Chapter 2:

CMC, Diffusion and Social

Theories

By: Roger Burgos, Michelle Villegas, Yaseen Ali, Ebony Oliver, Qaudir Johnson

IDENTITY

CMC (Computer Mediated Communications) is

connected to the historical development of the

Internet as a revolutionary infrastructure that

quickly spawned numerous useful communication

tools.

CMC began as message bulletin board systems (BBS)

and email, and quickly grew through development

of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the 1990’s.

IDENTITY

IDENTITY

Barnes states that

“Internet

interactivity occurs

as interpersonal

interactivity,

informational

interactivity, and

human computer

interaction (HCI).”

The social process

of human-

Internet

interaction is

found within

social media

communication.

INTERNET HISTORY

1960’s military project called the Advanced

Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

by the U.S.D.D. had a goal of connecting east

and west coasts of the U.S. with instantaneous

computer communication.

ARPANET demonstrated that data could be

divided into labeled packets, sent and then re-

assembled, and this packet switching model was

also adopted as an efficient way to move

messages on the Internet.

INTERNET HISTORY

Some of the first online communities, such as

Classmates.com, LiveJournal, MySpace,

LinkedIn, developed the concept of user profiles

that contained personal information going

beyond sharing email addresses.

By the time Facebook, Twitter and other social

networking sites had become popular, social

networking was a mainstream form of online

communication.

SOCIAL NETWORK SITE DEFINITIONS

Is a web-based services that allow individuals to construct public or semi-

profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they

share a connection and view and traverse their list of connections and those

made by others within the system.

SOCIAL NETWORK SITE DEFINITIONS

Avoids the word “networking.”

Ex: LinkedIn reconnects business contacts

by offering current work status and other

information.

Social Media Site Definitions

Some social media communication sites, such

as Twitter, make it easier for a user to

maintain an anonymous profile.

At the same time, a user may broadcast

produced messages through blogs, video

blogs (vlogs), podcasts and other means.

Interaction

The desire to use the online network to connect with others and

broaden social networks is at the heart of the social media

communication shift.

John Perry Barlow’s A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.

Governments shouldn’t have “sovereignty” over “cyberspace” and its users.

Barlow’s Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was founded in the

1990’s and actively fights government regulation and intrusions.

i.e. National Security Agency (NSA) collection of online and telephone data.

Howard Rheingold deduced that virtual communities involve creation

Community

Online community emerges from the development of individual social identities

and realistic relationships between people.

Social media communication platforms create symbolic environments in which

metaphors (i.e. Facebook “Wall”) construct shared meaning and understanding.

Stronger Relationships= Sharing>Disclosure

Diffusion of New Ideas

US is slow to the change in technology, but developing countries like India and

China are booming.

Diffusion of New Ideas

Innovators (2.5%) earliest people

experimenting with change

Early Adopters (13.5%) jump on board of a

new trend

Early Majority (34%) first wave

Late majority (34%) last wave

Laggards (16%) remaining slow to change

Uses & Gratification

Social media can offer an almost unlimited range of uses that may or may

not satisfy the expectations of the user.

While social media is a new found hope to break down traditional forms of

communication. Theory suggests that this is not the case with the use of

traditional mass media.

The open and easy communication that is social media makes solidarity

more difficult because of different social backgrounds and impersonality

which means absence of human character.

Uses & Gratification

People on social media use it to fill them in on the world around them

relaxation and entertainment sometimes to escape the world that they live

in

Researchers have linked social media use to avoid loneliness and a

development to new habits.

A 2011 Edelman U.S. survey confirmed that 70% of people from the ages of

18-29 view social media as a form of entertainment

Uses & Gratification

Computer mediated communication “CMC” has explored the impact that

media technology has on creating interaction, online communities and

sense of identity.

Personal & family pages allow people to share information all over the world.

Social media communication is an evolutionary way for people of different

social and cultural backgrounds to connect and meet new people.

Online Culture and Power

Social media communication happens with a

cultural context of values, rituals, and even

“chaos” (Carey, 1992, pg.34)

Social media extends the shifting emphasis toward

the importance of communication through being

shared, modified, and preserved.

Media technology uses narrative storytelling

techniques in communities

Discussion Questions: Strategies and Tactics

1. How has CMC influenced the way we form relationships? How may it blur

the lines between reality and fantasy?

2. How would a visualization of your social networks depict communication

patterns and relationships? How could this influence future online

behavior?

3. Describe your favorite Internet meme: Why do you like it? How does it

transfer cultural understandings from one person to another?

DJ Khaled