Computer Mediated Communication

This is a uniquely friendly and easy-to-understand treatment of the complex theories and findings that surround CMC. Communication is often complicated, and computerization makes it stranger still, yet the authors have deftly demystified both the miraculous and the mundane of computer-mediated interaction.

Text-based interaction among humans connected via computer networks, such as takes place via email and in synchronous modes such as chat, MUDs and MOOs, has attracted considerable popular and scholarly attention. This collection of 14 articles on text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC), is the first to bring empirical evidence from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to bear on questions raised by the new medium.The first section, linguistic perspectives, addresses the question of how CMC compares with speaking and writing, and describes its unique structural characteristics. Section two, on social and ethical perspectives, explores conflicts between the interests of groups and those of individual users, including issues of online sex and sexism. In the third section, cross-cultural perspectives, the advantages and risks of using CMC to communicate across cultures are examined in three studies involving users in East Asia, Mexico, and students of ethnically diverse backgrounds in remedial writing classes in the United States. The final section deals with the effects of CMC on group interaction: in a women s studies mailing list, a hierarchically-organized workplace, and a public protest on the Internet against corporate interests.

Technology has changed communication drastically in recent years, facilitating the speed and ease of communicating, and also redefining and shaping linguistics, etiquette, and social communication norms. The Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication provides academics and practitioners with an authoritative collection of research on the implications and social effects computers have had on communication. With 69 chapters of innovative research contributed by over 90 of the world's leading experts in computer mediated communication, the Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication is a must-have addition to every library collection.

Computer-Mediated Communication Systems: Status and Evaluation synthesizes current knowledge about computerized conferencing systems, electronic mail, and office information-communication systems. It should be of interest both to students and researchers studying this new form of electronic communication and to organizations that are planning the installation of electronic mail or other computer-mediated communication systems and that need to be aware of the information gleaned from the studies presented here. The book is organized into four main sections, focusing on the following issues: (1) What are the important considerations in designing software or choosing a system from the many available options and capabilities? (2) What factors determine whether such systems are likely to be accepted or rejected? (3) What are the likely impacts of such systems upon the individuals, groups, and organizations which use them? It is not the economic costs and benefits, but the social problems and ""payoffs"" in the form of enhanced performance and organizational efficiency that should be the main considerations in deciding whether or not to use a computer-mediated communication system. (4) Given the conditional nature of many of the possible impacts, no system should be implemented without formal evaluation and feedback from users to guide the implementation. The major kinds of evaluational strategies that have been successfully employed are described in this book.

All manner of computer-mediated communication, or CMC, is considered in this textbook. The phenomenon of CMC, its development and current research, and the three types of Internet communication interpersonal, human-computer- interaction, and informational are described at length.

The present handbook provides an overview of the pragmatics of language and language use mediated by digital technologies. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined to include text-based interactive communication via the Internet, websites and other multimodal formats, and mobile communication. In addition to 'core' pragmatic and discourse-pragmatic phenomena the chapters cover pragmatically-focused research on types of CMC and pragmatic approaches to characteristic CMC phenomena.

This book is an anthology of present research trends in Computer-mediated Communications (CMC) from the point of view of different application scenarios. Four different scenarios are considered: telecommunication networks, smart health, education, and human-computer interaction. The possibilities of interaction introduced by CMC provide a powerful environment for collaborative human-to-human, computer-mediated interaction across the globe.

Lynne M. Webb (Ph. D., University of Oregon) is Professor in Communication at the University of Arkansas. She previously served as a tenured faculty member at the Universities of Florida and Memphis. Her research examines young adults' interpersonal communication in romantic and family contexts. Her research appears in over 50 essays published in scholarly journals and edited volumes, including computers in Human Behavior, Communication Education, Health Communication, and Journal of Family Communication. --Book Jacket.