Written by Joonas and Tiina
Due to technological advances and computer-mediated communication becoming popular, we are forced to use computers for most of our communication. For example banks and governmental institutions (at least in Finland) offer most of their services online. Five out of ten most popular App Store applications are used for instant messaging which shows that we are most likely communicating more online than offline.
Communication occurs between people and is divided into verbal and nonverbal. Non-verbal communication consists of different body languages such as expressions, gestures and looks. Communication is always culture-related which makes it important to know different culture. If verbal and non-verbal communication are in a conflict people are inclined to believe the message of non-verbal communication.
The way communication has changed is when the various cadgets became part of everyday communication. CMC (computer-mediated communication) means communication between people via computers. Examples of CMC include emails, instant messaging and online forums. Social media and CMC are easy to mix up but these two distinguish between interactivity, mobility and accessibility. However, both have changed social relationships a lot and a great deal of research is made of the change. Due to instant messaging and use of smart phones we have to be available around the clock. The pressure to answer immediately is very high since others can see if you have read the message and when you read it. The around the clock availability has lowered the boundaries of contacting and it increases social anxiety. Nowadays it feels like an achievement if one can stay half a day without reading her messages.
The big question is how non-verbal communication can be noticed when communicating with gadgets. This way of communication is partially replaced with emojis with both pros and cons. Emojis are relatively simple as such but they add their own tone to the message.
The middle-aged and parents use the emojis differently than younger people. For example they can add an emoji which laughs and cries to a message which is related to death.
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Internet memes are used to communicate more complex feelings but they force us to stay up to date with the meme culture. There is a possibility that the lack of nonverbal communication on the internet has caused the communication to be less about text and more about pictures.
An interesting feature of CMC is that the message can be carefully thought and crafted before sending but at the same time internet is full of examples where people shared their thoughts without any filtering whatsoever. The false sense of anonymity might be one reason but sometimes even a careful message gets shared in a wrong group. From a design perspective the user should always be confident with where their message is shared and what is being sent along the actual content. Since we are pretty much forced to use CMC daily the usability of messaging has become very important.
In addition, the new waves of communication are a challenge. It means that a technological device replaces part of interaction or communication between humans. Example of new waves of communication is a shirt which allows parents to hug their children although they are in different places. Can CMC replace physical communication or not? Can such devices ever replace genuine relationships which are based on face-to-face interaction? How do these devices and this kind of communication affect people’s development?
References:
Ahtinen, A. and Chowdhury, A. 2018. Psychology of Pervasive Computing lecture slides. Tampere University of Technology.
In defence of the emoji: how they are helping us to communicate better than ever
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/emoji-iphone-android-communication-better-than-ever-defence-a7980496.html?amp
Most popular iPhone apps of all time: https://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-iphone-apps-of-all-time-2018-7?r=US&IR=T
Title photo. https://flic.kr/p/tcAVqi (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Wrong use of emojis. https://www.rearfront.com/parents-used-wrong-crying-emoji/
How ‘seen’ messages on Facebook mess with your mental health
http://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/38010/1/how-seen-messages-on-facebook-mess-with-your-mental-health
It is everyone's responsibility to study the cultures of those who you are communicating with. The other way around is trial and error where you just notice things like some people think red is a positive color while to you it may be a warning signal. There are also sub cultures in the same country. Kids have their own slang and so do criminals. If you want to feel like you belong to a social group, you start learning their vocabulary and ways of making gestures and so on.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that because of social media and chat we need to be available 247. In some schools teachers take away kid's phones while teaching. It increases learnability when there are no distractions while studying. I have sounds off in my phones, tablets and computers, because they annoy me. Never has it been important to reply to any chat or email message immediately or in a few hours. If you have something urgent to tell me, call me instead.
You can not replace non-verbal communication with emojis. Why? Because you can fake your emotions with emojis. Real non-verbal communication is truthful and spontaneous. Written text rarely is totally spontaneous.
The problem with privacy is that technpology can be hacked. The accounts of celebrities have been hacked. People should use strong passwords, but they are lazy. People should check where they post, but they are lazy. Because of laziness the algorithms should check where you are posting and warn you, if it seems like you are making a mistake. As long as people are lazy, problems will emerge.
CMC can not replace physical contact. People need the sense of touch. CMC is just a tool, not a replacement for real human contacts.
The pressure to instantly reply is real, as you mentioned. There is tension in both ends: knowing you are supposed to reply instantly and on the other hand sweating if you notice the other person is online and not answering your messages. Even though people may be aware of the stupidity of this, it’s a habit hard to get rid of.
