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Concept 1: Asynchronicity

“Asynchronous electronic communication is not the opposite of real-time, synchronous communication: rather it describes forms of communication that appear differently ‘located in time’ depending on the perspective of the sender and receiver.” (Allen, n.d)

“Asynchronous communication allows you to check in and check out on your own time. The conversation is a stream into which you can choose to dip your toes or go for a swim, or just gaze upon from a distance, depending on your mood.” (Friedman, 2009)

There are many benefits of asynchronous communication. Asynchronicity allows organisations freedom as they are less likely to be bound by time and space. Organisations are able to complete activities in a much more efficient manner. It would seem that most people have learnt to utilise this developing type of communication. Asynchronicity gives users instant gratification and allows users valuable time to process tasks and requests.

E-mail has truly changed not only the way organisations work but also how we operate in our private lives. As described in the article E-mail, incremental reading, creativity, and time-management written by Piotr Wozniak “[w]hat took months in the 18th century, takes seconds today. What took a couple of dollars and previous time needed for telephone synchronization in the early 1990’s today, most people in the industrialised world can replace with a few clicks of the mouse.” We are now part of this industrialised and evolving world of communication in cyberspace.

Asynchronous communication comes in its many forms, which have long been part of our society starting with telephones and faxes. It is however, easier and more efficient than ever before to communicate with people online. Although there are negative aspects there are many positive developments contributing to its success such as instant messaging, social networking, e-mail, Internet telephony and distant education.

Wozniak (2004) argues in his article “the importance and value of asynchronicity”. He goes on to say that “[t]here seems to be a war going on between those who see “instant feedback” as the way of the future, while others insist “asynchronous communication” is superior. Although, instant communication delivers speed, it also feeds on human weaknesses that adversely affect creativity and efficiency.”

“Apart from delivering speed, sometimes instant communication is favoured as it delivers instant gratification.” (E-mail, incremental reading, creativity, and time-management, 2009) Psychologically it would appear humans prefer instant gratification. In Psychology of Cyberspace written by John Suler he explains that “not having to deal with a person’s immediate reaction can be disinhibiting. If it were real life, it would be like saying something to someone, magically suspending time before that person can reply, and then returning to the conversation when you’re willing and able to hear the response. Immediate, real-time feedback from others tends to have a very powerful effect on the ongoing flow of how much people reveal about themselves.”

Asynchronicity occasionally lacks instant gratification; however it does encourage efficiency, allows users to organise activities more effectively and advances our communication skills. It is the fastest and most effective way that people can accomplish multiple tasks, it continues to provide us with a growing array of benefits such as social networking, blogs, online forums, distant education, instant messaging and group chats. Asynchronous communication forges a less stressful working environment for organisations as employees have a simple systemised way to communicate with others both inside and outside the organisation. Asynchronicity is vastly superior and in time those that see its existence as negative will adapt.

Site 1: Psychology of Cyberspace
http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html#asynchronicity

Psychology of Cyberspace supplied me with interesting information regarding the psychology of asynchronous communication. It gave me a psychological perspective on the way humans communicate and how we perceive things through online communications. This site gave me the knowledge to critique asynchronous communication and showed me the relationship and relevance of psychology in the communication process. The information was useful and significant in analysing asynchronous communication.

Site 2: Email, incremental reading, creativitiy, and time-management.
http://www.supermemo.com/articles/e-mail.htm

The Email, incremental reading, creativity and time-management article gave me insight into how people use e-mail and other forms of asynchronous communication. It explained how e-mail offers new ways of employing incremental reading in creative communication and remote brainstorming. The article presents a short overview of benefits and disadvantages of using e-mail in communication with the view to maximizing the creativity/time ratio. The information provided was useful in evaluating asynchronous communications and it explored the many positive aspects and negative aspects of ever evolving type of communication. This site also provided me with my Asynchronicity concept.

Bibliography

E-mail, incremental reading, creativity, and time-management. (2009). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from Supermemo: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/e-mail.htm

Friedman, K. (2009). Asynchronicity. Retrieved May 1, 2009, from Keywords: http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2007/04/01/asynchronicity/

Physcology of Cyberspace. (2009). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from John Suler's The Psychology of Cyberspace: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html#asynchronicity

Concept 7: Netiquette

“Good communication practice on the Internet is not something one ‘learns’, but something one ‘practices’ so as to teach others, less familiar than yourself, how it is done.” (Allen, n.d)

The internet allows information to be quickly and easily exchanged between people and machines around the globe. “The Internet is a relatively new medium - different from any means of communication that human kind has previously known.” (Introduction to Network Etiquette, 2009) Users are still having difficultly making and adhering to common rules put in place. Over time users have out of necessity created a form of conduct . This code of ethics has been labed “netiquette”, a combination forged from “network etiquette”.

