failure narratives that provoke empathy from peripheral peers who experience higher uncertainty than core peers. Understanding these dynamics is critical to promoting recovery from failure and vitality of the community of practice.
... Sendo assim, a conversação em rede permite construir um tipo de interação e será designado como uma determinada modalidade de interlocução através da troca de mensagens entre duas (ou mais) pessoas, por meio de um dispositivo tecnológico. Na contemporaneidade, os "laços sociais" estabelecem-se através das "comunidades virtuais" (Rheingold, 1993). São os tipos de grupos on-line existentes no mundo, formado por pessoas que se encontram para atingir diferentes fins e corresponderem-se mutuamente por meio das tecnologias. ...
... Os grupos formam-se e se organizam por compartilharem das mesmas opiniões. As novas ferramentas digitais, as redes sociais e o próprio Twitter são alguns dos meios para as pessoas se encontrarem e estarem cada vez mais próximas, gerando e ampliando as "comunidades virtuais"(Rheingold, 1993). Isso acontece através do compartilhamento de ideias, que se ampliam para os diálogos e conversas virtuais. ...
Los medios se han vuelto la extensión de nuestra piel: tienen profundidad, densidad y un comportamiento que asemeja a un ser vivo. Son membranas traslúcidas y mutables incrustadas en redes mecánicas y digitales que unen el mundo orgánico con el electrónico. Son interfaces con base humana que convierten a nuestro cuerpo en un dispositivo de entrada para los medios de comunicación. Con esto, medios y vida se integran para tratar de dar mayor dinamismo, envoltura y profundidad a nuestras experiencias. Los medios son interlocutores invisibles mientras reciben, registran, memorizan y reescriben nuestras acciones. Los medios nos hicieron visibles, nos dotaron de una piel en la que podemos tatuar todos los momentos de la vida. Dotaron de un extraño volumen nuestros anhelos, materializaron nuestros recuerdos. Sacaron nuestra vida de su hábitat tradicional. Nos pusieron en un terreno común, el de la mediación existencial; en esa paradójica condición en que todo en nuestra vida puede ser documentado, grabado, almacenado, curado, accesado, controlado, coleccionado, borrado, publicado, mostrado, transmitido, compartido, publicitado.
En este texto el lector reflexionará sobre el grado de interacción entre los medios y los usuarios, comprenderá los factores que intervinieron para hacer del consumo un territorio de búsqueda y legitimación hipermedial.
... To bring about this shift in design, a new metaphor must be adopted for building software platforms. The foundational elements of this new generation of platforms are virtual communities, which expand upon Rheingold's concept of virtual meeting places [4], where IT services are used for various collaboration purposes, including education. As a result, the platform becomes complex, demanding, and potentially costly in terms of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), but it can accommodate a wide range of needs beyond just training. ...
This paper focuses on the architecture of a Learning Management System (LMS), and how to redesign it to facilitate and increase its usage inside an information system and achieve a more profound and better integration. By expanding the functionality of LMSs beyond the traditional educational setting, organizations can benefit from a centralized system that can handle a wide range of tasks. This can include project management, decision-making support, collaboration services, calendar management, bidding management, multi-point collaboration, document co-writing, etc. However, integrating these additional functionalities into an LMS can be challenging. It requires a deep redesign of the software architecture and understanding how these functionalities can be best implemented within the system. LMSs can be a powerful tool for organizations to manage various tasks other than purely educational tasks, thus improving efficiency and reducing the need for separate systems.
... The community is built on three fundamental pillars: its traditions and rituals, its awareness of being kind to others and its feeling of being ethically responsible (Casal o et al., 2008). Individuals who share their thoughts and experiences with one another and communicate with other members of the community through the use of the internet to create what is known as online communities (Rheingold, 1993). Social media nowadays play a vital role in developing brand activities and generating the company's promotional activities (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). ...
Purpose-Based on the principles of the social capital theory (SCT), this study aimed to generate hypotheses and evaluate a mediated moderated model that examined the impact of social capital on online brand community happiness (OBCH). Design/methodology/approach-Using 215 online questionnaires from users of private online brand communities (OBCs) , researchers examined the hypothesized connections between variables. The SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 26.0 were applied to fulfill the purpose. Findings-For the goodness of model fit, the authors have applied cut off criteria for fit indexes given by Hu and Bentler (1999) and model-fit measures indicators, i.e. CMIN/DF 1.397, CFI 0.958, SRMR 0.045, RMSEA 0.043 and PCLOSE 0.866, which meet the minimum acceptable criteria. Based on the results, social capital significantly affects psychological well-being (PWB), which, consequently, leads toward increased happiness among OBCs. Furthermore, membership duration moderates the relationship between PWB and OBCs. Research limitations/implications-The authors have utilized a cross-sectional research design, and it limits the researcher's ability to generalize the findings. These findings imply how social capital leverages PWB and OBCH. Moreover, the presence of membership duration helps to understand that members who spend more time in the community are happier in the OBCs. Practical implications-In this age of social media, it provides valuable guidance to the administrators of private Facebook groups dedicated to specific brands, enhancing the definition and development of OBC operations and community interactions. Originality/value-This research takes a broader look at social capital's impact on happiness among private OBCs. The current research contributes to the existing body of work by emphasizing the role of PWB in generating happiness. The study is novel in examining the mediating moderating model of PWB and membership duration to explore deep insights for social media platforms.
... The obvious influence of digital technology on society is particularly powerful in understanding the concept of community. The development of virtual personas (Rheingold, 2000) has coincided with the emergence of virtual society and electronic society (Bakardjieva, 2005). The phenomenon that serves as the precursor to these encounters is the imagined community, as discussed by Anderson (2006Anderson ( /1983. ...
The digitalization of law is occurring at an accelerated pace due to advancements in technology and the influence of the internet. This digitalization has brought about a significant transformation in the acquisition and diffusion of legal information and instruments, presenting both benefits and obstacles, particularly in the field of international human rights law. Comprehending the impact of digitalization on human rights is of utmost importance for populations such as the Alevis in Turkey, who are currently enduring violations of their fundamental rights. This is because technological advancements and their implications for human rights law play a vital role in ensuring the safeguarding and implementation of human rights while also potentially enabling tangible breaches of these rights. The European Court of Human Rights has often ruled in favor of Alevis in cases involving human rights breaches. However, the advent of digitalization brings up a new realm for Alevis’ human rights issues, since they may face distinct challenges arising from the digitalization of human rights. There are advantages to the digitalization of human rights law for Alevis, particularly in terms of enhanced accessibility to legal materials, while also having disadvantages, e.g., online hate speeches and low digital literacy, and facing potential obstacles such as bias in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Digital platforms are also significant in safeguarding Alevi cultural rights and enabling the establishment of an understanding of being a community among Alevis via the use of internet platforms. In the era of digitalization of law, while Alevis comprehend their human rights and freedoms, they also use online platforms for activism. This article offers a thorough examination of the consequences of the digitalization of international human rights law for the Alevi population. It specifically focuses on the advantages and disadvantages associated with this phenomenon.
... Aunque predomina la crítica al determinismo tecnológico, algunos autores privilegian el papel de la tecnología como fuerza impulsora de la movilización (Benkler, 2006;Bennett y Segerberg, 2012;Shirky, 2009) mientras otros mantienen el foco en los actores sociales y su capacidad de agencia (Flesher, 2014;Mattoni, 2012Mattoni, y 2017. Respecto al sentido de la influencia, las visiones tecno-optimistas destacan el potencial emancipador de las TIC (Rheingold, 1993;Benkler, 2006;Shirky, 2009) mientras que los más escépticos subrayan sus riesgos y amenazas para los movimientos críticos (Dencik y Leistert, 2015;Morozov, 2012;Margolis y Resnick, 2000). Las formas complejas en las que la acción comunicativa se nutre de y da lugar a dinámicas sociales, económicas, culturales y políticas dentro de las coordenadas contextuales de cada movimiento, creando complejos ecosistemas comunicativos (Treré, 2019), han recibido mucha menos atención. ...
Introducción: A partir de la revisión teórica el presente artículo distingue dos lógicas diferenciadas que van desde el uso por parte de los activistas de herramientas comerciales al desarrollo de tecnologías autónomas impulsadas por los propios movimientos. Objetivos: El objetivo del texto es definir distintas orientaciones del activismo digital a partir de contribuciones que nos permiten reconocer lógicas de acción diferenciadas en torno a la relación entre movimientos sociales y tecnologías digitales. Se analiza críticamente dichas aportaciones y las contrastamos con la realidad empírica para cuestionar y complejizar las nociones de partida, señalando contradicciones o usos complementarios que trascienden etapas y cuestionan la lógica bipolar o evolucionista que a veces se perfila en otros enfoques. Conclusiones: Las conclusiones apuntan a una multidimensionalidad de factores que inciden en las formas en que los movimientos usan la tecnología: prácticos o utilitaristas, estratégicos y tácticos, e ideológicos o identitarios.
... Daha önceleri yüz yüze kurulan ilişkilerin dijitalleşmiş dünyasında dolayımlanması, kültürü oluşturan ortaklıkların da giderek zayıfl amasına neden olmaktadır. Bu noktada bireyler coğrafi sınırlılıklardan uzak olarak farklı kültürel arka planlardan gelen birden fazla kültürlere ait ürünler etrafında birden fazla "sanal topluluğa" (Rheingold, 1993) ...
