Online Communication

Linking Technology, Identity, & Culture

Andrew F. Wood, Matthew J. Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781135616014
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

Online Communication provides an introduction to both the technologies of the Internet Age and their social implications. This innovative and timely textbook brings together current work in communication, political science, philosophy, popular culture, history, economics, and the humanities to present an examination of the theoretical and critical issues in the study of computer-mediated communication. Continuing the model of the best-selling first edition, authors Andrew F. Wood and Matthew J. Smith introduce computer-mediated communication (CMC) as a subject of academic research as well as a lens through which to examine contemporary trends in society. This second edition of Online Communication covers online identity, mediated relationships, virtual communities, electronic commerce, the digital divide, spaces of resistance, and other topics related to CMC. The text also examines how the Internet has affected contemporary culture and presents the critiques being made to those changes. Special features of the text include:
*Hyperlinks--presenting greater detail on topics from the chapter
*Ethical Ethical Inquiry--posing questions on the nature of human communication and conduct online
*Online Communication and the Law--examining the legal ramifications of CMC issues Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers interested in the field of computer-mediated communication, as well as those studying issues of technology and culture, will find Online Communication to be an insightful resource for studying the role of technology and mediated communication in today's society.

PART I

THE INTERNET AS SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY

The growing impact that the Internet has on our lives is increasingly difficult to ignore. Even those who might claim to be “computer illiterate” are likely to encounter the direct or indirect effects that the Internet has had on the society in which we live. For example, pick up The Wall Street Journal and you are likely to see that the stock market has risen or fallen in correspondence with the successes and failures of Internet-based companies. Begin a term project by doing some research, and you are likely to find that the campus library has all but abandoned card catalogs in favor of a quicker, more space-efficient electronic system, one that is probably accessible from your dorm room or home. Turn to your classmates and ask if they or someone they know has ever made friends or had a date with someone they met online, and they will probably cite an acquaintance or two. Without having to look much farther than the world around you, you are likely to find the ever-increasing influence of the Internet in the realms of economics, academics, and personal relationships, among many others.

Despite its pervasiveness in our lives, however, how well do you really understand the Internet? Here, we are not asking about your knowledge of the programming languages and hardware configurations that make the Internet function. Our colleagues in computer science best explain those technical matters. Rather, we are asking about your understanding of the human uses (and misuses) of that technology in social terms. This first part of the book provides some insights for addressing this question. In the next two chapters, you will read about the social character of the Internet, that is, how people have conceptualized and used the various Internet technologies in accord with or in consideration of one another. The communicative, historical, and linguistic concepts that we introduce in this part of the book form a foundation for the discussions we build on in subsequent chapters. Furthermore, they testify to the growing breadth and depth of the technology’s effects on human thought and action.

CHAPTER 1

USING TECHNOLOGY TO COMMUNICATE IN NEW WAYS

The Internet is like a giant jellyfish. You can’t step on it. You can’t go around it. You’ve got to get through it.

—John Evans

At the heart of this book rests a basic assumption: Communicating in computer-mediated contexts is somehow different than any other form of communication. Software engineer Ellen Ullman (1996) describes encounters in which these differences have been made apparent to her. She regularly communicates with her fellow computer programmers and her supervisors through her computer. Over the years, she has reportedly acclimated to the shortness and arrogance that many of her colleagues seem to convey in their correspondence. Such behavior is, of course, not restricted to online interaction. However, what has struck Ullman more are the contrasts she has noted between mediated and face-to-face interactions with her coworkers. Two examples illustrate Ullman’s keen perceptions.

On one occasion, Ullman (1996) found herself up one night and decided to send a message to a colleague. He happened to be awake as well and, after reading her message, wrote back to inquire why she was up so late. The two exchanged cordial messages that night, yet the next day when they attended a corporate meeting together, Ullman was unsure about how to approach him. They had, after all, been friendly with one another just hours before, yet in the office setting, she questioned, “In what way am I permitted to know him? And which set of us is the more real: the sleepless ones online, or these bodies in the daylight?” (p. 6).

On another occasion, Ullman (1996) had struck up a romantic relationship with a fellow programmer. For quite a while, the two communicated exclusively through exchanges of electronic mail (e-mail). He would send her a message, she would reply, and so forth. This continued with increasing frequency, until they were writing to one another almost every waking hour. Eventually, the couple decided to meet for dinner, and when they did, Ullman noticed something unusual about their conversation. “One talks, stops; then the other replies, stops. An hour later, we are still in this rhythm. With a shock, I realize that we have finally gone out to dinner only to exchange e-mail” (p. 17).

The questions and patterns that Ullman developed as a practitioner of computer-mediated communication (CMC) did not fully emerge until she saw the assumptions of one form of interaction contrasted with another. What she had learned to accept as norms in the world of computer mediation seemed odd and uncomfortable to her in real life. Some people report a similar feeling of dissonance when working in just the opposite manner, coming from the familiar practices of face-to-face interaction to the subtle distinctions associated with CMC. Either way, people like Ullman, and perhaps you, are aware that some things about the online experience are different.

