Computer-mediated communication is the way in which we communicate through computers. The computer is the vessel in which the communication takes place. CMC occurs through a network of computers whether that is in a chat room, instant message, or email. A relationship could start because of CMC. Sometimes CMC can be a way for people to become comfortable with someone before they actually meet.
The article, “Interpersonal Interaction in Computer-Mediated Communication by Junghyun Kim discusses what CMC means and how it affects interpersonal communication. According to Kim, “Computer-mediated communication – CMC, means communication mediated by machine, such as a computer. CMC is a relatively indirect way of interaction, compared to FtF [Face-to-Face] communication. CMC studies are text based rather than based on visual or verbal communication channels” (pg. 4). CMC can be categorized into three perspectives. They include: impersonal, personal and hyper personal interpersonal interaction, and evaluated. CMC affects the way we see other people. For example, on Facebook someone may list their favorite things, but they don’t list their least favorite things so you get a sense of falsehood about the person. You might feel like you know them because they talk about themselves but they are really giving off a false front-stage because you don’t really know who they.
When deciding whether you are attracted to someone you considered their personal qualities. CMC alters the way we see other people. Someone might seem really attractive to you when you are instant messaging or emailing but in reality they may not be who you think they are at all. CMC changes interpersonal communication a lot. People use to meet for the first time face-to-face and today people use websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Match.com, JDate, and EHarmony to find and meet people. Before college many people met their roommates for the first time on Facebook.
Texts, instant messages, and emails are a good way to see if you have things in common with someone before you meet them. A lot of people found it helpful to talk to their roommate(s) on Facebook before school starts so they know what they are like. Computer-mediated communication makes it possible for roommates to discuss who is bringing what to school. Computer-medaited communication made it so niether person brought a microwave or a refrigerator. If CMC didn't exist the changes of a mistake are much higher. Computer- mediated communication allows you to communicate with people you wouldn’t have otherwise communicated with. That poses the question do you really understand someone after CMC. It is impossible to fully understand someone through a text, instant message, or an email but it is a quick way to communicate.
Computer-mediated communication is like the summary for a television show in the TV guide. It gives you a general sense about what something or someone is going to be like, but you can’t fully understand who they are until communicating Face-to-Face. CMC is a good way of hiding your insecurities when dealing with attraction. If you have a quality you don’t admire about yourself physically and you don’t want people to notice you computer-mediated communication allows you to be yourself with out worrying what people think about your looks.
According to Kim, “Computer-mediated interpersonal communication means person-to-person interaction where the computer has been interposed to transcend the limitations of time and space.” In his article Kim also states, “Interpersonal communication refers to dyadic interaction that takes the form of verbal and nonverbal exchanges between two (or a small group of) individuals, consciously aware of each other, usual interacting in same time and space.” Computer-mediated communication has added on to interpersonal communication in many ways especially when dealing with attraction. Someone might become attracted to you because of the way you present your self through an email, text message or an instant message.
Computer-mediated communication can be good and bad. “CMC also lacks shared social norms and standards, which leads users to be more aggressive and impulsive and could lead to uninhibited behaviors” (pg. 6) Basically Kim is saying that computer-mediated interpersonal communication can create a sense of falsehood. For example, in class we discussed the various ways you can be attracted to a person well that changes when a computer is involved. The author mentioned how when dealing with CMC you can’t get an understand their social status or their grouping. You might be able to tell that someone might be motivated and have the same goals as you, but if the information comes through a computer you can never really be sure. Sometimes there can be misunderstands when it comes the Computer-mediated communication because no matter what face-to-face communication is the best way for people to fully communication and get an understanding in any given situation. A good “interpersonal characteristic of CMC is [that] mediated interpersonal communication can be more efficient for work-related interactions among people” (pg. 6). This prevents people from becoming to distracted work.
Another question that Kim raises is how much “verbal expressions or social cues” really affect interpersonal communication and the relationships we engage in versus computer-mediated Communication. There is a possibility that sometimes we are more real via text or email because we don’t feel any face-to-face pressure. For example, you could (not that you should) ask somebody out or break up with someone via text (The Taylor Swift Paradox). The lines have blurred between what is appropriate for face-to-face communication versus computer-mediated communication. CMC is full of endless possibilities. In a fast pace society computer mediated communication is convenient and in some cases necessary. The problem that seems to arise with this particular form of communication is that computers are used to manage interpersonal relationships. CMC is any form of communication transmitted through computer or telephone. Although it helps maintain and establish relationships, I think it can have negative effects on everyday communication.
