Exam 1

Question 1

Definition of CMC (computer mediated communication)

Answer 1

the study of how people interact with other people through the intermediary of computing technology

Question 2

Examples of computing technology

Answer 2

telephone, email, texting, instant messenger, video conferencing, social network sites, etc.

Question 3

Reasons for studying CMC

Answer 3

• inextricable part of everyday life
• new communication technologies affect our lives tremendously
• design & redesign technologies capable of supporting human needs
• understand human psychology better

Question 4

Technological affordances

Answer 4

Availability of nonverbal cues
Synchronicity
Edibility
Recordability
Audience access
Anonymity

Question 5

Availability of nonverbal cues

Answer 5

the extent to which nonverbal cues are present in the interaction environment
types: body language, vocalics (voice), haptics (touch), proxemics (physical distance), olfaction (smell)

Question 6

Synchronicity

Answer 6

whether or not the interaction is happening in real time

Question 7

Edibility

Answer 7

whether people have the opportunity to revise their messages once they have constructed them

Question 8

Recordability

Answer 8

whether messages can be saved and archived in an interaction space

Question 9

Audience access

Answer 9

when users can assemble large networks to broadcast their messages

Question 10

Context collapse

Answer 10

a characteristic of social network sites that can make it difficult for users to craft messages, because of the diverse nature of such a group

Question 11

Anonymity

Answer 11

the extent to which communicator’s identity is known to their interaction partners

Question 12

Flow of causality between technology and humans

Answer 12

technological determinism, social construction of technology, social shaping of technology, and domestication of technology

Question 13

Utopian examples

Answer 13

• the Internet is the great equalizer
• social networking sites make people more intelligent

Question 14

Dystopian examples

Answer 14

• makes people lose their social skills
• harms existing relationships
• harms people’s intelligence
  *everybody lies on the Internet

Question 15

Technological Determinism

Answer 15

people think technology has a mind of its own, “making” people behave a certain way, according to logic

Question 16

Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)

Answer 16

technology arises from social processes and we should be thinking of…
(a) where the technology comes from
(b) what agendas the creators of the technology had
(c) what social, psychological, and contextual forces led to the creation of the respective technologies

Question 17

SCOT examples

Answer 17

• Grant agencies - decide what technology investments to fund
• Bill Gates - happened to have access to a computer lab (rare at the time)
• Electric cars not gaining traction - strong economic and political forces against them
• Finsitgram - people taking an app and changing how its meant to be used to fit their own needs better

Question 18

Social Shaping of Technologies

Answer 18

technology does have an effect on how people interact with one another, and how society functions, but this affect is…
(a) not uniform
(b) not one-sided

Question 19

Social Shaping Equation

Answer 19

Technological affordances/features + User characteristics and patterns of use = Technological effects

Question 20

Domestication of Technology

Answer 20

when technologies are so well integrated with everyday life, that they become invisible

Question 21

Social sciences theories

Answer 21

(a) defines and characterizes a phenomenon in a conceptual way
(b) makes predictions about how that phenomenon will unfold in the future

Question 22

Theory Building

Answer 22

the process of coming up with useful theories

Question 23

Qualitative research methods (build)

Answer 23

involves conducting systematic observations of human behaviors through interviews, focus groups, participant observations, or ethnographics

Question 24

Theory Testing

Answer 24

the process of validating theories through empirical evidence

Question 25

Quantitative research methods (test)

Answer 25

includes surveys, experiments, and content analyses and involve numerical data

Question 26

Cues filtered out theory

Answer 26

* Impoverished model: CMC loses nonverbal cues, which makes it lose its ability to connect with people * CMC is inferior to F-to-F Communication cues = communication functions No cues = No functions

Question 27

Core cues filtered out prediction

Answer 27

CMC decreases social presence and therefore leads to cold, task-oriented, disinhibited & even hostile interactions

Question 28

Social presence

Answer 28

the degree to which another person feels "real" in mediated communication

Question 29

Cues filtered in theory

Answer 29

(a) communication cues are not equal to communication functions (b) humans have the capacity to adapt to communication environments that lack nonverbal cues and translate them (c) the process of translating missing nonverbal cues into verbal cues takes time

Question 30

Cues filtered in prediction

Answer 30

1) relational processes will take longer to develop in CMC than F-to-F 2) given enough time, relationship partners will know and feel about each other similarly in CMC as in F-to-F

Question 31

Cues bent and twisted theory

Answer 31

explains how strangers formed impressions of each other in text-based online environments that are highly editable, asynchronous, and lack nonverbal cues

Question 32

Cues bent and twisted theory prediction

Answer 32

intensification loop - impressions and emotions are intensified when little acquainted individuals interact with one another in reduced-cues online environments compare to F-to-F