Social Information Processing Reaction Paper
The evolution of how we communicate has changed over time and technology is a huge factor, which has changed the way we work, live, communicate and share information. With the rise of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace people have begun to examine how technology and communication have affected each other. The theory of Social Information Processing (SIP) was created by Joseph Walther and describes how relationships take more time to develop online than the traditional face-to-face method of communicating and as a result there is more Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). If you look back at how people communicated traditionally it was always more intimate and required physical face-to-face contact. However, in more recent years technology has changed the way we meet and communicate with others. Emailing, Instant Messaging, Texting, and social networking sites like Facebook didn’t exist. People communicated and shared information more directly. Nowadays, people can read or access information about someone via some sort of electronic device. And with that, are able to find out a person’s interests, beliefs, work, relationship status, education, and even photos. Before, the idea of beginning an intimate friendship using Computer-Mediated Communication would have been thought to be comical. Not even that long ago, emails and letters were only used to process information, disseminate news and conference long distance. Joseph Walther’s theory explains that this shift in technology also caused a shift in how we communicate, one being the factor of time in which a relationship can be formed. In the book Communication; A First Look at Communication Theory, by Em Griffin, it explains three theories that show the differences between face-to-face and Computer-Mediated Communication. The first theory is Social Presence Theory, which proposes that CMC takes
Bibliography: Griffin, Emory A. A First Look at Communication Theory. Seven ed. New York, N.Y: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.