scholarly journals Sequential patterns in SMS and WhatsApp dialogues: Practices for coordinating actions and managing topics

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 612-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina König
Keyword(s):  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Sequential Patterns ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Short Messaging Service ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Adjacent Position

In computer-mediated communication, users cannot ensure that responsive postings are placed in a directly adjacent position. Yet, paired actions are discernible in which a first pair part (FPP) makes a second pair part (SPP) conditionally relevant. While previous studies of short messaging service (SMS) communication show that users usually send clusters of FPPs and that SPPs are ordered in the same chronology, little is known about sequential practices of dealing with multiple FPPs in text-based WhatsApp communication. This article shows that in German WhatsApp dialogues, users apply a chronological as well as a reversed ordering of SPPs. It is argued that this result can only be partly attributed to the affordances of the mobile messenger. Rather, users arrange SPPs in order to foreground particular topics in extended, chat-like dialogues.

Computer-Mediated Communication and Mental Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-110
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Emese Domahidi ◽  
Elisabeth Günther
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Systematic Database

The relationship between computer-mediated communication (e.g., Internet or social media use) and mental health has been a long-standing issue of debate. Various disciplines (e.g., communication, psychology, sociology, medicine) investigate computer-mediated communication in relation to a great variety of negative (i.e., psychopathology) and positive (i.e., well-being) markers of mental health. We aim at charting this vast, highly fragmented, and fast growing literature by means of a scoping review. Using methods of computational content analysis in conjunction with qualitative analyses, we map 20 years of research based on 1,780 study abstracts retrieved through a systematic database search. Results reveal the most common topics investigated in the field, as well as its disciplinary boundaries. Our review further highlights emerging trends in the literature and points to unique implications for how future research should address the various relationships between computer-mediated communication and mental health.

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