Yaşam varolduğu andan bu yana, bitkisinden hayvanına kadar tümüyle
iletişim içinde olan mükemmel bir mekanizmayla donatılmış sistemlerle
sürmektedir. İnsan da, dünyaya getirildiği ilk andan, öldüğü ve toprağa geri
döndüğü son anına kadar fi ziki varlığını duyuları vasıtasıyla sürdürmektedir.
İnsanın duyuları onun dünya ile bağlantısını sağlayan temel iletişim
mekanizmasını oluşturmaktadır. İletişim süreci, tarihi ve teknolojik değişimler
neticesinde büyük dönüşümler yaşamıştır. Özellikle sanayi devrimi
ve sonrası için gerçekleşen teknolojik ilerlemeler bu değişimin ilk adımları
olmuştur. Sonrasında XXI. yüzyılla gelen büyük kırılma bilginin ve bilgiye
erişimin biçimini, amacını ve kullanım şeklini tümüyle farklılaştırmıştır.
İletişimde, insanın duyuları ile sağladığı fi ziki yapı büsbütün değişmiş, bununla
birlikte kolaylık ve hız adına faydacı bir yaklaşım esaslı teknolojik
ilerlemeler karşımıza çıkmıştır. İnsan, iletişim sürecine, aracı veya onu tamamen
devre dışı bırakacak bir ikame unsurlar ile sağlamaya başlayınca,
kontrolünün ve dünyaya bakışının da evrildiğini anlamaya başlamalıdır. Bu
yönüyle iletişim salt mesaj alıp vermeden öteye geçeli uzun yıllar olmuştur.
Artık, amlam, değer ve düşünce üreten mekanizmalara sahip bir algı dünyasında
simülasyon evreni içerisinde ikame bir kimlikle yaşayan bireyden
bahsetmemiz gerekmektedir. Bu noktada, medya internet ve yapay zeka
uygulamaları ve bu teknolojileri kulanan uygulamalar yeni medya olarak tanımlanmaktadır.
Yeni medyanın bireyle olan ilişki alanı en güçlü biçimde ve
sürekli biçimde enformasyonu sağladığı alan “sosyal medya” alanıdır. Vazgeçilmez
bir alışkanlık haline gelen sosyal medya, çoklu kullanıma elverişliliği,
sürekli güncellenebilmesi, sanal paylaşıma imkân tanıması noktalarıyla
bireye yönelik etkiliyici uygun bir ortam olarak, günümüzün dikkat çekiçi
mecralarının başında gelmektedir. Sosyal medya uygulamaları, bireylere çok
sayıda yeni ilgi çekici alan ve içerik sağlamaktadır.
... Daha önceleri yüz yüze kurulan ilişkilerin dijitalleşmiş dünyasında dolayımlanması, kültürü oluşturan ortaklıkların da giderek zayıfl amasına neden olmaktadır. Bu noktada bireyler coğrafi sınırlılıklardan uzak olarak farklı kültürel arka planlardan gelen birden fazla kültürlere ait ürünler etrafında birden fazla "sanal topluluğa" (Rheingold, 1993) ...
Kitap içeriği, yeni medya çalışmalarının tarihsel gelişim süreçleri kapsamında karşılaştırmalı örnekler üzerinden oluşturulmuştur. Kitap; “kimlik ve tüketim”, “iletişim teknolojileri ve örnek kavramlar”, “reklam ve kullanım pratikleri” olmak üzere üç ana başlık altında temellendirilmiştir. Buradaki akademik yaklaşım, eleştirel bakış açısıyla hazırlanmıştır. Türkiye’nin farklı üniversitelerinden, alanlarında uzman akademisyenlerin katılımlarıyla özellikle kimlik, reklam ve tüketim konularında iddiası olan ve alanında yeni önermelerde bulunan bu çalışmaların literatüre katkı sağlayacağı umut edilmektedir.
Dr. Murat Birol-Dr. Yasin Söğüt
... This is because the feeling of power and control that the user is given in relation to the ability to project a particular image and selfstyled identity through this structural feature, acts as an opiate that reduces the anxiety and uncertainty often associated with contemporary identity formation. Early studies on online identity formation focused on the construction of identities in largely anonymous chat rooms, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) and Bulletin Boards (Rheingold, 1993;Surratt, 1998;Turkle, 1995). However, recent studies related to the production of online identities are increasingly focused on the construction of identity on online social networking sites, such as Facebook. ...
Narcissism is increasingly being regarded as one of the most serious sociocultural problemsof the contemporary era. Indeed, recent studies by Baldwin and Stroman (2007) and Buffardiand Campbell (2008), among others, have advanced the opinion that new media technologies– particularly social networking websites – have significantly exacerbated the rise and spread ofnarcissism in contemporary society. Based on this premise that social media provide the perfectplatform for the promotion of self-infatuation, this research paper provides a critical analysis of thepotential influence of social media in the development of a widespread narcissistic socioculturalcondition. In this regard, claims that increasingly consumerist, individualist and media-saturatedsocieties are nurturing a culture of extreme narcissism, vanity and entitlement are examined inrelation to an increase in the use of consumer-orientated new media technologies. In particular,by examining the structural components of the popular social networking site, Facebook,this research highlights the connection between the use of this form of new media and theengenderment of an acutely consumerist and narcissistic subjectivity. That is, the role of newmedia technologies in the promotion of narcissistic identity construction is examined as a factor ofparticular significance in the formation of contemporary subjectivity. In relation to this, the impactof online narcissism on the perpetuation and propagation of capitalist isolation, alienation andinsecurity is investigated before some remedial measures ‒ which co-opt rather than negate suchsocial media ‒ are proposed.
... The quest for diversity in cyberculture demands retention of black/brown identities for some subjects. (Nayar 2010, 160) In comparison to the comprehensive ideas put forward by Rheingold (1993) and Turkle (1995), which echo the practices of digital neo-colonialism, Nayar (2010) makes us more conscious of formal, procedural, stereotypical Indians who act out as foreign from call centers in India. The vexation with dominant identities only helps to further subordinate subvert minority classes. ...
In this modern age of conflicts trapped between nationalism, globalization, and migration, digital diasporas have come to represent a threat to national borders, fixed cultures, traditional narratives, and archaic notions of identity and cultural development. Interactivity, networking, immediacy, and presence are connotations of digitalization, while the diaspora connotes displacement, hybridity, fluid citizenship, and nomadic communities. Together, they form the foundation for transnational imaginaries that use technological possibilities to investigate a new level of identity creation in migration and diaspora studies. As a postmodern and transnational travel writer, Pico Iyer echoes these nuances of identity in a polymorphous world with near-invisible boundaries due to the large-scale migration and boom in the travel and tourism industry. Advancements in information and communication technology intensified the creation of the new class of digital migrants who employ these technological advancements to develop a sense of rootedness in the virtual age. Using the notion of digital diaspora as a neo-nomad negotiating technology and existing in a globalized and technocentric world, this paper attempts to explore the fluid identity of the diaspora in a digital world through a careful exegesis of Iyer’s “The Global Soul.” Contemporary virtual space and the digital age are synonymous with hyperreality, simulation, and manipulation. Any form of identity conceived and performed in the digital sphere should be scrutinized to assess its validity and sustainability. Consequently, this paper attempts to explore the tenability of the digital homeland of the diaspora in the contemporary age.
... Satirical because it triggered a debate which is still raging within the psychiatric community. From the starting point of pioneering studies by Griffiths (1996) and Young (1996), studies on internet addiction have mushroomed as have approaches which exalt the benefits of the web, like those by Rheingold (1993) and Turkle (1995). ...
... -2012 (Samela 2018). Blogs fostered previously present cultural features that are significant for our account: they promoted self-narratives and virtual communities as classically conceptualized by Rheingold (1993). With their thematic focuses, followers, and computer-mediated interactions, blogs could dispense face-to-face relations to bring people together, but also propelled personal ideas and practices to persuade others on topics of the blogger's interest. ...
Since 2009, the Collective Apostasy Campaign in Argentina has mobilized some people who are opposed to the political interference of the Catholic Church through the formal act of apostatizing. The politicization of sexual and reproductive rights, and, especially, the fight for the legalization of abortion, led to the campaign that acquired great public repercussions between 2018 and 2020. This paper analyzes 13 self-narratives of apostasy publicly available since 2009, digging into its plot, motives to apostatize, and motivation for its publicizing. Through a thematic analysis, the diverse self-narratives show similar motivations (to promote social debate on political secularization in the country), although they differ in the centrality of their personal, sociopolitical, and procedural motives to apostatize. The stories that apostates tell are resources for social mobilization as they seek an increasingly broad audience and serve the pedagogical function of sharing arguments against the political role of the Catholic Church and in favor of personal ideological coherence.
... Others propose the lack of non-verbal cues in computer-mediated communication may lead to decreased selfdisclosure 14 . Similarly, while self-disclosure online can help to build trust within a relationship 15,16 , it has been proposed that self-disclosure conducted via computer-mediated communication is less fulfilling than face-to-face self-disclosure 17 . ...
Adolescence is an important stage of social development. While adolescents are prominent adopters of social media, little is known about whether digital interactions can fulfil the social needs of this age group. Here, we focus on one component of social interaction: self-disclosure. In a systematic review, we investigate the role of self-disclosure in adolescent relationships and the differences between online and offline self-disclosure. The results suggest that self-disclosure is associated with higher relationship quality and well-being. Online self-disclosure appears to be less fulfilling and beneficial for relationship quality than face-to-face self-disclosure. However, certain populations appear to benefit more from online than offline self-disclosure - such as highly anxious adolescents and boys aged 12-13 years, who prefer to first self-disclose online before engaging in offline self-disclosure. This suggests that both online and offline self-disclosure can play a role in fulfilling adolescent social needs.