Cyberspace can be described as a new online culture or society. When we enter any new culture it is pivotal that we are aware of its social etiquette otherwise we are likely to encounter errors in our ways. As Shea (2009) states, “[t]o make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you’re interacting with other real people – not just characters on a screen, but actual live human characters. We forget that we are communicating with people through a new cyber culture and this can cause unintentional conflicts due to miscommunication.”

Netiquette has been developed so our online encounters are harmonious and our communication is smooth. “With e-mail now a primary form of communication for many, you want to ensure that what you send is well-received.” (Flynn, 2009) The difficult part of communicating effectively in cyberspace is that we don’t have body language to indicate the tone of the conversation. As Cook (2009) describes, “Body language or, as it is also known, non-verbal communication, is about all the things that people say and do without using words. Research suggests that more than 70% of communication occurs without people having to say a single word.” Without body language we don’t have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice to communicate as we usually would, so it is no wonder netiquette is so important to enhance emotion and maintain a level of politeness within online communications and cyber encounters.

There appears to be many predetermined rules for network etiquette, however there is no one regulator so it then becomes our responsibility that our contributions online are appropriate and adhering to the basic code of conduct. There are many forms of asynchronous communication where these rules apply for example through emails, online chats, forums, blogs, instant messaging and much more. An interesting point that Flynn (2009) states is “[s]omething we must continue to remember is that e-mail prudence is also becoming more important as courts now recognise e-mail messages as evidence. So we must be mindful of what we post online especially if it is through a company owned email account as the company owns the e-mail messages, not the employee.”

There are many reasons as to why we as a society need to abide by a form of etiquette and it is becoming more valid that this code of conduct be adapted to all facets of our lives, even online. We have been reminded of the importance of Netiquette throughout our studies and discussions online. It really is simple “[d]o unto others as you’d have others do unto you” (Shea, 2009). We use the internet as a means of communicating with others and socialising harmoniously so the last thing we want is to upset others and cause conflict, hence why netiquette has been embraced by the cyber community.

Site 1: Netiquette – Introduction
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html
The Netiquette website delivers in depth information into internet etiquette. The website has been structured around Virginia Shea’s book Netiquette. Excerpted from her book she elaborates each of 10 rules she has created for internet etiquette and she thoroughly explains the values surrounding what is now known as Netiquette. The website supplied me with valuable and useful information to analyse the netiquette concept. It also allowed me to see one of the many views and one version of the many rules that depict internet etiquette.

Site 2: Introduction to Network Etiquette
http://www.namastecafe.com/computer/netiquette%20.htm

This website shows the interesting and unique aspects surrounding netiquette. It explains netiquette in contrast to a hard-and-fast system of rules that is always evolving and is given room for interpretation. This introduction provided me with useful information, however the rules that were conveyed were also the same rules featured in Virginia Shea’s book Netiquette. I found the information very useful as it depicted different aspects of Netiquette and opened my mind to another facet of this code of conduct. This website reiterated the meaning of Netiquette and the common sense rules that it encapsulates.

Bibliography

Cook, R. (2009). Working Abroad - Body Language. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from BBC World Service: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/business/wab/u3_1_1.shtml

Flynn, M. K. (2009). CNNdotCom Tools - Mind your Netiquette. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/21/netiquette.tools/

Introduction to Network Etiquette. (2009). Retrieved May 6, 2009, from Namastecafe: http://www.namastecafe.com/computer/netiquette%20.htm

Netiquette - Internet Etiquette. (2009). Retrieved May 10, 2009, from Living Internet: http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ia_nq.htm

Shea, V. (2009). Introduction. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from Netiquette: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/rule1.html

Concept 16: Communication and communication management: melding

“Internet communications blur the boundaries between the communicative data and its surrounding metadata, between the initialisation of communication, the act itself and consequences from that act.” (Allen, n.d)

The evolution of communication online is amazing. The social presence of people online continues to grow at a rapid rate. A valid point from Coyle and Vaughn (2008) is that “[s]ocial networks and the need to communicate are universal human conditions. A general assumption is that communication technologies help to increase and strengthen social ties. The Internet provides many social networking opportunities.” Our real life interactions and our online encounters have been smeared together as asynchronous communication becomes the way of the future.

