Social psychology has a long history of researching the effects of communication technologies, such as the telephone and television, on individuals and groups. Social psychological research on the Internet has focused predominantly on text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC), such as e-mail, bulletin boards, newsgroups, conferencing, and chat. These have been compared both theoretically and empirically with face-to-face communication or with some other standard that controls for certain ... Continue Reading
Social psychological theories of computer-mediated communication: Social pain or social gain?
Spears, R., Lea, M., & Postmes, T. (2001). Social psychological theories of computer-mediated communication: Social pain or social gain? In W. P. Robinson and H. Giles (eds.) The New Handbook of Language and Social Psychology (pp. 601-623). Chichester: Wiley.
It is a safe bet that computer-mediated communication (CMC) features in the everyday life of those likely to be consulting this volume. Less than two decades ago this would not have been the case. The growth of the Internet has meant that CMC use has become ubiquitous in the developed world, and a marker of social exclusion for those denied access. Social science has hardly kept pace with these technological changes in communication, either in terms of understanding their global impacts or ... Continue Reading