... Others propose the lack of non-verbal cues in computer-mediated communication may lead to decreased selfdisclosure 14 . Similarly, while self-disclosure online can help to build trust within a relationship 15,16 , it has been proposed that self-disclosure conducted via computer-mediated communication is less fulfilling than face-to-face self-disclosure 17 . ...
Adolescence is an important stage of social development. While adolescents are prominent adopters of social media, little is known about whether digital interactions can fulfil the social needs of this age group. Here, we focus on one component of social interaction: self-disclosure. In a systematic review, we investigate the role of self-disclosure in adolescent relationships and the differences between online and offline self-disclosure. The results suggest that self-disclosure is associated with higher relationship quality and well-being. Online self-disclosure appears to be less fulfilling and beneficial for relationship quality than face-to-face self-disclosure. However, certain populations appear to benefit more from online than offline self-disclosure - such as highly anxious adolescents and boys aged 12-13 years, who prefer to first self-disclose online before engaging in offline self-disclosure. This suggests that both online and offline self-disclosure can play a role in fulfilling adolescent social needs.
... Online communities can be fluid and unpredictable (Rheingold, 2000) but generally move through phases that include initiation, conflict, intimacy, productive work, and termination. Learning communities emerge as language, norms, protocols, learning practices, and collaboration customs develop (Ke & Hoadley, 2009). ...
... Проблематика, связанная с переходом религии в виртуальное пространство, достаточно хорошо представлена в научной литературе. За рубежом фундаментальная работа по исследованию виртуального религиозного пространства ведется уже более 25 лет [Rheingold 1993;Campbell 2010;. Вариант структурирования виртуального религиозного пространства (онлайн-религия) подробно описан в работах К. Хэлланда, который предложил собственный теоретический подход для классификации религиозных сообществ в Интер-нете [Helland 2005;Helland 2007]. ...
The article analyzes the transformation of forms of religious communication against the background of the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus, that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the advanced opportunities offered by the virtual space, various religious organizations and individual leaders have the opportunity to acquaint all users with their religious doctrines. But if in ordinary times the virtual religious space often functioned as an "addition" to the real religious space, then in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it became almost the main channel for broadcasting religious teachings and ideas. In this regard, the capabilities of the virtual environment made it possible to search and experiment. For some people this can lead to a deeper understanding of their religious traditions and practices, while for others it can open up completely new ways of worshiping God, generating a variety of new ideas and trends. The closure of prayer facilities during the coronavirus pandemic has forced most religious institutions around the world to communicate with their followers online, and most of the self-isolated believers have also turned to virtual space in order not to interrupt their religious practices. By itself, virtual religious activity is not a new phenomenon, but in a crisis situation it has become an adequate substitute for real religious activity, making it possible to maintain the epidemiological situation and curb the outflow of the flock, adjusting their religious rituals to the new conditions. On the example of some religious institutions operating on the territory of Russia, it was revealed that during the period of restrictive measures in the country, some forms of religion have undergone significant changes and accelerated digitalization.
... At the end of the twentieth century, the Internet revolutionized means of communication. Regardless of geographical location, people were able to gather in "virtual communities" (Rheingold 1993) to discuss shared interests. ...
This study is broadly an exploration of how people who suffer from sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD) and gender identity OCD (GI-OCD) use language to construct their identity, and how that process is framed by (hetero)normative idealogies.
Instead of writing the abstract of the study (which you can find on page 4), I will highlight the different chapters that might be the most interesting for different readers:
PSYCHOLOGISTS WORKING ON OCD should especially read:
- CHAPTER 1 where I review the literature on OCD, and especially section 1.4 where I identify the gap my project fills.
- CHAPTER 3 where I operationalize the concept of the feared self not as a fixed cognitive construct, but one that is discursively negotiated through language.
- CHAPTERS 6-9 a detailed analysis of OCD sufferers' language use and how they construct their identity by distancing themselves from their feared self.
- CHAPTER 10 is really where my argument comes together. I interpret the linguistic findings from chapters 6-7 through queer theory and Foucauldian self-governmentality. I especially argue that by distancing from a feared self, OCD sufferers run towards what I call an "idealized pure self" that is always and only the identity they wish to embody. This idealized self is constituted by a strong adherence to heteronormative understandings of gender and sexuality. The idea of a "pure self" is inscribed withing a sociocultural frame that has constructed sexuality as the locus of the "true self".
In addition, I challenge the assumption that homophobia is the sociocultural factors causing SO-OCD. I demonstrate that this assumption doesn't account for LGBTQA+ OCD sufferers who obsess about being not LGBTQA+. As such, I suggest to conceptualize OCD not as a fear of "becoming" something that is socially taboo, but rather as a fear of "losing" something that is socially cherished. This fear of becoming or losing are two sides of the same coin that are shaped by (hetero)normative Discourses. Thus, the sociocultural factor shaping SO-/GI-OCD fears is argued to be tied to the notion of normativity.
- CHAPTER 11: summarizes the whole study and section 11.3 explicitly states the contributions to the research on OCD
SOCIOLINGUISTS INTERESTED IN LANGUAGE, GENDER, SEXUALITY & CORPUS LINGUISTICS should read:
- Chapter 2 reviews Foucault's work on self-governmentality, queer theory and how all of this can be operationalized through linguistics
- One of the major contributions of my thesis to sociolinguistics is a methodological one. In fact, I triangulated corpus-assisted discourse analysis with ethnographic approaches. Chapter 4 describes how I constructed a forum and conducted a 18 month long ethnography (or netnography), and CHAPTER 5 describes the methodic steps in my analysis.
- CHAPTERS 6-9 are a detailed accounts of my participants' language use.
- CHAPTER 10 interprets the findings through queer theory (see above), and section 10.5 suggests an additional way to conceptualize normativity in the field of language, gender and sexuality.
- CHAPTER 11 gives a summary of everything, and sections 11.4 and 11.5 explicitly highlight the contributions to sociolinguistics and avenues for future research.
... questão, pois é comum a adoção de um olhar binário para a problemática o que é, no fundo, reducionista. Enquanto alguns entusiastas celebram o poder da tecnologia de renovar a vida política, cultural e cívica, de liberar populações oprimidas, incluir os explorados e marginalizados (RHEINGOLD, 1993;SHIRKY, 2015;BENKLER, 2006BENKLER, , 2015, pensadores mais céticos denunciam a trivialização da política e da cultura, a desumanização das relações e o esfacelamento do tecido social (KEEN, 2007;TURKLE, 2011). Para evitar a condenação de tecnófobos e a celebração ingênua dos tecnófilos, a cultura digital necessita ser vista em toda a sua ambivalência, em uma abordagem desconfiada que navegue com criticidade em toda a região entre esses pólos. ...
... Pero este tecno-determinismo optimista también impactó en los movimientos sociales, entre los que se puede apreciar una evolución desde las primeras percepciones de tipo "reactivo, defensivo o pasivo" hasta una actividad "más propositiva" en relación a las nuevas tecnologías digitales, que a veces ha derivado en una hegemonía de las visiones tecno-utópicas (Sádaba, 2012: 782). Valga recordar que la introducción de las computadoras personales a principios de los 80 y el acceso a Internet en los 90 generó una expectativa paradisiaca representada por autores como Rheingold (1994), Toffler y Toffler (1995) o Negroponte (1995), que destacaron las cualidades comunitarias de la Web y difundieron una retórica ciber-libertaria (Dahlberg 2010), que exaltó las posibilidades democráticas vinculadas a las nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación. ...
Este artículo explora los mitos e imaginarios sociales sobre Internet compartidos y vehiculados por el discurso académico y por los activistas de los nuevos movimientos sociales que utilizan la tecnología de forma intensiva como base de sus estrategias de organización y acción colectiva. Se indagan los discursos, imaginarios y mitos sobre la Red mediante una metodología cualitativa basada en la observación participante y en la entrevista activa a activistas de diferentes movimientos sociales. A través del análisis de los relatos de los ciberactivistas recogidos entre 2007 y 2020, se manifiesta una evolución de los mitos e imaginarios, que transitan desde una retórica ciber-libertaria utópica e idealizada hacia una creciente desmitificación de la Red como espacio distópico.
... Henceforth, a new paradigm has emerged in the field of social science to embrace all these changes. The scholars start to use new notions to depict this novel reality, such as virtual community [ 2 ], digital generation [ 3 ], virtual relationships [ 4 ] and so forth. Similarly, this change in the conceptual system was accompanied by a shift in the methodology employed in studying digital communities. ...
This paper tackles the question of netnography in the digital age. The shifts that the world has known during these last decades lead to the emergence of a new paradigm. The research in digital studies raises today many issues about the notions and the methods that we should use in this new field of study. We aim from our research to contribute to this current scientific discussion through a main question that we intend to address in our paper, and which we can formulate as follows: what is the nature of the criteria and the characteristics which make netnography a different method than ethnography? And if the subject of study in this practice is virtual and geographically undetermined, how can the researcher limit it, and how can he address it scientifically? Our goal from this paper is to unveil the specificity of netnography as a new notion and a new practice in sociology. So, we will formulate our perception of this concept by demarcating the lines between it and the other notions which intersect with it, namely, ethnography.
