scholarly journals ‘As if nobody’s reading’?: The imagined audience and socio-technical biases in personal blogging practice in the UK

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R Brake
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Critical Technology ◽  
Site Use ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Initial Survey ◽  
The Uk

This thesis examines the understandings and meanings of personal blogging from the perspective of blog authors. The theoretical framework draws on a symbolic interactionist perspective, focusing on how meaning is constructed through blogging practices, supplemented by theories of mediation and critical technology studies. The principal evidence in this study is derived from an analysis of in-depth interviews with bloggers selected to maximise their diversity based on the results of an initial survey. This is supplemented by an analysis of personal blogging’s technical contexts and of various societal influences that appear to influence blogging practices.Bloggers were found to have limited interest in gathering information about their readers, appearing to rely instead on an assumption that readers are sympathetic. Although personal blogging practices have been framed as being a form of radically free expression, they were also shown to be subject to potential biases including social norms and the technical characteristics of blogging services. Blogs provide a persistent record of a blogger’s practice, but the bloggers in this study did not generally read their archives or expect others to do so, nor did they retrospectively edit their archives to maintain a consistent self-presentation.The empirical results provide a basis for developing a theoretical perspective to account for blogging practices. This emphasises firstly that a blogger’s construction of the meaning of their practice can be based as much on an imagined and desired social context as it is on an informed and reflexive understanding of the communicative situation. Secondly, blogging practices include a variety of envisaged audience relationships, and some blogging practices appear to be primarilyself-directed with potential audiences playing a marginal role. Blogging’s technical characteristics and the social norms surrounding blogging practices appear to enable and reinforce this unanticipated lack of engagement with audiences. This perspective contrasts with studies of computer mediated communication that suggest bloggers would monitor their audiences and present themselves strategically to ensure interactions are successful in their terms. The study also points the way towards several avenues for further research including a more in-depth consideration of the neglected structural factors (both social and technical) which potentially influence blogging practices, and an examination of social network site use practices using a similar analytical approach.

scholarly journals Digital prefigurative participation: the entwinement of online communication and offline participation in protest events

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Mercea
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Risk Event ◽  
The Uk

This article reviews the main findings of a three year empirical study that examined the possible contribution of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to participation in offline social movement protest events. Participation was examined as manifest in mobilisation, identity-building and organisational transformation. Digital prefigurative participation is a tentative construct that attempts to capture the CMC aspect of engagement in the three processes. The participatory processes were probed in the contrasting circumstances of high and low risk protest events. This distinction has revealed some important differences in the structural factors that foster participation, primary among which has been organizational affiliation. Yet, it has remained largely unexplored in studies of Internet use in protest politics. Findings from two case studies of environmental protests in Romania and the UK suggest that digital prefigurative participation may be extensive among unaffiliated participants at a low-risk event and the affiliated at a high-risk one.

Computer Mediated Communication in Universities and Further Education Establishments

2011 ◽  
pp. 296-308
Author(s):  
Elayne Coakes ◽  
Dianne Willis
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Large Percentage ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Uk

This paper investigates the use of computer mediated communication (CMC) in colleges of further and higher education in the UK. Analysis is carried out by institutional type as preliminary investigation shows there are considerable differences between universities and colleges in terms of email usage. A total of 30 institutions replied to the survey: 14 Universities and 16 Colleges, some by email, others by post. This percentage is approximately 6.5% of all universities in the UK and 7% of all colleges. Whilst not a large percentage in total the results were so consistent across the sectors’ replies that they can be considered sufficiently representative of their sector. The study focuses on the use of email in support of the communication process and offers insights into the range of practice involved.

Agency and impoliteness in Korean online interactions

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-259
Author(s):  
Ariel Kim ◽  
Lucien Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Social Meanings

Abstract (Im)politeness research has often focused either on the importance of social norms or on the intentions of the speaker, with the active role of the listener in assigning social meanings overlooked. This limitation particularly applies to so-called “discernment languages” such as Korean and Japanese. The current paper addresses this gap by offering a small-scale qualitative study of recipient agency in Korean naturally occurring computer-mediated communication (CMC). The data analyzed includes 14 text messages between the recipient (the proprietor of an online food business) and his customer, which were posted on a blog that he owned and operated. We focus on how the recipient agentively evaluates the language usage of the customer, including inconsistent evaluations of her use of non-honorific language, or panmal. The results suggest that the instability of (im)politeness interpretations cannot be explained solely by social norms or intentions but should also include the socially-mediated agency of the recipient.