ReplyDeleteIf the “seen” is causing much anxiousness, why do the developers choose to include that feature in their application? Has somebody made a survey where they found out people like quick answers more than they get anxious about it? Or is there a strategical design behind it that people would use the application more when being pushed to answer instantly? (since quicker answering could raise the overall communication happening via application) Are the developers serving users or are they playing with their manners to gain more usage?
I think you summarised the challenges of CMC really well. I recognise almost all of the phenomena you described in my own everyday life. For example, I've witnessed many debates in an instant messaging group, which I know would never have got that heated had they been face to face. It's almost funny to try to visualise some of those in real life: people shouting at each other, refusing to understand the others' viewpoints. Like you described, there are probably multiple factors causing these communication gaps and misunderstandings, like not thinking before sending or just the missing nonverbal cues.
ReplyDeleteAnother point that I find really important in your text was the constant availability. It’s not just in instant messaging and in your free time, but more and more also in the work life, which can be really harmful for your mental health. Here’s an interesting piece of news from Helsingin Sanomat: https://www.hs.fi/ura/art-2000005853775.html (unfortunately in Finnish, it’s about a CEO who shut the emails for nights and weekends for everyone in his company).
These are important questions that each of us should stop to think sometimes, so thanks for the post!
Well written and the text explores the ideas and concepts of the lecture very well and is easy to read.
ReplyDeleteExplores the psychological aspecys of the topic well but could go in to more detail.
Interesting and open ended conclusion.
computer mediated communication can be good for some introvert people. Most of the time, they can't express their feelings or emotions verbally or face to face. For example: I am also an introvert person, normally I feel comfortable telling about something through computer mediated way(e.g.message) rather than face to face. However, it has some bad effect too such as, nowadays I don't like to explain something face to face. It has diminished my real life communication which is based on face to face interaction. Though I feel comfortable interacting with people that way but still, I feel more realistic while I say something face to face. I agree that nowadays, people are communicating more on computer mediated way but CMC can't replace face to face relationships.
ReplyDeleteAgain, One may replace nonverbal communication with emojis. As nonverbal communication needs some expressions which can be replaced by emojis. But not all of nonverbal expression can be replaced by emojis and also one may face difficulties to understand the meaning of particular emoji which can cause misunderstanding just like the given picture.
Well written and the text explores the ideas and concepts of the lecture very well and is easy to read.
ReplyDeleteExplores the psychological aspecys of the topic well but could go in to more detail, for instance the how constant virtual communication effects our personal communication and does it effect the mental state of people and do people lose the motivation to socialize in person.
Interesting and open ended conclusion.
The text brings up cultural differences in CMC and this is a subject that I am personally very interested in, because it seems to me, that cultural differences are often mitigated through emails, but if the communication changes to something more personal like video communication, how will this effect the situation and will this resurface all the barriers and possible misunderstandings that come with cultural differences.
Great post on a very interesting topic! Because nowadays it seems to almost be a norm that a person should be reachable at any time via instant messaging tools, we have become very dependend on these ways of communication. The anxiety related to this is real, so to say.
ReplyDeleteMyself, I experienced this about a month ago when I lost my phone and I had to spend a few days without it before I got it back. Luckily Telegram works well on desktop but it was still hard to for example arrange meetings with my friends since all the details about the meeting place and time had to be settled beforehand (instead of just sending "where you at" -messages when being somewhere near). I was also constantly worried that someone is trying to contact me with a call or sms/whatsapp messages and I had no way of knowing that. Even though I wasn't expecting any important contacts.
This really opened my eyes to the fact how big a part of our communication nowadays happens via instant messaging tools. Considering this, investigating the psychological effects of instant messaging even more is very important!
Interesting points of a current topic!
ReplyDeleteSome people are forced to use technology to communicate, for some people it’s an opportunity. I started to think about this subject from the working aspect. CMC might do working more flexible and more efficient. Working remotely is possible when you can join meetings with remote connection and many work-related communications can be handled with email.
But personally, I hate email communication. The chance of misunderstanding is so high, and I never get a full response to what I’ve asked. Sometimes I can’t even be sure if the other person has received my email! I prefer channels like Whatsapp. The culture is different and more relaxed. Somehow, it’s easier to discuss and express yourself there.
In the working context this is of course problematic. I could have some negative feedback if I just stopped using email. I feel that I’m forced to use email, like some elderly people might feel that they’re forced to use digital bank services!
– Emmi Putkonen