We are presented with many so many new online environments and tools that the nature of communication continues to develop and become more advanced. In Social Networking, “The Third Place”, and the Evolution of Communication it is explained that “[e]mail has had a profound effect on the way people keep in touch. Communications are shorter and more frequent and response time has greatly diminished; we are surprised if someone we wish to contact does not have an email address.” As a society we now have greater expectations of those we are communicating with. “Sending a letter through the postal mail sets up an expectation of a response that will come in days; email, in hours; instant messaging, in minutes.” (Social Networking, "The Third Place", and the Evolution of Communication, 2007)

Cyberspace demonstrates the many opportunities and challenges in communicating.
There are many aspects lacking in online communication such as body language and the visual component of a conversation. This however, does not seem to hinder asynchronous communication. “Most social networking sites encourage communication with others by providing directories of relevant user populations, opportunities for self-description and content uploads, and/or recommender systems. Some researchers suggest that technology-mediated communication fosters “connected presence” and that offline social networks are affected by the technology that is used for communication.” (Coyle & Vaughn, 2008)

Computers along with the Internet are the new medium for communications. The internet is now our gateway to not only social networking but professional interactions. “ Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and virtual environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft have become online meeting spaces where users—members, residents, or players—can interact and express themselves.” (Coyle & Vaughn, 2008) It is the reason users log on, to communicate and express themselves among those in their social network. The internet allows us to keep in touch with many networks and online communities and provides us with a larger social following. It gives us the opportunity to keep up-to-date with family and friends across the globe. Organisations utilise the internet for communicating via e-mail and confrence calls, while allowing employees to login remotely to the organisations network from anywhere in the world. Coyle and Vaughn (2008) point out that “[a]s more people turn to the Internet for professional and social purposes, we are seeing new means of communication, new places to communicate, and new avenues of interation unfold at a rapid pace.”

“We are witnessing a breathtaking evolution of new forms of digital communication. More than witnessing, we are facilitating it. All of this is unfolding so quickly that we do not have time to pause and reflect on what is happening.” (Iskold, 2007) Communication through the Internet is now part of most peoples daily routine. It is the gateway to an array of social networks and societys for both proffessional and social endevours. The Internet is the “Evolution of Communication”.

Site 1: New Media Consortium
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Evolution-of-Communication.pdf

The New Media Consortium’s online article explored the emerging topic of Social Networking, the “Third Place,” and the Evolution of Communication. Using current communication technologies they discussed the nature of communication and its substantial change and development over the years. The article went on to explore new online communication tools, virtual environments, and the expectations we place on those we communicate with. It gave me valuable information and a unique insight into the different ways in which people communicate online, our expectation of others and how it is affecting today’s society.

Site 2: Alcatel Lucent
http://www.alcatellucent.com/enrich/v3i12009/pdf/BLTJ_Social_Networking_-_Communication_Revolution_or_Evolution.pdf

The Alcatel Lucent website provided an excellent article called Social Networking: Communication Revolution or Evolution? The article gave me insight into social networks and the need for people to communicate online. It explained how social ties are increased and strengthened through the development of communication technologies. The article explored the affects of social networking on individual relationships, how individuals use social networking sites to expand their social networks and in general it’s affects on people emotionally. It also examined further literature on social networking and developed my knowledge of the concept.

Bibliography

Coyle, C. L., & Vaughn, H. (2008). Social Networking - Communication Revolution or Evolution. Retrieved May 8, 2009, from Alcatel Lucent: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/enrich/v3i12009/pdf/BLTJ_Social_Networking_-_Communication_Revolution_or_Evolution.pdf

Iskold, A. (2007, March 30). Evolution of Communication: From Email to Twitter and Beyond. Retrieved May 8, 2009, from Read Write Web: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/evolution_of_communication.php

Saffer, D. (2007, May 21). The Continuum of Online Communication. Retrieved May 8, 2009, from Adaptive Path: http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/05/21/the-continuum-of-online-communication/

Social Networking, "The Third Place", and the Evolution of Communication. (2007). Retrieved May 8, 2009, from New Media Consortium: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Evolution-of-Communication.pdf

Young, R. (2006, October 9). The Future of Social Networks - Communications. Retrieved May 9, 2009, from Gigaom: http://gigaom.com/2006/10/09/the-future-of-social-networks-communication/

Concept 17: The impact of text-based real-time chat

“Communicating in real-time with text enables a form of 'authoring of the self' that is similar to the processes of face-to-face speech but which is much more amenable to authorial control, experimentation and reflection. Further, text-based communication carries with it the possibility for multiple, differing conversations occurring simultaneously, relying on the ability of the human brain to deal with text much better than speech.” (Allen, n.d)

Chat rooms play an integral part in human interaction online. Real-time chat is now available within many social networking sites and virtual gaming sites. As Roos explains “[c]hat rooms along with email, instant messaging and online social networks are virtual extensions of real-world human interaction. These extensions are online spaces where we communicate with one another through text-based real-time chat.” Text-based chat is becoming common practice in today’s technologically advanced society.

