taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (06/28/86)
so indicates that (a) the research on this topic is published in very diverse places so nobody really knows where to track it down, and (b) academic stuff just doesn't get read very much (for understandable, if unfortunate, reasons). I'd just suggest that people interested in these and related matters read, for a start, NETWORK NATION, by Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff -- published in 1978 by Addison-Wesley. I have yet to read much in the following 8 years on this topic that wasn't considered, in detail, with empirical analysis, by Hiltz and Turoff. Amazingly, even articles in Harvard Business Review (the notorious recent article by Sara Kiesler) don't show any recognition of all this prior research, and talk about these issues as though they've been discovered or invented for the first time. We should continue to share our experiences -- they are real and important -- but we should also do our homework a bit better to take advantage of the considerable amount of prior study and consideration of interpersonal aspects of computer-mediated communication. Ron Rice
taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor) (07/01/86)
-------- This article is from RICE <RICE@USC-ECLB.ARPA> and was received on Sat Jun 21 06:12:12 1986 -------- [extracted from CRTNet Digest. They received a copy of the article on computer-based personalities (etc). --Dave] The experiences mentioned by Dave Taylor about online and offline human behavior are certainly intriguing and consequential. I would just like to mention, however, that there's been by now a fair amount of research, not just anecdotes, about this and related phenomena on computer-mediated human communication. On the one hand, it's always encouraging that the same sorts of experiences are related -- it provides a grass-roots corroboration for the more academic-type discussions. But on the other hand, it's a bit frustrating to hear/read these insights for the hundredth time. They are, of course, new for the person experiencing them. But it also indicates that (a) the research on this topic is published in very diverse places so nobody really knows where to track it down, and (b) academic stuff just doesn't get read very much (for understandable, if unfortunate, reasons). I'd just suggest that people interested in these and related matters read, for a start, NETWORK NATION, by Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff -- published in 1978 by Addison-Wesley. I have yet to read much in the following 8 years on this topic that wasn't considered, in detail, with empirical analysis, by Hiltz and Turoff. Amazingly, even articles in Harvard Business Review (the notorious recent article by Sara Kiesler) don't show any recognition of all this prior research, and talk about these issues as though they've been discovered or invented for the first time. We should continue to share our experiences -- they are real and important -- but we should also do our homework a bit better to take advantage of the considerable amount of prior study and consideration of interpersonal aspects of computer-mediated communication. Ron Rice