Computer-Mediated Communication

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Computer-Mediated Communication

• Social Presentation

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Administrivia

• Best address for the Web site
  http//courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i290-12/f06/
• Things to do  instructions on Web site
• Add yourself to the mailing list
• Get access to the class wiki
• Also If you are not an iSchool student, get an
  iSchool account

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A Brief Introduction to Symbolic Interaction

• The character of interaction as it takes place
  between human beings
• Herbert Blumer (1900-1987) developed much of the
  sociological approach to SI
• Long history of development in both philosophy
  and sociology

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Core Features of SI

• Symbols
• Change

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Core Features of SI

• Interaction
• Empirical

Note the focus on the micro-level!
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Goffmans Approach and Focus

• How individuals create and maintain their social
  self
• Dramaturgical Approach Uses theater and drama
  as a metaphor for how we develop and present
  ourselves

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Some Key Concepts in Goffmans Work

• Front
• Idealization
• Definition of the Situation
• Expressions given
• Expressions given off
• Impression Management

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• The architects of a virtual space from the
  software designers to the site administrators
  shape the community in a more profound way than
  do their real-world counterpart. People eat,
  sleep, and work in buildings the buildings
  affect how happily they do these things. But the
  buildings do not completely control their
  perception of the world. In the electronic
  domain, the design of the environment is
  everything.

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Meaning through Contradiction?

• When individuals act in a way that is
  inconsistent with expected behavior, several
  things happen (for the performer and the
  audience). How might this occur in a CMC
  environment such as IM, email, etc?

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Expressions Given and Given Off

• Goffmans idea of expressions given and given
  off can be applied to many forms of interaction
  what are some issues with the two forms of
  expression in various forms of CMC?

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Social Order through Interaction?

• Goffman argues that social order can be an
  outcome of our interactions what does this mean?
  
• What are some examples of how this might occur
  (in CMC or in any other situations)?

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Signaling

• Conventional vs. assessment signals
  a reasonable distinction?
• How else can we describe/classify signals?
• How do people send and receive them?
• At a bar, on IM, in online dating?

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What is deception?

• How can we resolve the tension between playful
  and literal use of CMC?

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True?
But the buildings do not completely control
their perception of the world.

In the electronic domain, the design of the
environment is everything.

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Just for fun

• Passport to the Pub A guide to British pub
  etiquette
• http//www.sirc.org/publik/pub.html
• Guide to Flirting
• http//www.sirc.org/publik/flirt.html
• Both from Social Issues Research Centre
• (linked on wikis CmcPapers page, too)

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Administrivia

• Best address for the Web site
  http//courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i290-12/f06/
• Things to do  instructions on Web site
• Add yourself to the mailing list
• Get access to the class wiki
• Also If you are not an iSchool student, get an
  iSchool account