Computer-Mediated Communication - The Power of Email as a Driver for Changing the Communication Paradigm

2011 ◽  
pp. 106-130
Author(s):  
Dianne Willis
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Communication Paradigm ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Uk

Email has been with us now for a long time and is being increasingly adopted as a major communication tool in UK Higher Education (HE) establishments (colleges of Higher and Further Education and universities). As the use of email grows, the effect on communication patterns needs to be established. This chapter looks at current communication and working practices within a Higher Education institution in the UK (the author’s own). A survey has been conducted to elicit people’s feelings about the use of email and how they see future patterns of communication developing within the establishment. The questions that the survey set out to answer were as follows: • Preferred methods of communication; • Advantages and disadvantages of each of the communication methods utilized at Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU); • Efficiency of email; • Items not suitable for email transmission; • Ethical considerations in using email; • Who is contacted using email; and • Increase or decrease of email usage in the future. The specific focus of the survey was to elicit how staff feel about the increasing dependence on the use of email within the institution, and these findings are discussed in the results section. The chapter will present a literature review of the area, the framework for the study, the methodology utilized, the results of the questionnaire, conclusions and future trends.

It Was Only Natural

2010 ◽  
pp. 160-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Meyers Hendrickson
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Primary Means

This chapter describes the cross-disciplinary conceptual frameworks used to examine a popular American entertainment website that employs a virtual newsroom utilizing instant messaging as its primary means of communication. This computer-mediated communication reconfigures the standard place-based newsroom arrangements and significantly influences the group’s organizational dynamics and culture. Because of the distinctive content and unconventional organizational structure of this site, no single theoretical perspective can be applied to its organizational context and content. Therefore a combination of organization theory (Schein, 2004), and newsroom sociology theoretical frameworks articulates an emerging dynamic represented by such a medium’s evolution from hierarchical to networked organization. This chapter exemplifies the potential for new media researchers to adopt a cross-disciplinary approach to their analysis. As old models for understanding media cease to support the complex structures of new organizations we must look to other frameworks for additional guidance.

Synchronous VCMC with TalkAbroad: Exploring noticing, transcription, and learner perceptions in Spanish foreign-language pedagogy

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882095445
Author(s):  
Matt Kessler ◽  
Shawn Loewen ◽  
Daniel Trego
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Foreign Language Pedagogy ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Transcription Activity ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Pedagogy And Curriculum

This mixed-methods study investigates the use of synchronous video computer-mediated communication (SVCMC) in a U.S. university’s Spanish-as-a-foreign-language curriculum. Using the SVCMC platform TalkAbroad, the university’s Spanish program required second-year students to participate in five, 30-minute, SVCMC conversations with Spanish first language (L1) speakers. Students then reflected on their SVCMC conversations by replaying the recorded audio from those sessions and transcribing passages of their conversations. Using an interactionist perspective, this research explores the utility of: (1) the SVCMC conversations, and (2) the subsequent listening/transcription activity by examining students’ reported noticing of linguistic items (e.g. L1 speaker vocabulary, grammar, etc.). Additionally, we report students’ general perceptions of engaging in SVCMC with TalkAbroad. Students’ noticing and perceptions were investigated using a combination of two questionnaires ( N = 35) that were administered following (1) the SVCMC, and (2) the listening/transcription activity, along with semi-structured interviews ( n = 10). Findings suggest both the SVCMC and listening/transcription activities are effective in promoting the noticing of vocabulary and content, but not grammar. Finally, students generally reported positive perceptions of engaging in SVCMC for the purposes of L2 learning. Related implications for pedagogy and curriculum design are discussed.

Computer Mediated Communication

2011 ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Dianne Willis
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

Email has been with us now for a long time and is being increasingly adopted as a major communication tool in UK Higher Education establishments (colleges of higher and further education and universities). As the use of email grows, the effect on communication patterns needs to be established. This paper looks at current communication and working practices within a higher education institution in the UK (the author’s own). A survey has been conducted to elicit people’s feelings about the use of email and how they see future patterns of communication developing within the establishment.

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