(DOKTORA TEZİ) DİJİTAL OYUN YAPISI VE Z KUŞAĞININ OYNAMA PRATİKLERİ
PhD Thesis
هدفت الدراسة إلي التعرف إلى أثر البيئة الرقمية في تعزيز قيم المواطنة الرقمية في إمارة الشارقة، من وجهة نظر المستخدمين عبر سياقها الرقمي، واعتمدت الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، باستخدام الاستبانة كأدة للدراسة تتكون من (22) فقرة، وتكون مجتمع الدراسة من عينة من المستخدمين عبر هذه البيئة، وتم اختيار عينة عمدية منهم، وبلغ حجم العينة (200) مستخدم، وتوصلت الدراسة إلى نتائج عدة منها؛ أن البيئة الرقمية مؤثره في تشكيل وتعزيز قيم المواطنة، وأن قيم المواطنة في الواقع الاجتماعي بمجتمع الدراسة قد تأثرت بالبيئة الرقمية بشكل كبير. وتوصي الدراسة بأهمية مراجعة المعلومات الخاصة بالمجتمع الرقمي، والمواطنة الرقمية بمجتمع الدراسة باستخدام برامج الذكاء الاصطناعي، للحفاظ على الهوية الوطنية من الاختراقات من الثقافات الآخري المغايرة، وتقترح الدراسة إجراء دراسات مستقبلية عن البيئة الرقمية وأثرها في التمكين الاجتماعي والثقافي والسياسي في مجتمعات الخليلج العربي بعامة ومجتمع الدراسة بخاصة.
The role of the digital environment in promoting the values of citizenship
"A field study"
Abstract:
The study aimed to identify the role of the digital environment in promoting the values of digital citizenship in the Emirate of Sharjah, from the point of view of the interactor’s and users through its digital context. The interacting people through this environment, and an intentional sample was selected from them, and the sample size reached (200) users and interactors, and the study reached results from it; The digital environment influences the formation and enhancement of citizenship values, and that the values of citizenship in the social reality of the study community have been greatly affected by the digital environment. The study recommends the importance of monitoring the possession of information related to the digital society, and digital citizenship in the study community using artificial intelligence programs, to preserve the national identity from penetrations from other cultures. And the study community in particular.
Key words: digital environment, citizenship, digital society.
The spread of mobile communication, most obtrusively as cell phones but increasingly in other wireless devices, is affecting people's lives and relationships to a previously unthought-of extent. Mobile phones, which are fast becoming ubiquitous, affect either directly or indirectly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. They have transformed social practices and changed the way we do business, yet surprisingly little serious academic work has been done on them. This 2002 book, with contributions from the foremost researchers in the field, studies the impact of the mobile phone on contemporary society from a social scientific perspective. Providing a comprehensive overview of mobile phones and social interaction, it comprises an introduction covering the key issues, a series of unique national studies and a final section examining specific issues.
The spread of mobile communication, most obtrusively as cell phones but increasingly in other wireless devices, is affecting people's lives and relationships to a previously unthought-of extent. Mobile phones, which are fast becoming ubiquitous, affect either directly or indirectly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. They have transformed social practices and changed the way we do business, yet surprisingly little serious academic work has been done on them. This 2002 book, with contributions from the foremost researchers in the field, studies the impact of the mobile phone on contemporary society from a social scientific perspective. Providing a comprehensive overview of mobile phones and social interaction, it comprises an introduction covering the key issues, a series of unique national studies and a final section examining specific issues.
Dr. David C. Ellis presents a critique of existing counter-network joint doctrine through the lens of the higher-order social systems from which violent extremist organization (VEO) networks emerge. He concludes in chapter 1 that the choice in the early 2000s to focus at the operational level on observable network behavior consigned SOF to a forever war. Rather than VEO networks being confined to particular, bounded geographies, they actually exist as elements of a transregional, complex, adaptive social system. Modern network theory demonstrates that in multilayered, interconnected social systems, removing individual nodes (and even whole networks) still creates the opportunity for the social system to reroute around cut-points and restore previous patterns of behavior.
The Shambhala Facebook group created a space for individuals to reimagine their religious teachings and practices without the Tibetan Tantric Buddhist student-teacher relationship, which received much criticism after Shambhala’s spiritual leader, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, had been accused of sexual abuse by some of his students. This article examines how digital space contributes to Shambhala members’ negotiations of religious authorities through their communications and membership on the Shambhala Facebook group, for example, by establishing meditation groups that incorporate Shambhala teachings but not the student-teacher relationship. The collection of posts and comments on the Shambhala Facebook group show how the communication processes utilized by this online social group are an example of relational authority, or what Heidi A. Campbell describes as “a negotiation of reciprocity and agency between different parties.”
In today’s public debate about the young people–smartphone relationship, one of the most recurring ideas is that of addiction. In the ‘excessive use’ of communication technology rhetoric, the so-called detox centres, sprung up in recent years in South Korea and China, are often cited as examples, generally guided by psychiatrists and psychologists. This fear of the internet and smartphone addiction is inversely proportional to age: the younger those involved, the greater the fear and the perceived risks. In this chapter we try to disentangle some of the crucial discourses produced around smartphone addiction, mainly based on a medical framework, by analysing the views shared by young people. This allows us to deconstruct the notion of addiction, explaining why an alternative approach is necessary. More specifically, the chapter discusses these kinds of issues by answering to the following questions: Are young people feeling themselves really locked into a technology trap, with no way out? Are we still looking at this issue in the wrong way, from a partial and limited perspective?
The combination of interpersonal, group, and mass communication forms, as well as the three main communication models - single-line, interactive, and two-stage in the new type of group communication on Facebook in the presence of specific intrastructural elements and the absence of control and regulation mechanisms, leads to various effects. They are much more democratic or more manipulative, more unifying or divisive. The article postulates that this type of group communication, taking advantage of and concentrating on almost all existing digital tools, is not a substitute for living connections but a complimentary, albeit a virtualized form of group connection. Its positioning on the internet and its complementary role do not diminish its importance and place in physical realities. Media digital literacy is presented as especially important for communication in virtual groups. The article is developed within the framework of project KP-06-H25/4 at BSF “Digital media literacy in the context of “knowledge society.”KeywordsVirtual group communicationFacebookDigital media literacy
The hypothesis of this investigation is that the Wagner-Thandorff concept of Total Work of Art applies better to film-art than to opera. After explaining the development of the same during the ninetieth century an attempt is made to apply it to cinema.
This chapter contributes to the current methodological debate on digital, internet-based studies in social research. Based upon an introductive analysis of the research's perspectives, trajectories, and stages that have brought the online social spaces into social research, the chapter focuses on the advantages of combining quanti-quali approaches for approaching online complexity. In particular, the authors offer a deep discussion concerning the value, the methodological, and ethical challenges of netnography and social network analysis (SNA) methods for inquiring online social research by proposing a possible emerging methodological framework guiding further empirical studies.
The “Digital migrant”, as a concept, is used to refer to a migrant who realises his information needs by information digital technologies. This give rise to new trends in international migration processes, among which the global informatisation can be highlighted. This is expressed in the mass representation of migrants in social networks, in virtual network migrant communities’ creation. The digital diaspora being an electronic platform is the basis for migrants’ access to online public content, serves as an information base for the migrants’ digital adaptation and their virtual identity’s formation, which is becoming more and more transnational.
The article proposes an instrumental definition of “digital migrant” concept, reveals factors of digital ethnic national community’s functioning, features of migrants’ social adaptation in digital diaspora, new types of interpersonal communication in digital diaspora, new trends and problems of digital migration, and new types of migrants’ identity and of digital virtual identity
This book is the result of more than 2 years of research that provides complete information with a scientific approach on history, technology, and the implementation of NFT & Metaverse. You will be brought into a virtual world without limits with various dynamics and other interesting things that you may never have imagined before. This book can be a reference for anyone who wants to know more about NFT & Metaverse technology and what secrets are in it.
This article offers a folkloristic analysis of telling personal experience stories in the Estonian Midwives Association’s Family School discussion forum ( www.perekool.ee ), focusing on the Conception, Pregnancy and Childbirth sub-forums. In the article women’s My Stories about their journey to motherhood are under discussion. The central question is how the practice of telling these stories is shaped and affected by the peculiarities of the online community, its communication space, traditions, and daily operation. The article seeks to answer this question in relation to the following topics: accepted and non-accepted topics and experiences; the message of the stories; the structure of the stories; vocabulary competence; and the style of storytelling. From the theoretical perspective, the focus is on participatory storytelling, that is, on the interplay of the specific online environment, narrator, story, and group, as well as the process by which the teller and the audience co-create the stories.
Online communities in the study of political communication are a relatively new research field. Within its framework, independent thematic sections are developing, which in many respects remain fragmented due to the insufficient systematization. The article presents the results of the analysis and description of the research field of online communities in the context of political communication based on 60 English-language sources. This sample included publications on a wide range of issues: from the activity of official accounts and websites of politicians, parties, organizations to the user behavior and political discussions in virtual communities. The authors identified five large thematic groups that consider online communities in different research perspectives: classification of communities, study of their structure and elements, analysis of their strategies and tactics, functions and effects, and life cycles. The article describes the main features and internal structure of the identified thematic groups, considers approaches and methods for solving specific tasks in the study of actors, channels, practices and models of political communication. The authors also consider the technical factors of the formation of communities, differences in methods and units of analysis, types of political communicants. The authors make a conclusion about the sufficient maturity of the research field and its thematic sections, which is combined with the differing popularity of research topics. Online communities represent a special public space which allows researchers to answer questions about the success of political leaders, movements and organizations, the effects of the viral spread of online protests and flash mobs, and the audiences response to significant politicized issues. The authors identify two trends in the development of the corresponding methodology: strengthening practical orientation and increasingly complex techniques based on the machine algorithms for data analysis.