In the article “Social Identification and Interpersonal Communication in Computer-Mediated Communication: What You Do Versus Who You Are in Virtual Groups” by Zuoming Wang, Joseph B. Walther, & Jeffrey T. Hancock, they investigate the influences of interpersonal communication with the use of CMC in a personal setting and a virtual setting. In the experiment there were several group members, in every group there was a “prototype” that the in group members want to seek approval from and the out group members were less liked and isolated. When they switched to the virtual setting it was evident that it was a much more comfortable social setting for those who were not as out-going in the first face to face experiment. In the article they express the negative effects of CMC stating “CMC reduces the (inter)personal basis for social comparison, self-awareness, and self-presentation… The anonymity of others means that they tend to be perceived as interchangeable members of the group rather than unique individuals; perceptions of individual differences among interactants are reduced, leading to less individuated impressions and a less interpersonal basis for interaction. (Walther, Hancock & Wang p.61-62) This means the application of less personal interaction is likely to create a continuous feel of impersonal communication among people in virtual and face to face settings.
CMC forces humans to lose intimate moments with others, making everyone seem similar in traits, personality and identity. Since CMC is such an indirect way of interacting that signs and messages that are transmitted can be misconstrued. It is an important factor to our growing and changing generation but is not the only way we should depend on, we should depend on face to face interaction so we don’t get lost in translation amongst each other.
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is the communication between people through technological devices. As said in the book “Computer mediated communication: social interaction and the Internet” by Crispin Thurlow, Laura B. Lengel, Alice Tomic, the term of CMC has been around since the first electronic digital computer was invented. Nowadays, CMC also includes other technological communication devices, such as cell phones.
John December, the founder of CMC magazine had defined CMC as a process of human communication via computers, involving people, situated in particular contexts, engaging in processes to shape media for a variety of purposes. It means that this process is the main reason of humans’ written interactions and a huge factor why interpersonal communication around the world is developing more and more every day. To my understanding, the interpersonal communication via computers or other devices belongs to the CMC, and to the facilities that this process offers, because this create an easy way of communication in means of speed when sending or receiving messages, and in means of distance between the sender and the receiver.
From their introduction, what made computer-mediated communication special was their ability to bridge distances between individuals. Duck, Rutt, Hurst, and Strejc (1991) propose that relationships are maintained through not only strategic behavior but also, and potentially more importantly, routine interactions between two individuals. CMC lacks many aspects of traditional communication, such as physical presence, social, nonverbal, and contextual cues.
Two factors are presented in social information-processing theory that influences interpersonal relationships within CMC.
1. People are naturally motivated to build an affiliation with others.
2. CMC usersdevelop the skills to decode textual cues to form interpersonal impressions (use of emoticons, such as :-) to indicate a smile).
Based on these two factors, individuals are able to form impressions, gain interpersonal knowledge, and develop relationships solely through textual interaction.
Communication Imperative “we’re born to communicate and are driven to maximize our communication satisfaction and interaction”. So it’s not just a matter of what technology affords or permits us to do, but of how we appropriate the technology and make it do what we want it to do!
There are many factors that factor into CMC and make it what it is. These factors are the user’s motives, types of communication, and the degree of the user’s participation. CMC relates to interpersonal communication because it actually enables its extension. CMC helps interpersonal communication by helping overcomelimitations of time and space between people. It also has an effect on how people interact with each other. The article perfectly relates and supports how CMC has helped and is related to interpersonal communication. CMC has helped interpersonal communication in great ways. For example: If you’re not in the mood to call someone on the phone you can easily just text the person. In the old days this might seem disrespectful but it has become the norm around the teens today. However, as mentioned in the article, you can really never know someone’s true feelings or motives through an IM or text. People are always saying if the person takes too long then they don’t care and God help the person if they don’t respond. However, this all depends on the person and the person’s motive.
Work Cited:
Hancock, Jeffery T., Joseph B. Walther, and Zuoming Wang. "Social Identification and Interpersonal Communication in Computer-Mediated Communication: What You Do Versus Who You Are in Virtual Groups." Human Communication Research (2009): 59-85. NCA/ EBSCO. Web. 13 Feb. 2010.
