Human Communication Technology

Philip J. Salem

• Publisher: Sentia Publishing
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780996654845
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Bob Gratz and I began writing about technology in the late 1970s. Later, he would go onto be an active administrator at Texas State University, serving as a chair, dean, academic vicepresident, and assistant to the president. I designed one of the first graduate classes about humancommunication technology in the early 1980s, and I have continued to research and write about afascinating area.

This book is about how humans communicate, and it examines the latest research aboutenduring issues related to human communication technology. These issues range from the natureof human information processing to humans' sense of reality. At the center of all these issues ishow humans construct communication, and, in so doing, construct themselves, alone andtogether, and construct the world they inhabit.

HUMAN

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Philip J. Salem

Copyright @ 2016 by Philip J. Salem

Sentia Publishing Company has the exclusive rights to reproduce this work, to prepare derivative works from this work, to publicly distribute this work, to publicly perform this work, and to publicly display this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN: 978-0-9966548-4-5

Printed in the United States of America in Austin, Texas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction vi

References ix

Chapter One: Information 1

Differences and Variety 1

Information Processing 4

Reducing Uncertainty 8

Human Information Processing 9

Attention 14

Conclusion 16

References 17

Chapter Two: Human Communication 20

Communication and Human Information Processing 21

Attributes of Human Communication 27

Not Communication 27

Developing Communication 28

Communication Practices 34

References 38

Chapter Three: Technology 41

Types of Information and Human Communication Technologies 42

Face-­‐to-­‐Face Communication (FtF) 42

Telephone (TEL) 44

Writing and Print (WP) 45

Electronic Mail (EML) 46

Private Electronic Communication (PEC) 47

Public Electronic Communication (BEC) 48

Contemporary Information Technologies 50

Technology Effects 53

Explaining the Effects 56

References 57

Chapter Four: The Adoption of Technology 62

The Evolution of Innovations 62

Genes 63

Memes and Innovations 64

The Innovation Adoption Process 66

Stages of Adoption 66

Framing Innovations 69

Patterns of Adoption 71

Communication and Adoption 73

Communication and Making Sense of an Innovation 74

Communication Networks and Adoption 76

Conclusion 77

References 78

Constructing and Negotiating Self 82

The Nature of Self 82

Sustaining Self 84

Technology and Self 91

Presenting and Negotiating Self Online 91

When Private Becomes Public 94

Complex Self 97

Conclusion 102

References 103

Chapter Six: Making Messages 108

Making Competent Messages 110

Information and Knowledge 111

An Ability to Perform Behaviors 119

Bad Digital Messages 122

Explaining Digital Messages 126

References 129

Chapter Seven: Communication Technology Networks 136

Relationships 137

Communication Networks 139

Communication Technology and Networks 144

How Have Our Personal Networks Changed? 150

References 152

Chapter Eight: Technology and Close Relationships 155

Communicating In Close Relationships 159

Disclosure and Validation 159

Disclosing and Finding Romantic Partners 163

Loneliness and Technology 166

Explaining the Relationships Between HCT and Close Relationships 171

References 174

Chapter Nine: Technology & Communication Resources 180

Understanding Communication Resources 181

Seven Resources 184

Online Communication Resources and Support 188

The Potential for Resources 191

References 192

Chapter Ten: Civic Engagement 196

Civic Engagement Perceptions 198

Commitment 198

Trust 200

Civic Engagement Activities 203

Community 207

The Pattern 213

References 214

Chapter 11: Reality and Technology 217

The Reality of Technology 219

The Technology of Reality 221

Whatever Happened to the News? 223

Virtual Humans 227

Conclusion 230

References 231

INTRODUCTION

Bob Gratz and I began writing about technology in the late 1970s. Later, he would go on to be an active administrator at Texas State University, serving as a chair, dean, academic vice- president, and assistant to the president. I designed one of the first graduate classes about human communication technology in the early 1980s, and I have continued to research and write about a fascinating area.

When Bob and I first started writing about technology, we wrote about television, but we soon turned out attention to computer use. We both recognized the “concerns” people had about these technologies were similar, and I found some literature tracing current worries back to headlines and speeches about the telegraph. Lest we forget, many use “bookworm” as a derisive term with synonyms such as nerd, dork, geek, and weenie. We were a bit surprised at the strength of such dystopian views of nearly all technologies even though we knew “Luddites,” a term to describe people opposed to technology, had its roots referring to those who led riots against using the new cotton machinery of the early 1800s.

Our motives were to present a more balanced view about new technologies but also to analyze how human communication might be changing in light of recent innovations, some of which were directed at changing how humans communicated. Communication Studies is one of the “newer” academic disciplines, and, even today, people often confuse Communication Studies r...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Introduction
• CHAPTER ONE: INFORMATION
• CHAPTER TWO: HUMAN COMMUNICATION
• CHAPTER THREE: TECHNOLOGY
• CHAPTER FOUR: THE ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY
• CHAPTER FIVE: THE TECHNOLOGY OF SELF
• CHAPTER SIX: MAKING MESSAGES
• CHAPTER SEVEN: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY NETWORKS
• CHAPTER EIGHT: TECHNOLOGY AND CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS
• CHAPTER NINE: TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATION RESOURCES
• CHAPTER TEN: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
• CHAPTER ELEVEN: REALITY AND TECHNOLOGY