Unit 4-Describing CMC: Interpersonal Dynamics Summary

This unit deals mostly with the downsides of the Internet.  CMC, to some people, prevents people from communicating with members of their own family and decreases their social circle and increases loneliness.  Two terms used to describe CMC are Allegation of asociality, bad communication because the quality of communication is reduced, and Allegation of antisociality, bad communication because it has a negative impact on offline communication.  Three approaches that suggest CMC lacks important qualities of FtF communication are Social Presence, Cuelessness, and Media Richness.  However, the idea of Hyperpersonal Communication suggests that CMC can be friendlier than FtF because of online group support, being more relaxed and happy with oneself, and being able to compose messages more thoughtfully.  Overall, CMC can either be a cause of asociality and antisociality or can allow a person to be more expressive.

Unit 3-Theorizing CMC: Technology and Social Interaction Summary

In unit 3, CMC deals with a range of questions about the relationship between humans and technology such as how people interact with technology, how people incorporate technology into their everyday social lives, how people interact through technology, and how people talk about technology.  This unit also describes how the internet has come from a long line of communication including the printing press, telegraph, telephone, radio, and television and humans continue to manipulate information and messages.  An important term discussed in this unit is Determinism which makes the assumption that technology is the primary cause of major social and historical changes and profound social and psychological influences at the microsocial level of the regular use of tools.  The internet has an impact on people's lives with its design and commercial ideologies, its practical and material affordances and is uses and gratifications.

Artifact #1

This study shows that the Internet is now the main source for national and international news rather than television.  In 2010, 655 of people younger than 30 stated that the internet is their go-to source for news, which nearly doubled from 2007, while the number for television dropped from 68% to 52%.  Out of all the 1,500 Americans who were surveyed, 41% said they get their news from the internet, up 17% from 2007, while 66% went to television, down 74%.  Of those 1,500 American adults surveyed, 48% of those ages 30 to 59 cite the internet as their main source for news which went up from 32% from 2007.  14% of people who are 65 and older now use the internet which has risen from 5%.  All of these statistics, go hand-in-hand will the rise of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.  Since 2008, tweets have risen from 5,000 daily in 2007 to 90 billion in 2010, while Facebook has grown from 30 million users in 2007 to 500 million users in 2010.  Because the internet provides things such as online streaming and internet-t.v. connections, people have more viewing options.  As much as I love to watch television, I hardly ever watch the news on T.V.  I use the internet for my source of news because the minute I get online, I see what is going on in the world.  However, I do not really pay much attention to the news anyway.  If I do watch the news, it will most likely be through the computer.