the problematics of interpersonal communication in the era of social networking
Social Networking, the “Third Place,” and the Evolution of Communication
The New Media Consortium’s Series of Online Conferences is designed to explore emerging topics in education and technology, using current communication technologies to bring people together online in a way that offers many of the same affordances of a face-to-face conference. Of particular importance are opportunities for the kinds of social interactions that make in-person conferences so valuable: hallway conversations, end-of-the-day informal gatherings, opportunities to speak with presenters in between sessions, and highly interactive breakout sessions that invite participation from the audience.
As part of a new approach to how we design our online conferences, this paper is being released in advance of the NMC Online Conference on the Evolution of Communication to spark discussion, discourse, and especially critical thinking on the topic. This first topical paper is being released in a form that encourages discussion and that itself embodies the topic of the changing nature of communication. The conference itself, to be held December 4-5, 2007, will take place in the virtual world of Second Life and will incorporate some of the tools and trends identified here.
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The purpose of this white paper is to put forth a proposition that we hope will generate considerable conversation. The premise is simple, but touches on concepts and ideas that are well established within the academy, and as such, it is a topic about which there may be some strongly held perspectives. Our premise is that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very ways we communicate—and even the ways we talk and think about communication—are changing as a result.
Part of this premise is backward looking, in the sense that if we set literature and the creative side of communication aside for a moment, the formal communication strategies we
The New Media Consortium’s Series of Online Conferences is designed to explore emerging topics in education and technology, using current communication technologies to bring people together online in a way that offers many of the same affordances of a face-to-face conference. Of particular importance are opportunities for the kinds of social interactions that make in-person conferences so valuable: hallway conversations, end-of-the-day informal gatherings, opportunities to speak with presenters in between sessions, and highly interactive breakout sessions that invite participation from the audience.
As part of a new approach to how we design our online conferences, this paper is being released in advance of the NMC Online Conference on the Evolution of Communication to spark discussion, discourse, and especially critical thinking on the topic. This first topical paper is being released in a form that encourages discussion and that itself embodies the topic of the changing nature of communication. The conference itself, to be held December 4-5, 2007, will take place in the virtual world of Second Life and will incorporate some of the tools and trends identified here.
_____________________________
The purpose of this white paper is to put forth a proposition that we hope will generate considerable conversation. The premise is simple, but touches on concepts and ideas that are well established within the academy, and as such, it is a topic about which there may be some strongly held perspectives. Our premise is that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very ways we communicate—and even the ways we talk and think about communication—are changing as a result.
Part of this premise is backward looking, in the sense that if we set literature and the creative side of communication aside for a moment, the formal communication strategies we