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Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) refers to any communication that occurs through electronic devices, including computers, phones, and other technologies. Research on CMC focuses on the social effects of different communication technologies and how people use them to interact, form relationships, and collaborate. CMC takes various forms like email, instant messaging, social media, and can both connect people across distances and influence relationship formation through higher levels of self-disclosure compared to face-to-face interaction. Studies also examine how aspects of different communication media like synchronicity and anonymity impact communication.

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Rey-an A. Moreno
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191 views

Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) refers to any communication that occurs through electronic devices, including computers, phones, and other technologies. Research on CMC focuses on the social effects of different communication technologies and how people use them to interact, form relationships, and collaborate. CMC takes various forms like email, instant messaging, social media, and can both connect people across distances and influence relationship formation through higher levels of self-disclosure compared to face-to-face interaction. Studies also examine how aspects of different communication media like synchronicity and anonymity impact communication.

Uploaded by

Rey-an A. Moreno
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any communication that occurs

through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term
has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated
formats (e.g., instant messaging, email, chat rooms), it has also been applied to other
forms of text-based interaction such as text messaging. Research on CMC focuses largely
on the social effects of different computer-supported communication technologies. Many
recent studies involve Internet-based social networking supported by social software.
SCOPE

Many take a sociopsychological approach to CMC by examining how humans use


"computers" (or digital media) to manage interpersonal interaction, form impressions
and form and maintain relationships. These studies have often focused on the
differences between online and offline interactions, though contemporary research is
moving towards the view that CMC should be studied as embedded in everyday
life. Another branch of CMC research examines the use of paralinguistic features
such as emoticons, pragmatic rules such as turn-taking and the sequential
analysis and organization of talk, and the various sociolects,styles, registers or sets
of terminology specific to these environments. The study of language in these
contexts is typically based on text-based forms of CMC, and is sometimes referred to
as "computer-mediated discourse analysis".
The way humans communicate in professional, social, and educational settings
varies widely, depending upon not only the environment but also the method of
communication in which the communication occurs, which in this case is through
computers or other information and communication technologies. The study of
communication to achieve collaborationcommon work productsis
termed computer-supported collaboration and includes only some of the concerns of
other forms of CMC research.
Popular forms of CMC include e-mail, video, audio or text chat (text conferencing
including "instant messaging"), bulletin boards, list-servs and MMOs. These settings
are changing rapidly with the development of new technologies. Weblogs (blogs)
have also become popular, and the exchange of RSS data has better enabled users
to each "become their own publisher".

CHARACTERISTICS

Communication occurring within a computer-mediated format has an effect on many different

aspects of an interaction. Some of these that have received attention in the scholarly literature
include impression formation, deception, group dynamics, disclosure reciprocity, disinhibition and
especially relationship formation.
CMC is examined and compared to other communication media through a number of aspects
thought to be universal to all forms of communication, including (but not limited
to) synchronicity, persistence or "recordability", and anonymity. The association of these aspects
with different forms of communication varies widely.

For example, instant messaging is intrinsically synchronous but not persistent, since one loses all
the content when one closes the dialog box unless one has a message log set up or has
manually copy-pasted the conversation.

E-mail and message boards, on the other hand, are low in synchronicity since response time
varies, but high in persistence since messages sent and received are saved. Properties that
separate CMC from other media also include transience, its multimodal nature, and its relative
lack of governing codes of conduct.

CMC is able to overcome physical and social limitations of other forms of communication and
therefore allow the interaction of people who are not physically sharing the same space.
The medium in which people choose to communicate influences the extent to which people
disclose personal information. CMC is marked with higher levels of self-disclosure in
conversation as opposed to face-to-face interactions. Self-disclosure is any verbal
communication of personally relevant information, thought, and feeling which establishes and
maintains interpersonal relationships. This is due in part to visual anonymity and the absence of
nonverbal cues which reduce concern for losing positive Face.

According to Walthers (1996) Hyperpersonal communication Model, computer-mediated


communication is valuable on providing a better communication and better first impressions.
Moreover, Ramirez and Zhang (2007) indicate that computer-mediated communication allows
more closeness and attraction between two individuals than a face-to-face communication.

Anonymity and in part privacy and security depends more on the context and particular program
being used or web page being visited. However, most researchers in the field acknowledge the
importance of considering the psychological and social implications of these factors alongside
the technical "limitations".

CMC is widely discussed in language learning because CMC provides opportunities for language
learners to practice their language. For example, Warschauer conducted several case studies on
using email or discussion boards in different language classes. Warschauer claimed that
information and communications technology bridge the historic divide between speech and
writing. Thus, considerable concern has arisen over the reading and writing research in L2 due
to the booming of the Internet.

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