CMC
is Computer mediated communication that enables users to conduct web-based conversation. Users can speak with any person from around
the globe with CMC, by posing as anyone he/ she wants. There is no authenticity or validation to
prove the legitimacy of the person in communication. There are many cases of fraud and cheating or
false identities portrayed on CMC. A
user in conversation can write anything he/she thinks because there is threat
of face value.
F2F
meaning face-to-face communication. In
this type of communication users are in front of each other so the
communication is more effective because the person in conversation can consider
the non-verbal communication along with the verbal communication. The person’s body language, posture, gestures,
facial expression speak a lot about his/her motive, authenticity and
reliability. In face-to-face
communication sometimes the users become reluctant to express their perspective
openly that can jeopardize their face value.
Also in F2F the person in conversation can sometimes hold on to his
opinion for being evaluated or judged by the other person.
That’s a scary thought that “users can speak with any person from around the globe with CMC, by posing as anyone he/she wants.” People can feel free to write anything they want in CMC because there is no threat of losing face value. That’s the downside of the anonymity that comes with computer-mediated communication. The upside is that people can be uninhibited in commenting just for that reason—because they are anonymous to other users and don’t have to worry about losing face.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is so much easier to read a person’s non-verbal communication in face-to-face communication and so much easier to adapt conversation given the non-verbal messages and clues derived from the F2F communication. I suppose if group members work together online for a longer period of time, members could begin to recognize the non-verbal communication of other group members such as low-response rate or silence, but it would be much harder than F2F.