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." ------------------------------ -- larry kolodney (The Devil's Advocate) UUCP: ...{ihnp4, decvax!genrad}!mit-eddie!lkk ARPA: lkk@mit-mc