Kim, Junghyun. "Interpersonal Interaction in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) : Exploratory Qualitative Research Based on Critical Review of the Existing Theories. (2003) International Communication Association EBSCO. Web. 12. Feb. 2010
(Since Inigo was absent on Monday he joined our group So I (Kayla) put his response separate to make sure his work was seen)
Analyzing Avril Lavigne’s Complicated:
When I listen to Avril Lavigne’s song and read the lyrics, I have to admit that I can totally understand and relate to the message she is trying to send out with her song. When you meet a person for the first time, and you get to spend time with them, you get to know that person for who he/she actually is, and you develop a relationship with them based on trust. You are intrinsically bound to believe whatever that person is telling you and you take for granted that whatever he/she is saying is honest and truthful. But some people act differently when they are surrounded by their friends or by specific people. They change the way they act in order to portray themselves as someone different than they really are, and this is what I think Avril Lavigne is trying to say in her song. It’s frustrating! It really is. People are sometimes not real; they are putting on fake personas, or being two-faced. In other words, just not being who they really are. Be it because they want to connect with others, feel part of a larger group, because they are searching for emotional attachment, or because they are trying to fulfill a need that they have, people sometimes pretend to be who they really aren’t.
What Avril Lavigne is trying to say in her lyrics is that, “hey, maybe you can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me”, and I couldn’t agree more. In my opinion, people should never change who they really are, if we always act with our heart and we are always genuine in our actions, people will like us for who we actually are, not for who we want them to think we are. In the end, we will be happier because we won’t have to be pulling off an act every day, and we will be happier because we will know that the people that are around us like our honest qualities and love us for who we really are. Life is already too complicated to be someone else. Be yourself, for the good and the bad.
In society choosing identity can be difficult. The way you behave around certain people may not be the way you behave around all people. As humans we feel the need to fit into a group so in order to fit in sometimes we alter ourselves. Avril Lavigne’s song “Complicated” is about people who identity themselves different when around certain types of people. Sometimes people just want to fit in and aren’t necessarily being true to themselves. The lyrics in the song, “Complicated” discuss three main ideas: identity, self-presentation, and facework. According to Close Encounters by Laura K. Guerrero, Peter A. Andersen, Walid A. Afifi, “Identity is a theory of self that is formed and maintained through actual or imagined interpersonal agreement about what self is like (Schlenker, 1985, p.67).” Self-presentation is the way we present ourselves and the way others see us. Close Encounters states that “…self-presentation reflect[s] the things we do to portray a particular image of self to others.” We often alter ourselves depending on our environment and our audience. For example, at a school basketball game you might be screaming and cheering, but then in the classroom you are quiet and respectful of your professor when they are speaking.
“You come over unannounced
Dressed up like you're something else
Where you are and
Where you sat, you see
You're making me
Laugh out
When you strike a pose
Take off all your preppy clothes
You know
You're not fooling anyone
When you become”
The lyrics, “You come over unannounced/dressed up like you’re something else” demonstrate that her friend his putting on act, a different front stage to fit in. “The front stage is where our performances are enacted, our behaviors are observed by an audience, and where impression management is particularly important” (Close Encounters, pg. 33). When the friend is being true to whom they are that is called back state. “Conversely, the backstage is where we can let our guard down and do not have to think about staying in characters” (Close Encounters, pg. 33).
The lyrics, “When you strike a pose/Take off all your preppy clothes/you know your not fooling anyone tell us that the friend has even changed their appearance in order to fit in. “Preppy” is the new appearance, according to the song. The person who has changed their character and appearance to fit in has altered themselves so much they are a completely different person. According to the lyrics, that person doesn’t usual dress in “preppy” clothing or “poses” in way that you would conclude that they are so-called “preppy”.
