10. Cyber-attraction: The emergence of computer-mediated communication in the development of interpersonal relationships

The main goal of this chapter is the analysis of cyber-attraction: the emergence of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) in the development of interpersonal attraction. According to recent theories and studies, it would seem that not only does CMC support emotional and intensely involving communication between people, but also that it would be characterized by and offer a specific allure, a special element that makes it so fascinating. In particular, different forms of miscommunication implicit, say not to say, and obliquity – play an important role in this process. Starting from this background, the chapter addresses the effects of CMC on interpersonal communication, and especially on the development of interpersonal attraction, aiming at identifying the specific features that this process has in cyberspace. At the same time, the chapter underlines the fact that online and offline are not two separate dimensions to be dealt with separately and almost dichotomously. A broader approach to the study of interpersonal communication in CMC is needed: flexible and complex enough to account for the use of communication strategies in interaction contexts characterized by different levels of virtuality and by the presence of interfaces.

[1]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Say not to say : new perspectives on miscommunication , 2002 .

[2]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[3]  B. Wellman,et al.  Studying On-Line Social Networks , 1999 .

[4]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[5]  S. Duck,et al.  Steady as (s)he goes: Relational maintenance as a shared meaning system. , 1994 .

[6]  David Schnarch,et al.  Sex, Intimacy, and the Internet , 1997 .

[7]  K. Grammer,et al.  The Courtship Dance: Patterns of Nonverbal Synchronization in Opposite-Sex Encounters , 1998 .

[8]  M. Wanzer,et al.  Are funny people popular? An examination of humor orientation, loneliness, and social attraction , 1996 .

[9]  Edward E. Jones,et al.  Interpersonal attraction. 2nd ed. , 1978 .

[10]  Mike Nicholls,et al.  On the internet , 2004, Biological Psychiatry.

[11]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  Empathic communities: balancing emotional and factual communication , 1999, Interact. Comput..

[12]  E. Goffman.  The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life , 1959 .

[13]  Maureen S. Battistella,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[14]  ANDREA BAKER,et al.  Two By Two in Cyberspace: Getting Together and Connecting Online , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[15]  J. Baudrillard.  De la séduction , 2000 .

[16]  D B Givens,et al.  The nonverbal basis of attraction: flirtation, courtship, and seduction. , 1978, Psychiatry.

[17]  J. Chatwin.  Conversation analysis. , 2004, Complementary therapies in medicine.

[18]  I. Altman,et al.  Social penetration: The development of interpersonal relationships , 1973 .

[19]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Book Reviews : Online Communities: A Case Study of the Office of the Future , 1984 .

[20]  Jae-Shin Lee,et al.  Isn't That Spatial?: Distance and Communication in a 2-D Virtual Environment , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[21]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Research on Computer Supported Cooperative Work , 1997 .

[22]  張富鈞,et al.  從人際吸引(interpersonal attraction)的觀點談體育課中師生的互動 , 2000 .

[23]  A. Mehrabian.  Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes , 1971 .

[24]  S. R. Hiltz,et al.  Experiments in group decision making: Communication process and outcome in face-to-face versus computerized conferences. , 1986 .

[25]  Jenny Preece,et al.  Online Communities: Designing Usability and Supporting Sociability , 2000 .

[26]  M. Trost,et al.  A reproductive exchange model of heterosexual relationships: Putting proximate economics in ultimate perspective. , 1989 .

[27]  Patricia Wallace.  The Psychology of the Internet , 1999 .

[28]  C. E. SHANNON,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[29]  Fabrizia Mantovani,et al.  Networked Seduction: A Test-Bed for the Study of Strategic Communication on the Internet , 2001, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[30]  Willard Waller,et al.  The family : a dynamic interpretation , 1951 .

[31]  D. Hindman.  The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier , 1996 .

[32]  R. Rice.  Media Appropriateness Using Social Presence Theory to Compare Traditional and New Organizational Media , 1993 .

[33]  Á. Háy,et al.  Sex , 1980 .

[34]  J. Walther.  Anticipated Ongoing Interaction Versus Channel Effects on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction , 1994 .

[35]  G. Riva,et al.  Communications Through Virtual Technologies: Identity, Community and Technology in the Communication Age , 2001 .

[36]  Laurel Nan Hellerstein.  The social use of electronic communication at a major university , 1986 .

[37]  J. Walther.  Impression Development in Computer-Mediated Interaction. , 1993 .

[38]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  Empathic communities: reaching out across the Web , 1998, INTR.

[39]  L. Suchman.  Plans and situated actions , 1987 .

[40]  G. Mantovani.  New Communication Environments: From Everyday to Virtual , 1996 .

[41]  J. W. McCormick,et al.  Computer friends and foes: Content of undergraduates' electronic mail , 1992 .

[42]  Jacqueline G. Ord.  Who's Joking? The Information System at Play , 1989, Interact. Comput..

[43]  Deb Levine,et al.  Virtual Attraction: What Rocks Your Boat , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[44]  Malcolm R. Parks.  Making Friends in Cyberspace , 1996, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[45]  Deirdre Wilson,et al.  Mutual knowledge and relevance in theories of comprehension , 1998 .

[46]  R. Rice.  Computer-Mediated Communication and Organizational Innovation , 1987 .

[47]  G. Riva,et al.  Computer-mediated communication: identity and social interaction in an electronic environment , 1998 .

[48]  M. Spinks.  Doing internet research: critical issues and methods for examining the net , 2001 .

[49]  L. Anolli,et al.  Behind dark glasses: irony as a strategy for indirect communication. , 2002, Genetic, social, and general psychology monographs.

[50]  Nancy Baym,et al.  The Performance of Humor in Computer-Mediated Communication , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[51]  Russell Spears,et al.  Love at first byte? Building personal relationships over computer networks. , 1995 .

[52]  SUSAN E. BRENNAN,et al.  Conversation with and through computers , 1991, User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction.

[53]  S. Jourard,et al.  Some factors in self-disclosure. , 1958, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[54]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication , 1986 .