Different from the traditional communities, virtual communities have allowed people more geographically dispersed with diverse needs and interests to interact online. This phenomenon has dragged researchers’ attention from various perspectives: Nevertheless, a major interest was shown towards virtual communities and their relation to wellbeing. The purpose of this research is to carry out a review of literature related to virtual communities and their wellbeing, using data from 29 retained relevant papers from 2015 till January 2021. The methodology was based on key words and similar keywords’ combinations, and content analysis. The key findings showed that the area of research in concern is still at its early stages due to the limited number of papers. However, an emerging trend was revealed with publications’ increase in 2020. Four types of methods were used in the papers. Those include quantitative, qualitative, mixed, and review techniques. Findings on the relationship between virtual communities and wellbeing indicated a rather positive link, with a focus on wellbeing+ and health+ pairwise, more particularly in 2020. The main research fields were healthcare, computer science/technology, social science, and marketing management research. Interdisciplinarity of the research fields was also highlighted. The results revealed several support tools used in different platforms which served to propose relevant orientation for future research in the area of interest.
استخدام الفيسبوك وتأثيره على التحصيل الدراسي للمراهقين
دراسة وصفية ميدانية على عينة من طلبة المدراس الأساسية والثانوية في مدينة عدن
الملخص
الهدف من الدراسة: الكشف عن استخدام شبكات التواصل الاجتماعي(الفيسبوك)وتأثيره على التحصيل الدراسي لدى المراهقين.
فرضيات الدراسة:
1. هناك عدة دوافع نفسية واجتماعية تدفع المراهقين لاستخدام الفيسبوك.
2. يحقق استخدام المراهقين للفيسبوكإشباعات عديدة.
3. يؤثر استخدام المراهقين للفيسبوك على تحصيلهم الدراسي سلبياً.
عينة الدراسة:طُبقتالدراسة على عينة عشوائية من مستخدميموقع الفيسبوكالمراهقين في اليمن قوامها 150 طالباً وطالبة، في العام الدراسي 2015م-2016م، ولقد تم استخدام أداة الاستبيان، وتم تقسيم الاستمارة إلى ثلاثة محاور:1- عادات وأنماط استخدام موقع الفيسبوك لدى المراهقين.
2- الدوافع والحاجات التي تكمن وراء استخدام الفيسبوك.
3- تم الاعتماد فيه على اختبار ويلكوكسن في محاولة لاستكشاف أثر استخدام موقع الفيسبوك على التحصيل الدراسي للمراهقين.
منهج الدراسة: المنهج الوصفي التحليلي الملائم لطبيعة الدراسة.
نتائج الدراسة:إن استخدام المراهقين لموقع الفيسبوك له عدة دوافع نفسية واجتماعية، كما يشبع لديهم عدد من الحاجات المعرفية والنفسية، إلى جانب ذلك فإن استخدام موقع الفيسبوك من قبل المراهقين يؤثّر سلبياً على تحصيلهم الدراسي.
الكلمات الدالة: الفيسبوك، المراهقين، التحصيل الدراسي، طلبة المدارس، دوافع، إشباعات.
The widespread use of the Internet has significantly impacted the language people use to communicate. One of the clearest indications of this phenomenon are chat rooms. Many kind of chat settings are available online for the users, e.g. IRC (Internet Relay Chat), MUDs, MOOs, MIRC, ICQ, Instant Messengers and many websites like www.yahoo.com or www.cnn.com etc.offer their chat rooms. These chat settings allow users to create and join chat channels or rooms which may have an intended topic of discussion or multiple topics being discussed simultaneously. This paper proposes to discuss how conversation in the text-based Pakistani chat rooms differs from every day 'casual' conversation in a number of respects. The data was collected through internet chat logs from Pakistani chat rooms and questionnaires. The study aims to demonstrate the deviations in the 'chat' conducted online from that carried out face-to-face. Here the focus also falls upon the expression of culture or the absence of it in the speech. In this paper deviations from culture as well as social norms are focused upon in the light of the Pakistani socio-cultural norms.
In this study, the researcher uses a combination of the theory of planned behavior and the model of goal-directed behavior to map what effects online product reviews can have on consumer purchase decisions. The researcher hypothesizes that the two adapted theories contain factors that can positively influence consumer purchase decisions. The researcher uses PLS-SEM and open coding to analyze quantitative and qualitative data. The results showed that ten of the eighteen hypotheses tested were proven to be accepted. Consumers in the denim industry tend to perceive online product reviews as a key aspect of their decision-making process. The results of qualitative data analysis also showed similar results, all respondents indicated the importance of the influence of an online product review on their purchasing decisions. The researcher also discusses the implications of these results for both research and practice.
استخدام الفيسبوك وتأثيره على التحصيل الدراسي للمراهقين، دراسة وصفية ميدانية، مجلد (3)، العدد (1)، آذار (مارس) 2019، الجامعة الإسلامية العالمية، ماليزيا.
Social media which is the core of the new information technology fulfils the interactive element of human communication. Social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, come in such a way that we cannot side-line those facilities and live our lives in isolation or without being influenced by their use around us. Moreover, social media has become a determining factor in shaping the religious, social and cultural life of the people. Furthermore, the impacts and implications, challenges and threat of social media have become unavoidable territory in academic discourse. India give the potential way to study the impact of religious tolerance in social media because of its multi-religious, multi-social and multi-cultural background. Moreover, India being a secular country, India promotes the fundamental rights for its citizen to his/her beliefs. At the same time secularism in India means respect for all religions and it does not mean irreligion, in other words the essence of secularism is non-discrimination on the basis of religious differences, which is the core principle of every religious teaching in India. However, the involvement of political parties in religious ideology in the political history of India resulted in more divisive communal tensions. Social media is now used as a tool to propagate various religious ideologies which has brought more religious intolerance and communal riots. This development of religious fundamentalism has created tension among the different religious institutions and communities. Therefore, the challenges of religious tolerance in social media has been identified and along with the nature and extent of social media sites and networks. Furthermore, from the studies of social media analysis, the new media of communication has laid the foundation for social media tools, which can be understood as a continuation and strengthening of the participatory communication. The aim of this participatory approach is to build awareness, consciousness, and facilitate conscientization and mobilization of people for collective action.
Recently, a Facebook group under the name " " (Let's move it move it) brought together Thais around the globe who share a similar goal of moving abroad. One of the most popular discussions was their concern over their English language skills and the "move-in" country of preference. Since this virtual community is an interesting context to explore, a survey questionnaire was distributed online to know their attitudes toward English as a lingua franca (ELF). To know if Thais' attitude on EFL differs based on their "move-in" country of preference, the participants were categorized based on Kachruvian three concentric circles-Inner, Outer, and Expanding as well as Any circle-a combination of two or more circle. Findings show the strongly favorable attitudes of Thais toward the following aspects-the focus on intelligibility, the use of English to communicate with both native and non-native speakers of English, learning materials for a multicultural environment, and exposure to varieties of English. Despite the favorable attitude, the Expanding circle and Any circle groups strongly agreed that Standard British or American English should be taught. All circles disagreed that "any linguistic use that does not conform to Standard English is incorrect." Discussions of results were provided in the study. Index Terms-Attitude, English as a lingua franca, Facebook, Moving abroad, English language
Pedoman Penulisan Skripsi Untuk Mahasiswa Sarjana Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik.
Social scientists are increasingly interested in understanding the characteristics of computer-mediated communication and its effects on people, groups, and organizations. The 1st effect of this influence is the revolution in the metaphors used to describe communication. In this article, these changes are described. Then a framework is outlined for the study of computer-mediated communication. The 3 psychosocial roots of the process by which interaction between users is constructed - networked reality, virtual conversation, and identity construction - are discussed. The implications of these changes for current research in communication studies are also considered, with particular reference to the role of context, the link between cognition and interaction, and the use of interlocutory models as paradigms of communicative interaction. Communication is seen not only as a transfer of information, but also as the activation of a psychosocial relationship, the process by which interlocutors co-construct an area of reality.
This study reports an experiment of the effects of time and communication channel— asynchronous computer conferencing versus face‐to‐face meetings—on the development of interpersonal impressions. Prior research on interpersonal aspects of computer‐mediated communication suggests that the absence of nonverbal cues inhibits interactants’ ability to form impressions of each other and that without these cues communication is generally depersonalized. Past research is criticized for failing to incorporate social cognitive, temporal, and linguistic perspectives on communication via computer technology. A social information processing perspective suggests different rates and patterns of impression development using alternative media. In this experiment, computer conferencing and face‐to‐face groups addressed three tasks over several weeks. Results showed that computer‐mediated groups gradually increased in impression development to a level approaching that of face‐to‐face groups. New perspectives on social cognition in computer‐mediated communication are recommended.
From qualitative research of the last 2 years on 40 couples who met online between 1992 and 1999, I have selected two for further study: a couple in their 40s who split up after courting online for 4 months and meeting once offline at a southwestern resort town and a married couple in their 30s from different countries who managed to communicate, visit, and commit to each other, though each was married to another person at the time they met online. Data was collected from E-mail questionnaires asking about the progress of the relationship and, for the first case, from ongoing letters and a follow-up telephone interview with each party. More information will be sought by phone on the second case; the husband has already agreed to provide more detail. By examining the case histories, some factors of success in developing online relationships may begin to emerge. Processes of communication and situational circumstances are compared between the two couples and to others in the research on online couples.
