PennTags /tag/computer_mediated

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JSTOR: Digital Dating and Virtual Relating

This article highlights the psychological implications of the change from traditional or face-to-face relationships to computer mediated relationships (CMR), especially focusing on the romantic contexts. At first I wasn’t sure how relevant this piece would be to social networks, but the way in which relationships, romantic or not, function on the Internet versus face-to-face illustrates interesting changes in the way people interact and form a conception of self. The article begins by pointing out the one salient characteristic in both kinds of relationships: people like relationships that give them rewards. Other than that similarity, the two types of relationships really are inherently different, for reasons that one would expect (the importance of spatiality, physicality, self-disclosure). The rest of the article is more instructional for psychologists who are treating patients that are orienting themselves in this new world of complex relationships, so it is not useful for this discussion. I found the discussion of face-to-face versus computer mediated relationships to be the most useful section of the article.

The article points out that the sequence of meeting someone is inverted on the Internet: it is not the physical that comes first, then attitudinal connection, then intimate disclosure, but the other way around. This model is challenged in interesting ways when applied to social networks of today, which create a fusion of CMRs and face-to-face relationships. A person might meet someone briefly, Facebook “friend” them, and then learn more about them online through their profile and chatting, only meeting again weeks afterwards. Ideally, face-to-face interaction will be complemented and enhanced by the addition of virtual relationships, which is the ultimate goal of social networking sites like facebook.com which rely on existing connections to establish a person’s network. However, it becomes more complicated when a person's creates expectations from a face-to-face meeting and is then disappointmented when he "meets" the person in the virtual world (or the other way around).

belongs to Social Networking Communities Online (e.g. Facebook) project
tagged computer_mediated_relationships online_dating psychology social_networks by rachee ...on 10-MAR-07

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Online connections : internet interpersonal relationships / Susan B. Barnes.

Barnes, Susan B. . Online connections : internet interpersonal relationships / Susan B. Barnes. [1572733756 (cl) ] Creskill, NJ : Hampton Press, c2001.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HM1106 .B37 2001

This book examines online personas and how people are perceived online versus in person. It also focuses on the discrepancies between those two identities and how relationships change when people who have “known” each other online meet face-to-face. The book does a sweeping study of the internet and relationships, both online and offline, discussing how the internet has changed our interpersonal dynamics. The chapters I found the most useful were : Ch. 3, “Internet Discussion Lists and Forms of Address” which examines group dynamics in social networks and the trends of lurking and flaming, and the different implications of oral speech in person versus written speech on the internet; Ch. 8, “Changing Social Concepts of Community” which provides a case study of a social network which decided to meet face-to-face and how that changed the group dynamics; and Ch.11, “The Presentation of Self in Internet Environments” which defines a person’s net persona and how it may differ from his actual self, highlighting the performative aspect of social networks when presenting the self.

The book at times is a little too general, presenting ideas that are a little obvious, but Ch.8 was especially useful for me, as I am looking into identify formation online and how that affects one’s perception and performance of self. This chapter looks at the VC-L social network, a small group of people who belonged to the online network to discuss politics. After deciding to meet, the dynamics of the group changed dramatically. Popularity politics and insecurities came out which were never present before. After meeting, people were disappointed by their expectations of what certain people would be like. The social network was not the same afterwards and suffered from smaller membership. I am interested in how this might apply to current social networking sites on a larger scale, like Facebook.com. Facebook is an interesting hybrid because people often meet before becoming Facebook friends, but one may learn more about the new “friend” by his Facebook page than by the actual face-to-face encounter. The same dynamics of popularity, self-consciousness, and expectation come into play here. Ironically, they could also be reversed in the case of Facebook. A person might meet someone, Facebook “friend” them, and then be disappointed by their lack of other Facebook friends or lackluster profile. This book brings to the forefront the ideas of identity formation online and the conflicts that can occur when online and offline relationships collide.

belongs to Social Networking Communities Online (e.g. Facebook) project
tagged computer_mediated_relationships group_dynamics identity_formation online_communities online_popularity social_networks by rachee ...on 07-MAR-07