As Gajadhar and Green discuss “[r]eal-time chat messages depend not only on the words used but also how we express meaning through nonverbal cues. Real-time chat allows us to be direct and unrestrained in our communications. While online chat does contain many of the elements of face-to-face conversation, it differs from ordinary chat in that it is a textual representation of conversation.” Text-based real-time chat is a key component to the development of online communications. Morrison, Heacox, Moore and Yturralde (2004) explain that “[t]he ability to conduct a real-time conversation online has become a ubiquitous component of today’s communications environment.” This mode of communication is facilitating us in our daily routines, giving us the ability to take on more activities, have multiple conversations over an extended period of time and also allowing us to continue with our daily tasks.

Text-based real-time chat is incorporated into the majority of users Internet interactions. As mentioned in Psychotherapy in Cyberspace (2000) “[p]eople use this form of communication to express and explore themselves with the help and feedback from others.” Online chat rooms allow users to be open and direct and it provides a safe place for people to put forth their views. Morrison, Heacox, Moore and Yturralde go on to explain that “[c]hat rooms allow group members to engage in “real-time” discussion without needing to be in the same physical location”, however this type of communication allows us to feel as though we are perhaps in a public or private space depending on where and who we are chatting to. We like to engage in discussions, have our opinions, forge new friendships and explore ourselves through online chatting and social networking.

There are many benefits of real-time chat. We are able to keep a history of conversations, chatting is quick and efficient and we can conduct numerous conversations in various chat rooms. Online chat provides so many options for participants. Chat has evolved from what was once a novelty application used mostly for social networking to becoming a pivotal part of many organisations. Text-based real-time chat is now a method often used by many professionals in a vast array of specialities. Businesses are able to work with clients, mostly because it is easy to use and a very popular method of communicating. Chat is usually synchronous and as a result offers a fast, efficient way for people to communicate today. Real-time chat immerses us in a fast paced Cyberspace, where we participate in many activities simultaneously. Text based interaction resembles face-to-face conversation and it will continue to be an expansion of our real lives through Cyberspace.

Site 1: The Command and Control Research Program –
http://www.dodccrp.org/events/2004_CCRTS/CD/papers/086.pdf
This article explained how real-time “conversation” online has become a ubiquitous component of today’s communications environment. It explored the concept of online chatting and communication and how it provides users with a format that facilitates multi-tasking. The article went on to discuss how chat has become a critical tool within the military and how real-time chat has is now used within a myriad of organisations as a new medium with which to communicate. It also informed me of how chat enabled people to complete multiple activities much more efficiently.

Site 2: Educause Quarterly
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/TheImportanceofNonverbalElemen/157368
Educause Quarterly’s article called The Importance of Nonverbale Elements in Online Chat provided me with useful information on the use of nonverbal elements in text-based virtual interactions. It discussed how these interactions provide participants with some of the richness of real-time, face-to-face interactions. The article explores aspects of communicating online and how online chatting is an unrestricted and direct way to communicate with each other. It gave me further insights into online chat and explained how chat provides a nonthreatening environment, which enhances existing asynchronous forums. The article also showed the ways in which online chat can facilitate an online real-time learning community.

Bibliography

Gajadhar, J., & Green, J. (2005). The Importance of Nonverbal Elements in Online Chat. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from Educause Quarterly: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/TheImportanceofNonverbalElemen/157368

Morrison, J., Heacox, N., Moore, R., & Yturralde, R. (2004). Real-time Online Communications: ‘Chat’ Use in Navy Operations. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from The Command and Control Research Program: http://www.dodccrp.org/events/2004_CCRTS/CD/papers/086.pdf

Psychotherapy in Cyberspace. (2000). Retrieved May 8, 2009, from John Suler's The Psychology of Cyberspace : http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/therapy.html#text

Roos, D. (n.d.). How Chat Rooms Work. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from How Stuff Works: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/chat-room.htm