Robert Putnam (1993) has developed a theory of social capital to explain the effect of decreasing community participation and civic engagement on declining institutional performance. Subsequently, there has been much speculation as to whether emerging virtual communities can counteract this trend. We apply the findings of computer-mediated communication and virtual communities to the networks, norms, and trust of social capital and also examine the possible effects of virtual communities on the privatization of leisure time. We conclude that social capital and civic engagement will increase when virtual communities develop around physically based communities and when these virtual communi- ties foster additional communities of interest. Through a preliminary analysis, we identified potential communities of interest including education, exchange of general community information, and opportunities for government and political participation. We conclude with a discussion of current trends and research needs. The lack of citizen participation in the community has recently come under scrutiny. Although this trend may have started at least a century ago (Wellman and Gulia 1999), it is only lately that the implications of this decline in community participation have been more fully explored. Besides negatively affecting a person's affiliation with his or her own neighborhood, this lack of community has also been cited as a major reason for the decline in civic involvement which helps communities operate (Putnam, 1993). Putnam has developed a theory of social capital that attempts to explain the relationship between citizen engagement in the community and the performance of the government and other social institutions. Although Putnam's theory is by no means unchallenged (Greeley, 1996), it has
Recent popular and theoretical literature emphasizes the significance of communication technology for collaboration and information sharing across organizational boundaries. We hypothesize that due to the collaborative nature of their work and the way they are organized in work groups, technical employees, as compared with administrative employees, will communicate laterally, and will use the telephone and email for this purpose. We studied technical and administrative employees in seven departments of a large telecommunications firm. From logs of communication over two days, we examined vertical and lateral communication inside and outside the chain of command and department, and the use of telephone, email, and voice mail for this communication. Technical employees did have more lateral communication than administrators did, but all lateral communication (not just that of technical employees) tended to be by telephone. Over 50% of employees' communication was extradepartmental; extradepartmental communication, like lateral communication, tended to be by telephone. When employees used asynchronous technology, technical employees used email whereas administrators, especially those at high levels, used voice. Differential boundary-crossing by technical and administrative employees could be explained in part by the flatter structure of the technical work groups. Our results are consistent with Powell (1990), Barley (1994) and others who have argued that the rise of technical work and the horizontal organization of technical workers increases collaboration and nonhierarchical communication. Organizations can encourage communication flows across organizational boundaries by strengthening horizontal structures (for technical workers, especially) and supporting old and new technology use by all employees.
Since the mid-1850s, scholars have debated how technological innovation would affect community. The debate continues as the Internet makes it increasingly possible for people to socialize, shop, work, learn, and participate in leisure activities all from within their home. Will the movement of these previously public activities into the private realm lead to reduced participation in public activities? What will be the fate of community and social relations as a result of the growth of computer-mediated communication? Netville is a suburban Toronto development equipped with a high-speed network as part of its design. The clustering of homes within this area allowed us to study the social networks, civic involvement, Internet use, and attitudes of residents. This article explores the research approach of the Netville project and describes its main sources of data collection: surveys collected using computer-assisted interviewing and ethnographic fieldwork.
Media richness theory argues that performance improves when team members use “richer” media for equivocal tasks. Virtually all research on media richness theory has focused on perceptions: surveys of individuals’beliefs about media rather than investigating actual performance with richer versus leaner media. This experiment studied the effects of media richness on decision making in two-person teams (all male, all female, and mixed gender) using one form of “new media” (computer-mediated communication). Participants took longer to make decisions with computer-mediated communication. Matching richness to task equivocality only resulted in better performance for the all-female teams, likely because females are more sensitive to nonverbal communication and more affected by its absence in computer-mediated communication. For remaining teams, using richer face-to-face communication did not improve performance to a greater extent for more equivocal than less equivocal tasks. Results support media richness theory only for all-female teams.
Abstract In electronic support groups, people use Internet-based electronic text communication to discuss personally challenging,problems,or disorders with others who,share common circumstances. Although their discussions exist only in the electronic medium, these groups can usefully be viewed as discourse communities.,We draw upon,what,is known about two other popular,sources of help—face-to- face self-help groups and self-help books—to,frame the rhetorical challenges,faced by members,of electronic support,groups. We then compare
This article examines how interaction by means of computer-mediated communication (CMC) affects the operation of both status differentials and power relations. The authors attempt to provide a corrective to the dominant assessment, particularly within social psychological analyses, that CMC tends to equalize status, decentralize and democratize decision making, and thus empower and liberate the individual user. This emphasis contrasts with sociological critiques employing the Foucauldian metaphor of the panopticon, claiming that power relations can actually be reinforced in CMC. The authors argue that prevailing conceptualizations of influence and power within social psychology have tended to prefigure the more optimistic account, and outline a theoretical framework in which processes of “panoptic power” in CMC are given a more concrete social psychological foundation.
This study examined the effects of time restriction on social interaction in computer-mediated communication through a meta-analysis of applicable research. Time was defined as whether subjects were restricted or unrestricted in their opportunity to exchange messages. Studies were included that assessed either of two outcome variables: socially oriented (as opposed to task-oriented) communication, and negative / uninhibited communication. Hypotheses were derived from Walther's social information processing perspective. Meta-analytic tests supported the hypotheses on social communication. Although no effects were found on negative / uninhibited communication, a reexamination of original studies suggests caution regarding previous findings.
There are over 300 multi‐user games based on at least 13 different kinds of software on the international computer network known as the Internet. Here I use the term “MUD “ to refer to all the various kinds. All provide worlds for social interaction in a virtual space, worlds in which you can present yourself as a “character,” in which you can be anonymous, in which you can play a role or roles as close or as far away from your “real self as you choose.In the MUDS, the projections of self are engaged in a resolutely postmodern context. Authorship is not only displaced from a solitary voice, it is exploded. The self is not only decentered but multiplied without limit. There is an unparalleled opportunity to play with one's identity and to “try out” new ones. MUDS are a new environment for the construction and reconstruction of self.
Community ties with friends and relatives are a principal means by which people and households get supportive resources. Quantitative and qualitative data from the second East York study are used to evaluate six potential explanations of why different types of ties provide different kinds of supportive resources: tie strength, contact, group processes, kinship,network members' characteristics, and similarities and dissimilarities between network members in such characteristics. Most relatioships provide specialized support. The kinds of support provided are related more to characteristics of the relationship than to characteristics of the network members themselves. Strong ties provide emotional aid, small services, and companionship. Parents and adult children exchange financial aid, emotional aid, large services, and small services. Physically accessible ties provide services. Women provide emotional aid. Friends, neighbors, and siblings make up about half of all supportive relationships. The ensemble o...
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is sometimes heralded for its power to break down social boundaries and to liberate individuals from social influence, group pressure, and status and power differentials that characterize much face-to-face interaction. We review research conducted within the framework of the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) demonstrating that this is not always the case. 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. Although CMC gives us the opportunity to traverse social boundaries, paradoxically, it can also afford these boundaries greater power, especially when they define self- and group identity.
When computer networks link people as well as machines, they become social networks. Such computer-supported social networks (CSSNs) are becoming important bases of virtual communities, computer-supported cooperative work, and telework. Computer-mediated communication such as electronic mail and computerized conferencing is usually text-based and asynchronous. It has limited social presence, and on-line communications are often more uninhibited, creative, and blunt than in-person communication. Nevertheless, CSSNs sustain strong, intermediate, and weak ties that provide information and social support in both specialized and broadly based relationships. CSSNs foster virtual communities that are usually partial and narrowly focused, although some do become encompassing and broadly based. CSSNs accomplish a wide variety of cooperative work, connecting workers within and between organizations who are often physically dispersed. CSSNs also link teleworkers from their homes or remote work centers to main organi...
Internet newsgroups allow individuals to interact with others in a relatively anonymous fashion and thereby provide individuals with concealable stigmatized identities a place to belong not otherwise available. Thus, membership in these groups should become an important part of identity. Study 1 found that members of newsgroups dealing with marginalized–concealable identities modified their newsgroup behavior on the basis of reactions of other members, unlike members of marginalized–conspicuous or mainstream newsgroups. This increase in identity importance from newsgroup participation was shown in both Study 2 (marginalized sexual identities) and Study 3 (marginalized ideological identities) to lead to greater self-acceptance, as well as coming out about the secret identity to family and friends. Results supported the view that Internet groups obey general principles of social group functioning and have real-life consequences for the individual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Classical deindividuation theory has been posited as a useful framework for understanding certain cognitive and behavioral changes commonly seen in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The present study, with a total of 117 undergraduates in 3–7 member same-sex discussion groups, reexamined this theory. Participants in CMC discussion groups were significantly more immersed in the discussion than were face-to-face (FTF) discussants, and tended not to perceive their team members as individuals, providing evidence that the CMC users met the cognitive criteria for a state of deindividuation. Nevertheless, CMC participants did not produce more negative behaviors than did FTF participants, demonstrating that it is insufficient to attribute negative behavior solely to a deindividuated state. These results are discussed in light of classical deindividuation theory and are contrasted with predictions from the more recent social identity/deindividuation model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined 2 facets of the Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT): a strategic/nonstrategic distinction in deception displays and the dynamic quality of these displays. 240 undergraduates, in pairs of half friends and half strangers, conducted interviews during which interviewees either lied or told the truth to interviewers who were induced to be highly, moderately, or not suspicious. Consistent with the IDT, deceivers were more uncertain and vague, more nonimmediate and reticent, showed more negative affect, displayed more arousal and non-composure, and generally made a poorer impression than truth tellers. Their behaviors also connoted greater formality and submissiveness. Also consistent with the IDT, deceivers' kinesic relaxation and pleasantness changed over time, in line with a behavior and image management interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this article, we construct a framework for distinguishing various types of computer-mediated communities. Once that is done, we move on to the analysis of “community networks.” Community networks are systems that electronically connect individuals who also share common geographic space. Considering data gathered from 1994 to 1995, we suggest some problems concerning community networks as a locus of computer-mediated interaction. In addition, we propose research directions that may enhance future sociological inquiries into the social understanding of community networks as well as other computer-mediated associations.
