Christina's LIS Rant

The computer mediated communication field of research is of course very important to my dissertation, but it’s so vast that it’s been difficult to know where to look beyond the assigned references in my doctoral seminar (see – this is why they need the big high powered seminars).

Many of these are self-archived online so no barriers!  If I get a chance, I may come back and summarize these like I did for my comps readings. I still find those helpful.
Kiesler, S. B., Siegel, J., & McGuire, T. W. (1984). Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication. American Psychologist, 39(10), 1123-1134.
Describes some of the issues raised by electronic communication, including time and information-processing pressures, absence of regulating feedback, dramaturgical weakness, paucity of status and position cues, social anonymity, and computing norms and immature etiquette. An empirical approach for investigating the social psychological effects of electronic communication is illustrated, and how social psychological research might contribute to a deeper understanding of computers and technological change in society and computer-mediated communication (CMC) is discussed. A series of studies that explored how people participate in CMC and how computerization affects group efforts to reach consensus is described; results indicate differences in participation, decisions, and interaction among groups meeting face to face and in simultaneous computer-linked discourse and communication by electronic mail. Findings are attributed to difficulties of coordination from lack of informational feedback, absence of social influence cues for controlling discussion, and depersonalization from lack of nonverbal involvement and absence of norms.

Litt, E. (2012). Knock, Knock. Who’s There? The Imagined Audience. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56(3), 330-345. doi:10.1080/08838151.2012.705195
For more than a century, scholars have alluded to the notion of an ?imagined audience??a person’s mental conceptualization of the people with whom he or she is communicating. The imagined audience has long guided our thoughts and actions during everyday writing and speaking. However, in today’s world of social media where users must navigate through highly public spaces with potentially large and invisible audiences, scholars have begun to ask: Who do people envision as their public or audience as they perform in these spaces? This article contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework that broadly defines the construct; identifies its significance in contemporary society and the existing tensions between the imagined and actual audiences; and drawing on Giddens’s concept of structuration, theorizes what influences variations in people’s imagined audience compositions. It concludes with a research agenda highlighting essential areas of inquiry.;

Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1986). REDUCING SOCIAL CONTEXT CUES: ELECTRONIC MAIL IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION. Management Science, 32(11), 1492-1512.
This paper examines electronic mail in organizational communication. Based on ideas about how social context cues within a communication setting affect information exchange, it argues that electronic mail does not simply speed up the exchange of information but leads to the exchange of new information as well. Consistent with experimental studies, the authors found that decreasing social context cues has substantial deregulating effects on communication. And they also found that much of the information conveyed through electronic mail was information that would not have been conveyed through another medium.

[these two older ones are really to show the transformation from – people who are new to computers at all trying to use all the techniques they had in face-to-face communication – to heavy users who have developed affordances that enable them to have rich communication in media that don’t have the traditional social cues]

**Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2012). Social media use in organizations: Exploring the affordances of visibility, editability, persistence, and association. Communication Yearbook, 36, 143-189.

[very useful as a reference for what kinds of things collaboration software should have,too]

Walther, J. B. (1992). Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction: A Relational Perspective. Communication Research, 19(1), 52-90. doi:10.1177/009365092019001003
Several theories and much experimental research on relational tone in computer-mediated communication (CMC) points to the lack of nonverbal cues in this channel as a cause of impersonal and task-oriented messages. Field research in CMC often reports more positive relational behavior. This article examines the assumptions, methods, and findings of such research and suggests that negative relational effects are confined to narrow situational boundary conditions. Alternatively, it is suggested that communicators develop individuating impressions of others through accumulated CMC messages. Based upon these impressions, users may develop relationships and express multidimensional relational messages through verbal or textual cues. Predictions regarding these processes are suggested, and future research incorporating these points is urged.

Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(1), 3-43. doi:10.1177/009365096023001001
While computer-mediated communication use and research are proliferating rapidly, findings offer contrasting images regarding the interpersonal character of this technology. Research trends over the history of these media are reviewed with observations across trends suggested so as to provide integrative principles with which to apply media to different circumstances. First, the notion that the media reduce personal influences—their impersonal effects—is reviewed. Newer theories and research are noted explaining normative “interpersonal” uses of the media. From this vantage point, recognizing that impersonal communication is sometimes advantageous, strategies for the intentional depersonalization of media use are inferred, with implications for Group Decision Support Systems effects. Additionally, recognizing that media sometimes facilitate communication that surpasses normal interpersonal levels, a new perspective on “hyperpersonal” communication is introduced. Subprocesses are discussed pertaining to receivers, senders, channels, and feedback elements in computer-mediated communication that may enhance impressions and interpersonal relations.

**Walther, J. B. (2011). Theories of Computer-Mediated Communication and Interpersonal Relations. In M. L. Knapp, & J. A. Daly (Eds.), The Sage handbook of interpersonal communication (4th ed., pp. 443-479). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Retrieved from http://wiki.commres.org/pds/TheoriesInNewMedia/42241_14.pdf

This is a good overview of the missing social cues and other CMC research over the past 30 years. He does, however, like his own theories and research best and others may not agree 🙂