lkk@mit-eddie.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (10/11/84)
From: Charles McGrew (The Moderator) <Human-Nets-Request@Rutgers>
Reply-to: HUMAN-NETS@RUTGERS
Subject: HUMAN-NETS Digest V7 #57
To: HUMAN-NETS@RUTGERS
From: Jef Poskanzer <Poskanzer.PA@XEROX.ARPA>
Subject: The New York Times on Flaming.
By Erik Eckholm
New York Times
Computer buffs call it "flaming." Now scientists are documenting
and trying to explaim the surprising prevalence of rudeness,
profanity, exultation and other emotional outbursts by people when
they carry on discussions via computer.
Observing both experimental groups and actual working
environments, scientists at Carnegie-Mellon University are comparing
decision-making through face-to-face discussions with those conducted
electronically. In the experiments, in addition to calling each other
more names and generally showing more emotion than they might face to
face, people "talking" by computer took longer to agree, and their
final decisions tended to involve more risks than those reached by
groups meeting in person.
As small computers proliferate, business discussions that were
once pursued face-to-face, by telephone or on paper are now taking
place by way of keyboards and video display terminals.
The unusual characteristics showing up in computer communications
should not be seen as entirely negative, say the researchers.
"This is unusual group democracy," said Sara Kiesler, a
psychologist at Carnegie-Mellon. "There is less of a tendency for
one person to dominate the conversation, or for others to defer to the
one with the highest status."
Studies of electronic mail in several Fortune 500 corporations
have confirmed the tendency for people to use more informal and
expressive language on the computer than when communicating in person,
by telephone or by memo.
The company studies also indicate that computers are permitting
much wider participation in discussions than in the past, with
employees far from headquarters now able to follow debates and make
their views known.
Unusually expressive language has been one of the most striking
characteristics of computer discussions studied in many different
contexts. "It's amazing," said Kiesler. "We've seen messages sent
out by managers - messages that will be seen by thousands of people -
that use language normally heard in locker rooms."
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larry kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
UUCP: ...{ihnp4, decvax!genrad}!mit-eddie!lkk
ARPA: lkk@mit-mc