Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

those possible in traditional FtF interactions. For example, many people who belong to online selfhelp
groups discuss feelings and ideas that they would never dream of discussing with people in an FtF
interaction unless that person was their therapist. Furthermore, during CMC interactions an individual
can refine their message in a manner that is impossible to do during an FtF interaction, which help them
present a specific face to an interactant. I’m sure we’ve all written a text, Facebook post, or email and
then decided to delete what we’d just written rather than post or send it because it was not in our best
interest to put it out in the world. In CMC interactions, we have this ability to fine-tune our messages
before transmitting, whereas in FtF messages, we don’t have the ability to sit and ponder our responses
writing and rewriting them until we’re ready to orally communicate during a FtF interaction. Furthermore,
in FtF interactions, there is an expectation that the interaction keeps moving at a steady pace without the
ability to edit one’s ideas; whereas, with CMC we can take time to fine-tune our messages in a way that is
impossible during an FtF interaction. All of this helps an individual create the public face that they want
to be known by.
Key Takeaways
Uses and gratifications theory helps explain why people use the types of mass
media they do. Papacharissi and Rubin found that there were five reasons why
people use the Internet: interpersonal utility (allows people to interact with others),
pass time (helps people kill time), information seeking (enables people to locate
specific information they want or need), convenience (it’s faster than FtF or even
a phone call), and entertainment (people enjoy using the Internet).
Social presence theory helps us understand whether or not individuals using
CMC technologies perceive the people they are interacting with as “real.” Our
perceptions of social presence are largely based on the degree to which we can
interpret nonverbal cues from the people we are interacting with.
Media richness theory helps us understand CMC behavior by examining the
capacity that a type of media has for transmitting data. As media becomes richer
and has more nonverbal content, the easier it is for a receiver to interpret the
message accurately, which can, in turn, lead to more successful social interactions
online.
Social information processing (SIP_ theory helps researchers understand
the development of interpersonal relationships in CMC contexts. SIP argues
that overtime relationships formed in a CMC context can develop like those
relationships that develop FtF.
Exercises
Uses and gratifications theory is one of the oldest theories in media, and continues
to be one of the most commonly studied. For this exercise, find a research study
conducted in the previous five years that examines gratifications theory as related
to CMC. Look for the outcomes from that specific study and report them back to
your class.
Compare and contrast social presence theory, media richness theory, and
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Interpersonal Communication