Lost or Liberated?

Today I want to share with you some insights from my ‘Social Aspects of New Media’-course, in which we’re studying online relationships. So sit back, relax and soak up some knowledge.

The dawn of the Internet has given rise to many forms of computer mediated communication (CMC), such as email, MSN, forums and social networking sites.  In the 80’s and 90’s scientists started researching CMC and the social processes involved. They used existing media theories and were initially quite negative about the phenomenon and its’ outcomes. They basically said: Don’t even bother trying to form a relationship online; it’ll never be as good as an offline relationship. Their beliefs can be grouped together under what is known as the ‘Cues Filtered Out’ or ‘Lost’ perspective.

More recently, researchers developed several theories that focus on the positive outcomes of CMC. These researchers belong to the group that says: Not good at making friends? Don’t worry! You’ll find plenty online. This is called the ‘Cues Filtered In’ or ‘Liberated’ perspective.

Now, I won’t explain the details of the two perspectives in this post, so if you want to know more about them I suggest you look up CMC-guru J.B. Walther. What is more interesting is that the two groups have been “arguing” ever since the Liberated perspective came into existence. Of course, it helped camp Liberated a lot that CMC has developed from being solely text-based to predominantly multimedia. A webcam conversation via Skype does sound like it gives a lot more opportunities for relationship formation than an email conversation.

My opinion? I think CMC is great and offers a lot of possibilities. It has made my life a lot easier in some aspects (e.g. by allowing me to send quick emails), but more difficult in others (like I told you about in one of my previous posts). But when it comes to Lost and Liberated, I can’t find myself in either. I’m just not interested in making new friends online; I use CMC to keep in touch with the friends I already have. So what does that make me?

If you are interested in finding out more about my experiences with discovering corporate communication, check out my previous blogs, click the follow button for regular updates, or follow me on Twitter.

See you soon!

Sandra