Journal of Democracy 6.1 (1995) 65-78
As featured on National Public Radio, The New York Times, and in other major media, we offer this sold-out, much-discussed Journal of Democracy article by Robert Putnam, "Bowling Alone." You can also find information at DemocracyNet about the Journal of Democracy and its sponsor, the National Endowment for Democracy.
Many students of the new democracies that have emerged over the past decade and a half have emphasized the importance of a strong and active civil society to the consolidation of democracy. Especially with regard to the postcommunist countries, scholars and democratic activists alike have lamented the absence or obliteration of traditions of independent civic engagement and a widespread tendency toward passive reliance on the state. To those concerned with the weakness of civil societies in the developing or postcommunist world, the advanced Western democracies and above all the United States have typically been taken as models to be emulated. There is striking evidence, however, that the vibrancy of American civil society has notably declined over the past several decades.
Ever since the publication of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, the United States has played a central role in systematic studies of the links between democracy and civil society. Although this is in part because trends in American life are often regarded as harbingers of social modernization, it is also because America has traditionally been considered unusually "civic" (a reputation that, as we shall later see, has not been entirely unjustified).
When Tocqueville visited the United States in the 1830s, it was the Americans' propensity for civic association that most impressed him as the key to their unprecedented ability to make democracy work. "Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition," he observed, "are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types -- religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute. . . . Nothing, in my view, deserves more attention than the intellectual and moral associations in America."
Recently, American social scientists of a neo-Tocquevillean bent have unearthed a wide range of empirical evidence that the quality of public life and the performance of social institutions (and not only in America) are indeed powerfully influenced by norms and networks of civic engagement. Researchers in such fields as education, urban poverty, unemployment, the control of crime and drug abuse, and even health have discovered that successful outcomes are more likely in civically engaged communities. Similarly, research on the varying economic attainments of different ethnic groups in the United States has demonstrated the importance of social bonds within each group. These results are consistent with research in a wide range of settings that demonstrates the vital importance of social networks for job placement and many other economic outcomes.
Meanwhile, a seemingly unrelated body of research on the sociology of economic development has also focused attention on the role of social networks. Some of this work is situated in the developing countries, and some of it elucidates the peculiarly successful "network capitalism" of East Asia. Even in less exotic Western economies, however, researchers have discovered highly efficient, highly flexible "industrial districts" based on networks of collaboration among workers and small entrepreneurs. Far from being paleoindustrial anachronisms, these dense interpersonal and interorganizational networks undergird ultramodern industries, from the high tech of Silicon Valley to the high fashion of Benetton.
The norms and networks of civic engagement also powerfully affect the performance of representative government. That, at least, was the central conclusion of my own 20-year, quasi-experimental study of subnational governments in different regions of Italy. Although all these regional governments seemed identical on paper, their levels of effectiveness varied dramatically. Systematic inquiry showed that the quality of governance was determined by longstanding traditions of civic engagement (or its absence). Voter turnout, newspaper readership, membership in choral societies and football clubs -- these were the hallmarks of a successful region. In fact, historical analysis suggested that these networks of organized reciprocity and civic solidarity...
Although the relative paucity of social cues in computer-mediated communication poses problems for the organization of social relations in Cyberspace, recent studies have begun to focus on the ways in which this deficit is managed. This article contributes to this research by addressing the question of how participants distinguish between contexts in online discourse. Data on cues, and on naming practices in particular, in text-based virtual realities called MOOs illustrate the structure of contexts and the dynamics of contextualizing communication and interaction in cyberspace.
For more than twenty years, ethnography has been used to study audience interpretation and social action. With the advent of the Internet, this approach is now being applied to the cultural practices of computer‐mediated communication. This article appraises some strategies for studying a new cultural arena in which aspects of embodiment and identity differ significantly from traditional media reception. Four areas of ethnographic engagement with virtual contexts are examined: the nature and boundaries of virtual community, the social presence of participation, social strategies of entry and membership, and technical utilities of data generation. Ethical issues and future possibilities for research are also discussed.
Computer-mediated communication is the foundation of networking and electronic communities. As the use of new communication technologies continues to proliferate throughout organizations, new modes of interaction between individuals and groups emerge, presenting alternative media choices. How individuals choose between these modes has stimulated much research into theoretical perspectives of media choice within networked and electronic communities. Media Richness Theory is one of these theoretical perspectives. The research presented in this paper investigates the underlying factors of Media Richness Theory, task equivocality and media richness. The results obtained provide evidence to suggest that equivocality may not be unidimensional, and that the richness of media is perceived multidimensionally in terms of the information carrying capacity of media. The findings on dimensionality of equivocality raise doubts as to the basic assumptions of this concept and media richness theory.
The rapid developments in computers and information technology over the past decade has had an impact on psychology, which has moved in this context from local computer applications to network applications that take advantage of the Internet. This article critically reviews various psychological applications in use on the Internet, with special emphasis given to their promises and advantages as well as to their shortcomings and problems. Specifically, 10 types of psychological Internet applications are reviewed: information resources on psychological concepts and issues; self-help guides; psychological testing and assessment; help in deciding to undergo therapy; information about specific psychological services; single-session psychological advice through e-mail or c-bulletin boards; ongoing personal counseling and therapy through e-mail; real-time counseling through chat, web telephony, and videoconferencing; synchronous and asynchronous support groups, discussion groups, and group counseling; and psychological and social research. Following a discussion of ethical and related concerns, a call is voiced for intensive research and international brainstorming.
One of the most intriguing questions studied recently in the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been how communicators establish a `social presence' in the absence of non-verbal cues which are relied upon heavily in face to face communication. One important area of social presence is the understanding of the gender of each of the participants in a conversation. Herring has speculated that, because of differential language cues, men and women can be identified in text-based messages (Herring, S.C. [1993]. Gender and democracy in computer-mediated communication. Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line], 3(2). Available: http://www.cios.org/getfile/Herring_v3n293). The present study investigated the ability of readers of CMC messages to identify the gender of the author when messages were selected for language characteristics identified in previous studies (Savicki, V., Kelley, M. & Lingenfelter, D. [1996]. Gender, group composition and task type in small task groups using computer mediated-communication. Computers in Human Behavior, 12, 549–565.) as being associated with both group development and gender. Twenty messages from previous research were sorted into gender groups and into high and low communication style categories. Participants were asked their perception of the probable gender of the message author and their certainty of that judgment. Accuracy and certainty of judgments of gender showed significant differences between gender-communication style conditions. However, overall accuracy and certainty of judgments were not related. Neither was there a difference in accuracy or certainty of judgments between male and female judges. Finally, judges' accuracy followed gender stereotypes for messages sent by men, but were opposed to the stereotype for messages sent by women.
The importance of computer-mediated communication (CMC) for comparing the group that communicates face-to-face (FtF) in cyberspace is discussed. In online relationship, network convergence would imply not only that participants were introduced one another's online contacts, but also to people in their real-life social network. The growth of CMC poses new challenges for understanding of social relationships both in cyberspace and in general. The goal of such understanding is to provide an empirical reference point for evaluating conflicting visions of social life in cyberspace by exploring the prevalence and development of personal relationships.
The recent implementation of a community electronic network is examined. The network is intended to help the rural community of Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota keep up with global technological progress. The present study is a baseline examination of social, political, and technological conditions in the community. Changes in social capital are hypothesized as a result of the wide-area network. Focus groups and survey research are used to assess inequalities in knowledge, access, and use of technologies as they relate to underlying inequalities in socioeconomic status and social capital. Results suggest that initial adoption of technological advances occurs among those with greater resources. Those with resources of social, but not necessarily economic, capital follow suit once an opportunity arises. Among the implications of the study's findings is that citizens lacking such resources need to be actively recruited into using the new technology as a means to bolster their existing resources.
The study of the Internet challenges the anthropologist on many fronts. It demands a robust theoretical engagement with the technologies and semiotics of digital information and their relation to material and social realities. It calls for a redefinition of many core methodological touchstones such as "fieldwork" and "participant observation." Finally, the study of the Internet requires the analyst to engage self-reflexively in the study of and accountability to politics "close to home" and entailing relations of "studying up." While anthropological notions of "the field" and "culture" are being destabilized at the core of the discipline, ethnographic approaches to new domains of media, science, and technology exhibit a resilient anthropological attention to embodied contexts of practice and everyday experience. This brief statement addresses the study of the Internet from the point of view of an anthropologist engaged with the field.
Although the `liberatory' approach to new communications technologies has been, for the most part, called into question by researchers in the humanities and social sciences, who now adopt a more critical relationship with technology, it continues to enjoy explanatory power in the popular press and in software design practices and cultures. According to the liberatory approach, freedom from sexism and other forms of oppression is brought about by something as simple and profound as a change in online handle - a practice known as `gender swapping' (Bruckman, 1993). Yet, as some language theorists have shown (e.g. Herring, 1996), communication in cyberspace also reinforces existing social hierarchies, including gender differences found in face-to-face contexts. Unlike traditional, human-centered studies of computermediated communication and gender, this article treats a series of talking software programs as important objects for studying how software design is also implicated in the construction of gender differences. In addition to the programs' databases of gendered utterances and internal models of communicative interaction, these differences are also reinforced and negotiated en route, in the ongoing process of talking about why and how a software program is gendered.