In this chapter, we examine CMC to understand the experience of online interaction. Naturally, this requires an overview of just what CMC is and how it fits within the field of communication studies and popular culture. Following this discussion, we examine CMC as a blurring between immediate and mediated communication. As shown here, this process of blurring holds important implications for our conceptions of self and society. The question remains, however: How do we communicate differently in this medium than through other traditional modes of interaction? Answering that, we explore popular components of online communication, including e-mail, bulletin board systems (BBSs), internet relay chat (IRC), multiuser domains (MUDs), and the World Wide Web (WWW). The third major section of this chapter introduces the study of cyberspace as a metaphoric means to understanding CMC. To that end, we explore the meaning of the word cyberspace and the location of the cyberspace experience before extending our study to the alternative metaphors for our online interactions. We conclude with a reminder that dominant spatial metaphors for CMC may limit our understanding of this environment.

WHAT IS CMC?

In this section, we begin to explore computer-mediated communication (CMC) as an integration of computer technology with our everyday lives. The field of CMC studies how human behaviors are maintained or altered by exchange of information through machines. How do we study this process? By pulling on the insights of a variety of researchers and commentators. In communication studies, most scholars avoid setting up disciplinary boundaries so rigid that we miss out on fascinating human phenomena simply because they don’t “fit” artificial boundaries. We do not want to neglect the contributions that allied fields like psychology, sociology, and composition studies (to name but a few) have to offer. Even within an area of research as specific as CMC, we must not lose sight of how this mode of human interaction affects so many parts of our lives as to be almost ever present. Nonetheless, it is all too easy for us to blur the distinction between our chosen focus of study and the larger forces of technology shaping our lives. Doing so, we risk making this text an unmanageable mess. For the sake of simplicity, therefore, we propose that our study is limited to the analysis of those technologies that serve more or less directly to mediate intentional human communication.

Here’s an example: Although nuclear power plants—each with many computer processors and terminals—remain a significant component of the U.S. energy system, these sites would not play a significant role in the study of CMC. We talk about nuclear power plants—their potentials and their threats—but we seldom talk through them. The presence of computer technology, therefore, does not constitute the only required component for our analysis. We choose, instead, to focus on those technologies that help individuals and groups relate to one another in some fashion, for good or for ill.

As you might guess, the primary focus of our work is the Internet—that network of networks. Although we learn more about the Internet later in this chapter, it is important at this point to know a key distinction we make between the chips and channels that comprise this medium. Although the architecture of computer devices that aid the transmission of digitized information around the world is itself a fascinating topic, such an inquiry is beyond the scope of this book. Rather, we have chosen to focus on the channels of communication made possible by the Internet, on what has been called the “space within [the] lines” where human beings exert individual will, conduct business, and form communities. In this way, the emergence of telephony in the 19th century is quite analogous to our study of contemporary computer technologies. The principle of mediated discourse—whether mainly by way of telephone or through the more sophisticated technologies of today’s desktop computers—inspires careful examination because of its potential to alter human interaction without the need for physical presence.

WHY STUDY CMC?

Certainly the student of communication can find plenty of other phenomena to explore, such as small-group interaction, corporate culture building, and health care discourse. However, we focus on CMC because of its impact on all of those contexts. Many student “study teams” find online chat rooms to be more convenient than face-to-face interaction. Many corporate offices streamline internal communication with e-mail. Many patients use the Web to inform themselves about their medical options. In each case, the introduction of online media changes day-to-day life and alters, to some degree, how we relate to each other.

We approach these topics with a desire to understand the blurring of technology with our everyday lives. We study the sophisticated ways in which computer technology—the microchips that process information and execute commands and the software that allows human beings to employ this technology—is integrated into our physical environments, interpersonal relationships, and even senses of personal identity. Although technology has always played a role in social life, the power of computer technology offers a new dimension to this theme. Where computing devices were once rare, expensive, and so complicated as to require expert attention at all times, the computers we use are more subtly embedded in our lives. Our use of telephones, cars, microwave ovens, and even clothing increasingly requires some use of computer technology. Thus, when we study CMC, we don’t just explore the use of technology in communication; we study the blurring of technology with our everyday lives.

Thus far, we have identified CMC as the study of how human behaviors are maintained or altered through exchange of information through machines, and we have positioned CMC research within the realm of communication studies. Our next step is to examine a key component of communicating online, the distinction between immediacy and mediation. As we discover, computer-mediated interaction increasingly appears to blur any distinction between these terms.

IMMEDIACY VERSUS MEDIATION

Think back to Ullman’s (1996) narratives. She felt tension regarding a colleague with whom she had communicated all night through the Internet. She felt connected, close to her coworker. But when they met the next day, neither had a framework to orient their face-to-face relationship with their online one. One reason to explain this conundrum is the blurring of immediate and mediated communication they experienced. In this section, we explore these terms more closely before discussing their impact on society, self, and reality.

Immediate communication refers to a process where messages are transmitted more or less directly, without the aid of exterior technology. Mediated communication separates the communicators through some technology—from the simplest types like paper to the most sophisticated kind of computer devices like a wireless Web unit. When you stop by your professor’s office to ask a question and he or she answers you, you both are engaging in immediate communication. When you send your professor an e-mail and he or she responds, even within a few seconds, you both are experiencing mediated communication. After all, regardless of how quickly the interaction takes place, this communication could not occur without the mediation of some technology. The proliferation of mediating technologies raises the question, What kind of academic community emerges if most of your interactions with colleagues and professors are mediated in some way? On a larger level, what kind of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Brief Contents
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Part I: The Internet as Social Technology
• Part II: The Self Among Others
• Part III: Internet Culture and Critique
• Appendix A. Introduction to Hypertext Markup Language
• Appendix B. Researching the Internet Experience
• Glossary
• Author Index
• Subject Index