Computer-mediated communication as a channel for social resistance: The strategic side of SIDE

In two studies, the authors tested predictions derived from the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) concerning the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to serve as a means to resist powerful out-groups. Earlier research using the SIDE model indicates that the anonymity of virtual groups can accentuate the lower differentials associated with salient social … Read more

When are net effects gross products? The power of influence and the influence of power in computer-mediated communication

The rush to judgment about the social effects of the new communications media has branded them as positive and negative in equal measure. Alienation from “real world’ relationships coupled with a lack of social regulation within the medium is balanced by liberation from the influences, inequalities, and identities to which people are subjected in face-to-face … Read more

Panacea or panopticon? The hidden power in computer-mediated communication

This article examines how interaction by means of computer-mediated communication (CMC) affects the operation of both status differentials and power relations, and attempts to identify the social psychological processes mediating the social and behavioral effects of these factors. The dominant assessment, particularly within social psychological analyses, is that CMC tends to equalize status, decentralize and … Read more

Power and gender in computer-mediated communication: A SIDE look

The new communications technologies are developing at such a fast pace that it is difficult for research and theorizing to keep up. Although exploring the range of applications and instantiations of the latest forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC), texting, and video-based phone systems provides many useful insights, research and theorizing that lags behind the technological … Read more