While reading Chapter 11 I first agreed with Griffin about how he and his friends laughed at the idea of interpersonal communication through CMC, communication-mediated communication. I have always laughed at people who say they found true love in a chat room. How can you know someone without even seeing them? I don't think that CMC provides enough information about the other persons true feelings or whether they really mean what they are saying. The media richness theory says that communication with someone face to face is better because of verbal and nonverbal cues that are exchanged while face to face. I know from personal experience that more of my familys arguments have happened over a miscommunication over emails than anything else. I prefer to communicate face to face especially when discussing something important.
integrating theory--dialogue
15 years ago
6 comments:
I definately agree that miscommunication can occur when exchanging information through text or CMC. Howeever, I do not think it is all bad. Yes it does lack many of the verbal and nonverbal cues that we rely on to communication well with eachother, but it also gives a different forum to be more bold at times. I think that if we use both CMC and face to face interaction, we will actually have a more well-rounded relational growth than just solely relying on one or the other. CMC can also be used as a tool to stay connected with many people nonsimultaneously. It may be hard to keep in contact with all of your friends, being that you have very different schedules. Online communication tools such as facebook, myspace and even basic email, have allowed me to keep an ongoing interaction or open conversation with friends that live far away or are very busy. Walther calls this kind of communication, "asynchronous" defining it as, "gives partners the opportunity to interact relationally without having to attend to each other at the same time" (147).
I had to comment on your post. I have the same feelings when it comes to finding true love using mediated communication. I do however believe that you can get to know someone through this type of communication but how do you know that what is being said is true. Face-to-face communication with factors such as tone, proximity, and touch are inevitable to have an intimate relationship. These are all variables to determine, in face-to-face communication, if someone is telling the truth. That is my biggest grip about social information processing theory; it assumes that the communicators are being honest. It is my understanding that one of the biggest problems with online dating is that people are known to exaggerate about many physical aspects as well as personality traits. How can a functional relationship begin on false pretenses? I guess this is true in CMC and face-to-face interactions, I just feel it is easier to determine if a person is being honest by not only words but non-verbal communication as well.
I agree that miscommunications can occur when there is a lack of face to face communication but I think that communicating through email, text, on the phone or online chat rooms can allow you to be bold if you're shy, or can allow someone who is not as confident in their looks to find someone who cares about them for their personality. I know a few people, including myself who have found and maintained very healthy happy relationships when originally communicating in a non face to face manner. There are several benefits to communicating face to face, however, I do not believe that it is the only nor the most effective way of communicating all the time. Both ways of communicating bring different things to the table. I think it depends on the communicators as to whether or not the communication is effective.
Whenever there's a revolutionary new communication technology it takes some time for people to adjust. When the telephone was first introduced, people said it would be the end of social relationships--no one would ever go to parties, get together for a drink, or go to the theater together. They'd just talk on the phone. We know that didn't happen. The phone simply became another way to connect with others. So I agree with jrachaelb here.
I must agree with you Brooke, I do take the idea of online intimate interpersonal communication a lot lighter than face to face relationships. I have found that the internet leaves too much to the imagination. This for me often causes more problems in my relationships than anything else. I find people continually misunderstand and deciphering my emails incorrectly. Especially on networking websites such as Myspace. After having to clarify every email and comment I left on others pages I figured it was too much and deleted my account. While I sometimes do not care for all the nonverbal cues and speed of face to face conversations, I would still rather have those face to face discussions rather than computer mediated communication.
I mentioned miscommunication through CMC on one of my other blogs earlier this semester. I have personally gotten into several different types of arguments over text messages and emails throughout the years. One of them I was "reading" to much into the message; making it be something it was not. The issue with CMC is you can not tell the attitude of the message. For instance, if i said "my day was great!", am i being serious or sarcastic? Based on that answer you can not tell. Even small talk over online communication messages an be interpreted incorrectly.
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