Virtual support groups might make some conditions worse rather than better. These observers worry that the lack of nonverbal cues diminishes a therapist’s ability to read and ultimately relate to a client. The ethics of some commercial, Internet-based therapists. practical warning is more imperative for those who elect to seek help in the forums. People […]
Read More »A norm is an accepted social behavior. Using a fork to eat a salad is a norm, and people who comply with norms generally tend to find acceptance among others who practice the same. Let us say you enter a chat room in which you observe the other contributors using a lot of abbreviations in […]
Read More »Research on Internet usage suggests that greater use of the Internet has a detrimental effect on one’s well-being According to a research team from Carnegie Mellon University, the more that participants used the Internet, the less likely they were to communicate with members of their household; moreover, their social circles were likely to grow smaller, […]
Read More »Steven Spielberg’s AI (Curtis, Harlan, Kennedy, Parkes, & Spielberg, 2001) offered a tantalizing view of an imminent future in which “mechas” play an increasingly significant role in the lives of people and, yet, are feared for their abilities to replace humanity. As one character, Gigolo Joe, notes, “They made us too smart, too quick, and […]
Read More »Another identity that is being further compromised by Internet technologies is the public identity of people, organizations, and their creations. Entities like manufacturers, film studios, and retailers go to considerable lengths to protect their images from misrepresentation. Certainly, many of these entities have established a presence on the World Wide Web to promote their preferred […]
Read More »we look at two identity-related threats of growing concern in the Information Age: identity fraud and shadow identities Identity Fraud Most of us spend a good deal of time, consciously or unconsciously, building a good reputation. We strive to make our credit card and automobile loan payments on time, we work hard to earn passing […]
Read More »ANONYMITY Although most Americans would consider being “up-front” with people to be a common value, the fact is that in many instances we value privacy even more than frankness. There are certain legitimate circumstances in which our safety is protected by issuing our messages anonymously. In mediated contexts, anonymity is a state of communicating where […]
Read More »Gender-swapping occurs when an individual of one gender self-presents as a member of another gender. As you probably know, gender is a social construct that provides guidelines for how we expect people of a certain biological sex to behave. For example, men are expected to be masculine and thus strong and women to be feminine […]
Read More »In the presentation of self in text-only media, one is not recognized by one’s physical appearance, but through one’s verbal behaviors. Obviously, one might offer a description of one’s persona or disclose personal characteristics that contribute to others’ impression formations. Yet according to Mark Giese (1998), there is another way that people come to identify […]
Read More »An identity is a complex personal and social construct, consisting in part of who we think ourselves to be, how we wish others to perceive us, and how they actually perceive us. In particular, CMC research has looked at the second of these fragments: how we wish others to perceive us. The process of setting […]
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