Significant changes in the nature of social life are being brought about by computer, information, and biological technologies, to the extent that-some argue-a new cultural order, ''cyberculture,'' is coming into being. This paper presents an overview of the types of anthropological analyses that are being conducted in the area of new technologies and suggests additional steps for the articulation of an anthropology of cyberculture. it builds upon science, technology, and society studies in various fields and on critical studies of modernity. The implications of technoscience for both anthropological theory and ethnographic research are explored.
This paper examines the contribution of computer-assisted communication and computer networks to the formation and functioning of social movements and collective behavior. Although the resources for data in this area are ideally suited to investigate some of the current issues and debates within the field of social movement scholarship, very little research has been directed toward understanding the processes of activist computer use and the results for social movements. I outline key characteristics of computer-mediated communication that have ramifications for social movements and identify potentially fruitful areas for research using the activist computer forum. Keywords: computing, technology, networks, social movements, activism.
Illicit computer intruders, or hackers, are often thought of as pathologi- cal individuals rather than as members of a community. However, hack- ers exist within social groups that provide expertise, support, training, journals and conferences. This article outlines this community to estab- lish the nature of hacking within 'information societies'. To delineate a 'sociology of hackers', an introduction is provided to the nature of com- puter-mediated communication and the act of computer intrusion, the hack. Following this the hacking community is explored in three sections. First, a profile of the number of hackers and hacks is provided by explor- ing available demographics. Second, an outline of its culture is provided through a discussion of six different aspects of the hacking community. The six aspects are technology, secrecy, anonymity, membership fluidity, male dominance and motivations. Third, an exploration of the commu- nity's construction of a boundary, albeit fluid, between itself and its other, the computer security industry, is provided. This boundary is con- structed through metaphors whose central role is to establish the ethical nature of hacking. Finally, a conclusion that rejects any pathologisation of hackers is offered.
This paper synthesizes the findings of published experimental studies (n = 18) that compared face-to-face (FTF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC). The literature is pulled together by way of ten propositions, each pre sented with the supporting evidence. In general, discussions on CMC take longer, produce more ideas, and have greater equality of participation. There is reduced normative pressure and poorer comprehension of the discussion in CMC. Findings regarding quality of performance, uninhibited behavior, choice shift, attitude change, and evaluation of communication partner are not defini tive. Factors limiting the internal and external validity of these studies are also discussed.
Recent studies on social and organizational processes involved in computer-mediated communication (CMC) are discussed. A technological deterministic approach, which views CMC as inherently apt to support democracy in organizations, is challenged. Claims about equal access, overcoming socialbarriers, openness and de-individuation, are critically examined with reference to up-to-date literature. Our point, consistent with sociotechnical theory, is that CMC, especially in E-mail use, can alter rhythms and patterns of social interactions in ways both powerful and pervasive, neither positive nor negative in themselves, but shaped by local contexts of use. Stress on social identity processes involved in CMC is suggested as relevant to further research.
Laboratory groups attempted to reach consensus on a simulated business problem. Members of 4-person groups received information on whether three proposed systems met each of IO desired criteria. Cast as a hidden profile problem, the information was distributed unevenly within the group. Groups communicated using one ofthreeformats:face-to-face, teleconference, or electronic chat. As predicted, cognitive workload was significantly higher andfewer correct decisions were obtained in the electronic chat condition versus the other twoformats. The electronic chat medium limited participants' ability to coordinate and verify information. Electronic chat should be combined with collaboration technology or groupware that facilitates information storage, organization, and processing.
This article is a comparison of the turn-taking systems in computer-mediated communication (CMC) and oral conversation. Previous research on CMC has relied on printouts of conversations as data, whereas we used videotaped recordings of each participant's computer screen in order to capture the interactional process of producing the conversation. We used a transcription system developed specifically for this type of analysis that enabled us to collate the actions and experiences of each participant onto one document. Because of this, we were able to see what information each participant had at the time they made the decision to write, post, edit, or erase a message. This article is based on 4 quasi-synchronous CMC (QS-CMC) conversations between students in a college classroom. We discovered that the turn-taking system of QS-CMC is substantially different from the turn-taking system of oral conversation (Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson, 1974), and we describe some of the implications of this difference for the structure of interaction in QS-CMC.
Electronic communication media usually differ from nonelectronic communication media on a variety of communication features. However, research designs typically do not allow for the most revealing examination of communication feature effects. This paper proposes a methodological framework for conceptualizing and operationalizing electronic communication research, and presents an illustrative study based on the framework. The methodological framework distinguishes among communication media, channels, and features, and emphasizes the importance for theory and research of understanding the effects of communication features both within and across communication media. To demonstrate this framework, subjects in the study participated in a sealed-bid negotiation. Communication of the bids was either paper-and-pencil or computer-mediated. The results revealed a significant main effect for medium (computer-mediated communication yielded lower individual scores), significant main effects for features (documentation and anonymity both yielded lower individual scores), and a significant interaction between a feature (documentation) and medium. For organizations, these results suggest that the accepted effects of a medium should be reexamined in light of the medium's component features; design and adoption decisions should be made with an understanding of the existence of interactions between features and media.
Introductory exploration of two usenet newsgroups focused on political discussions. The goal is to answer questions regarding issues such as who is participating in these online discussions and whether the online groups resemble more traditional discussion networks. (Author)
Despite the rapid development of the Internet over the past decade and the associated media hyperbole about cyberspace relationships, there is a paucity of systematic research examining the prevalence, type and development of personal relationships in on-line settings. This research examines relational topography in real-time text-based virtual environments known as MOOs (Multi-User Dimensions, Object Oriented). Current users of MOOs (235) completed a survey on MOO relationships, with 155 also completing a survey on offline relationships. Almost all survey respondents (93.6%) had formed ongoing personal relationships on MOOs. The most commonly reported types of relationships were close friendships, friendships and romances. The majority of relationships formed (83.6%) was with members of the opposite sex. Levels of relational development (interdependence, depth, breadth, code change, commitment, predictability/understanding, network convergence) were typically moderate to high. Most relationships had migrated to other virtual environments, and a third had resulted in face-to-face meetings. On average, MOO relationships were found to be more developed than newsgroup relationships, but less developed than off-line relationships. It was concluded that MOOs provide an inherently social and powerful context for the formation of personal relationships, many of which will transfer to other settings.
Usenet is an international communications system composed of thousands of topically named discussion groups, called newsgroups, which enable anyone with an Internet connection and the proper software to read messages, post new messages, or reply to existing ones. Remarkable for its culture of ''anything-goes'' free speech, Usenet tradition recognizes only one kind of legitimate restriction on content: that which is abusive to the Net's ability to function as an effective discussion system. This article shows that this consensus stems from a long and often painful struggle, as Usenet's designers, administrators, and users attempted to comprehend, define, and govern the communication system they had created. The result is a forum that is not quite as free as Usenet's defenders like to imagine, and one given to excesses that seem destined to attract the attention of government censors.
Social and political groups can facilitate the transmission of information and the formation of political attitudes. We employ the logic of group formation to examine electronic communities. Do electronic groups form cohesive social groups exhibiting the characteristics of traditional physical groups such as churches and peers? We conduct a content analysis of 5,611 USENET messages. The messages are analyzed for the following behaviors: political content, group maintenance, and recruitment. We find that most political USENET groups demonstrate the behavioral characteristics one would be expect of a socially cohesive group. We also find that liberal or left-wing political groups are less active and more poorly organized.
The aim is to demonstrate how cyber-ethnography has become the most appropriate tool in reaching a definition of the virtual community. It is argued through the cyber-ethnographic examination of two virtual communities that, interpretative research methods traditionally associated with the social sciences enforce preconceived ideas and normative frameworks on to the virtual community. Cyber-ethnography allows a reflexive methodology to emerge, thus enabling the participants of virtual communities to define their own reality and perimeters. It is propounded that there are two elements to the virtual community. First, it is emphasized that a hybrid space is rapidly emerging that is neither absolutely physical or virtual. Through its convergence with the physical the virtual community's existence is apparent, though not unconditionally virtual. Secondly, the participants are depicted as having a transitory, unconditional relationship with the virtual community. That is; they will only participate for short periods when they require use of the resources that the virtual community has to offer.
Given the Internet's origins in the Department of Defense's research efforts, it may seem strange that the gay community has taken to the Internet as if the two had originally been designed for each other. But this partnership is not as odd as it first seems. In part, this is because there is an overrepresentation of lesbians and gay men in the computer industry. Most informants interviewed hypothesized that this results from the proximity of Silicon Valley to San Francisco's liberal attitudes toward homosexuality. Some also suggested that social introversion in adolescence tends to draw teens to computers and might have promoted this association. The Internet has functioned as a way for the gay minority to become a majority in a "virtual community" available to anyone, no matter how far away—a process accelerated by the freedom provided by gay Usenet newsgroups, especially net.motss in the early years. Finally, gay personals-ad contacts can take place on the Internet freed from many of the problems of disproportionate romantic supply and demand that plague many corresponding Internet sites for heterosexuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
As a comment on speculations that new electronic technologies will revolutionize community, this article points to three lessons drawn from historical studies on earlier technologies such as the telephone: (1) Effects are modest; (2) effects differ from one specific technology to another; and (3) the effects of any one technology can be contradictory.