David Hesmondhalgh is an author of communication studies as well as a professor at the Institute of Communications at the University of Leeds. In one of Hesmondhalgh articles called, “Towards critical understanding of music, emotion, and self-identity." According to David Hesmondhalgh “music often feels intensely and emotionally linked to the private self.” The article also discusses “Anthropologist Ruth Finnegan’s (2003) survey of range of ethnomusicological research. Finnegan argues that more attention needs to be paid to emotion in music.” Hesmondhalgh points out that in Finnegan’s research she states that, “Whether in deeply intense fashion, or more light-touch action, music provides a human resource through which people can enact their lives with inextricably entwined feeling, thought and imagination” (2003, 188).” This is linked to how the song “Complicated” makes you feel about society. Music has a very strong effect on people especially adolescents. Often the type of music you listen to is the type of identity you chose or the identity you chose decides what type of music you listen to.
“Somebody else 'round everyone else
Watching your back, like you can't relax
Trying to be cool you look like a fool to me
Tell me
Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break
and you take what you get and you
turn it into honesty
you promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it”
Avril Lavigne sings about a person acting like two different people. When Lavigne is hanging out with them she sees their true personality, but when they get around “everyone else” (friends, family, people in general) they act like someone completely different.
Most people have many different personalities, they are studious and well-behaved at school, and around friends they are more outgoing and rebellious. Avril Lavigne addresses the topic of self presentation. People change who they are depending on the people they are with. A professor at work will dress nicely and put together, while at home maybe they’ll show off their true identity by wearing sweatpants and baseball caps. They can’t wear this to work, it isn’t appropriate and doesn’t send off the message that they are scholars and know what they are talking about. They need to mask their true identity for the time being and act the way society believes they should be.
Avril Lavigne may be saying that this person is fake, but society has put pressure on people to be “normal” and “cool”, and maybe the person she is singing about thinks society won’t accept them if they be who they truly are. “Self-monitoring is the extent to which people regulate their behavior to fit the social context” (Close Encounters 52). Almost every person in the world does this to some extent. When speaking to a teacher your am not going to talk to him or her the way you talk to one of your friends, it is not appropriate to swear in front of a teacher, therefore you need to monitor what your saying. There are high-monitor situations like the example of talking to a teacher, client or boss, and then there are low-monitor situations when talking to friends and other people your age. This is definitely what the person is doing that Avril Lavigne is singing about. They have to be more aware of what they are saying in front of people who don’t think it is socially acceptable to do or say certain things; while Lavigne accepts this person for who they are she can see their true identity.
Identity is the state or fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions. However, many times we do not stay true to our true identity. We surround ourselves with people that influence us in bad ways and with people who cause us to stray from what our true beliefs are. When you begin to act like the people you hang out with you are actually creating a new identity for yourself. This new identity covers your old. Your identity says a lot about who you are because you surround your time with people who share in your same identity and beliefs. Avril Lavigne‘s song “Complicated” outlines people’s changing identity and personality around different people in its lyrics. The song uses the words “Somebody else round everyone else” to describe the girl’s boyfriend’s changing identities around his different friend groups. She describes the boy to be paranoid and not able to relax. This is because the boy is constantly stressed and paranoid about having to be a different person around various groups of people. The constant change in his identity and the lying catch up with the person and cause him or her to be stressed. The song then ends up returning to the girl’s pint of view on why did have to make things so complicated and how acting like this gets her very frustrated. I often see this identity change around my friends. They act differently around boys, their family, the sport’s teams, and the so called poplar group. It is very frustrating and hard to understand why someone would have to act a certain way just to please everyone. The article “towards a critical understanding of music, emotion, and self- identity” by David Hesondhalgh reports that the type of music you listen to reflects one’s identity. This is very true because people meet friends and develop relationships with people based on what kind of music they listen to. ‘Music, then, represents a remarkable meeting point of the private and public realms.”
“Chill out,
What you yellin' for?
Lay back, it's all been done before
And if you could let it be
You will see
Somebody else
'Round everyone else
You're watchin' your back
Like you can't relax
You're tryin' to be cool
You look like a fool
To me, to me”
Avril Lavigne’s song, “It’s Complicated” is a reflection of every person’s personality. I think this song is trying to refer that people’s identity is always shaped by their surroundings, changing their attitudes according to what each person think other people would like or accept. As she said in the lyrics, an example is when she mentioned that the person she’s dedicating the song is trying to be cool, while instead of that it’s looking like a fool to her. Accordingly with what I understood with the lyrics, I think Avril Lavigne doesn’t agree with the theory of changing personality according to the spot we are located; but honestly, the changing is innate, is a natural process that occurs every second, and no one can control it. It just happens, wherever we are, with whomever and whenever. Its not a deal that we plan to do, it’s just the way it is. Our self automatically adapts itself to the moment we are, sometimes more boldly than others, but it always occurs. In the article “Towards a critical understanding of music, emotion and self-identity” by David Hesmondhalgh said that sees music primarily as a positive resource for active self-making. Personally, that might mean to Avril Lavigne that the best way to guide the people to stop changing and pretending to be someone else is expressing it throughout her songs.
