Communicating Online

Hiya,

John wrote:
I think there ARE some limitations in text-only communication (as in chat rooms) as a result of the lack of visual cues, but on the other hand I often am impressed at how well people do communicate in those environments.

I tend not to think of it in terms of limitations... but rather than it is a different situation or constellation of stimuli. All we have here is the verbal representation of our thoughts and emotions. The nonverbal and other stimuli that we normally have access to during our in-person interactions are missing in text-based interactions. We don't have all those contextual cues that we have in our in-person interactions that help us to be more sure that what we heard is indeed what the person meant to say and with which to decide how they meant what they said. See On Differences between in-person and on-line communication.

John wrote:
Of course, some people are more skilled and experienced than others.

Yes, as they are in person. There are skills that I think are important for communicating in-person that generalize well to online interactions. e.g, asking for clarification rather than just assuming that what you "heard" is what they meant to say. Qualifying one's opinions as just that--opinions--rather than framing them as "the truth". Summing up what you heard to make sure it's what they meant to say.... etc. See The Communication Process

John wrote:
It's interesting that the lack of face-to-face contact often results in people being more direct and honest in expressing themselves, which counterbalances, at least partly (and maybe a great deal) what is lost in meaning as a result of the loss of visual/auditory cues.

Hmmmmm... but on the flip side, it also frees them up to be more nasty than they might tend to be in-person.

Interesting stuff. :)
Betty

Replies:

Communicating online, by S L. Moess, 8/4/97

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