It’s not that I approve that people pretend to be someone else; but I believe that we engage different roles according to the situation that we are into. It’s normal to act differently according to where we are: in a job interview, hanging out with friends, in a school presentation, with the family… we always have a different attitude. The purpose of our self is not to take other person’s role, because we already have too many personalities; the importance is to know how to manage ourselves.
“Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're
Acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated
Life's like this, you
And you fall and you crawl
And you break and you take
What you get and you turn it into
Honesty Promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it”
Identities differentiate everyone by personality traits and personal characteristics. It is a term that can be used loosely because it of its various definitions and complexities.“The context of our identities includes relationships, roles, goals, personal qualities, accomplishments, group/cultural membership and appearance. (p.25 Close Encounters)Although the question of identity attempts to answer the “who I am?” question it clear that it is up the individual to pursue identities that suit him/ her. Our Self-presentation is one of the qualities that play a role in developing our identities. How we present ourselves in particular situation reflects how we seem to others.
For example the relationship between music and identity has proven to create social groups and followings. Music has the potential to evoke certain feelings because the audience believes that artist shares similar feelings. In Avril Lavigne’s song “Complicated” she stresses the question of “Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?” I think she is trying communicate to someone that it is better to be yourself. That life has a series of events and “faking it” is only going to create bad situations. The only thing she wants is for the other person to be honest with her about who they are all the time. Although society forces you to play different roles, the other person doesn’t have to do it around her.
The song is relevant in every context, if one is true to their beliefs and identity then they will easily avoid making any situation complicated. If you act the same in person and relay that to the digital world then people will be able to get a sense of who you really are all the time.
In the article “Towards a critical understanding of music, emotion and Self-identity” by David Hesmondhalgh he states that“Music represents a remarkable meeting point of the private and public realms, providing encounters of self-identity (things is who I am;this is who I’m not) with collective identity (this is who we are; this is who we are not) (Hesmondhalh p.329) This means that music can produce and following that people can identify with, and allow them to let their guard down with alike people.
Guerrero, Laura K. Close encounters communication in relationships. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2007. Print.
Hesmondhalgh, David. ""Towards a critical understanding of music, emotion, and self-identity." Consumption Markets & Culture (2008): 329-42. Print.
Side Note: The Album Covers are portrayed here not only for design but to demonstrate the journey one takes to find their identity. As you can see the album covers are all very different because one's identity is in constant flux.
Discuss “facework” – how does “computer mediated communication” (a)effect the process of management, ethics, attraction/repulsion?
The process of “facework” changes when in the form of CMC or face-to-face communication. When you are texting a person you can be someone completely different from who you usually are without feeling embarrassed because you can’t see the person. Texting and talking online can change the process of ethics and attraction/repulsion.
Through texting you can say things you would never normally say. If the situation is flirtatious, or tense because of fighting, all you have to do is type your emotions out and send it at the click of a button. Then after the fighting or flirting if it turns out you want to make up or don't like the person, you must perform “facework” to redeem yourself and help your relationship back to its feet, that's what you decided. This is called “corrective facework”; this “is characterized by efforts to repair an identity already damages by something that was said or done” (Close Encounters 38). Even though you have no inhibitions when you are texting and think you can say anything to the person on the receiving side, the truth is in the end you really didn’t mean the things you said and you need to make yourself look like a better more caring person.
In the second "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" movie one of the characters discusses how with email and texting "you can have a whole relationship with somebody without even looking at them." The fact that you can have a whole relationship with someone without even seeing their face is really sad. It started with Snail mail and then there was email and after that AIM was created and now we have texting. This proves that our generation is dealing with emotions and their relationships via text compared to past generations which used the telephone, snail mail, or email. The fact that children as young as ten maybe even younger are getting cell phones and texting all day long is really sad.
