Joseph Walther

Last updated
BornJoseph B. Walther
1958
OccupationProfessor
Alma mater University of Arizona
Subject Communication
Computer-mediated communication
Website
www.comm.ucsb.edu/people/joe-walther

Joseph B. Walther (born 1958) is the Mark and Susan Bertelsen Presidential Chair in Technology and Society and the Director of the Center for Information Technology & Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on social and interpersonal dynamics of computer-mediated communication, in groups, personal relationships, organizational and educational settings. He is noted for creating social information processing theory in 1992 [1] and the hyperpersonal model in 1996. [2]

Contents

Life and work

Joseph B. Walther was born in 1958 in Santa Monica, Calif. [3] Walther attended Sana Ana College, Saddleback College and spent time with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Coastline Community College before transferring to the University of Arizona and graduating magna cum laude in 1983. [3] Walther continued at the University of Arizona, earning a master's degree in speech communication in 1984 and a doctorate in 1990. [3]

Walther has previously held appointments in Information Technology, Psychology, and Education and Social Policy at universities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and was chair of the Organizational Communication and Information Systems division of the Academy of Management, and the Communication and Technology division of the International Communication Association.

Based on his research into computer-mediated communication, Walther introduced social information processing theory in 1992. [1] Social information processing theory finds that the development of relationships via computer-mediated communication depends on sufficient time and message exchanges, and on the application of available communicative cues by users. [1] The lack of nonverbal cues means that computer-mediated communications contain less information than face-to-face communications, however social information processing theory finds that longer and/or more frequent communication [4] as well as the use of other cues (i.e. spelling ability) [5] while participating in computer-mediated communication help address the issue of information exchange.

The social information perspective assumes that communicators in computer-mediated exchanges are similarly driven to acquire social information that will encourage the development of social relationships as are communicators using other media. [2] [6] Support for social information processing theory has been found in contexts such as online dating and online multi-player video games. [5]

Walther's research also led him to develop the hyperpersonal model of communication in 1996. [2] Walther's work on the hyperpersonal model is his research that has been most cited by other researchers. The hyperpersonal model finds that in certain circumstances, computer-mediated communication surpasses the affection and emotion of similar situations of face-to-face interpersonal communication. This model also offers a robust view of computer-mediated communication, taking into account the contributions of the sender, receiver, channel and feedback in a computer-mediated interaction. [2]

The hyperpersonal model finds that two characteristics of computer-mediated communication – reduced communication cues and potentially asynchronous communication – facilitate both optimized self-presentation by message senders and idealized perceptions of the sender by message receivers. [7] Walther's hyperpersonal model predicts that media classified as less rich by media richness theory or less natural by media naturalness theory allow more socially desirable levels of interaction than face-to-face communication. [8] [9]

Academic appointments

Bibliography

Selected works:

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communication theory</span> Proposed description of communication phenomena

Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about and analyzing key events, processes, and commitments that together form communication. Theory can be seen as a way to map the world and make it navigable; communication theory gives us tools to answer empirical, conceptual, or practical communication questions.

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The social identity model of deindividuation effects is a theory developed in social psychology and communication studies. SIDE explains the effects of anonymity and identifiability on group behavior. It has become one of several theories of technology that describe social effects of computer-mediated communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social information processing (theory)</span>

Social information processing theory, also known as SIP, is a psychological and sociological theory originally developed by Salancik and Pfeffer in 1978. This theory explores how individuals make decisions and form attitudes in a social context, often focusing on the workplace. It suggests that people rely heavily on the social information available to them in their environments, including input from colleagues and peers, to shape their attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions.

The hyperpersonal model is a model of interpersonal communication that suggests computer-mediated communication (CMC) can become hyperpersonal because it "exceeds [face-to-face] interaction", thus affording message senders a host of communicative advantages over traditional face-to-face (FtF) interaction. The hyperpersonal model demonstrates how individuals communicate uniquely, while representing themselves to others, how others interpret them, and how the interactions create a reciprocal spiral of FtF communication. Compared to ordinary FtF situations, a hyperpersonal message sender has a greater ability to strategically develop and edit self-presentation, enabling a selective and optimized presentation of one's self to others.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to communication:

Social presence theory explores how the "sense of being with another" is influenced by digital interfaces in human-computer interactions. Developed from the foundations of interpersonal communication and symbolic interactionism, social presence theory was first formally introduced by John Short, Ederyn Williams, and Bruce Christie in The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. Research on social presence theory has recently developed to examine the efficacy of telecommunications media, including SNS communications. The theory notes that computer-based communication is lower in social presence than face-to-face communication, but different computer-based communications can affect the levels of social presence between communicators and receivers.

Judee K. Burgoon is a professor of communication, family studies and human development at the University of Arizona, where she serves as director of research for the Center for the Management of Information and site director for the NSF-sponsored Center for Identification Technology Research. She is also involved with different aspects of interpersonal and nonverbal communication, deception, and new communication technologies. She is also director of human communication research for the Center for the Management of Information and site director for Center for Identification Technology Research at the university, and recently held an appointment as distinguished visiting professor with the department of communication at the University of Oklahoma, and the Center for Applied Social Research at the University of Oklahoma. Burgoon has authored or edited 13 books and monographs and has published nearly 300 articles, chapters and reviews related to nonverbal and verbal communication, deception, and computer-mediated communication. Her research has garnered over $13 million in extramural funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Counterintelligence Field Activity, and the National Institutes of Mental Health. Among the communication theories with which she is most notably linked are: interpersonal adaptation theory, expectancy violations theory, and interpersonal deception theory. A recent survey identified her as the most prolific female scholar in communication in the 20th century.

Intercultural communicative competence in computer-supported collaborative learning, is the application of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), to provide intercultural communicative competence (ICC) to its users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interpersonal communication</span> Exchange of information among people

Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of research that seeks to understand how humans use verbal and nonverbal cues to accomplish several personal and relational goals. Communication includes utilizing communication skills within one's surroundings, including physical and psychological spaces. It is essential to see the visual/nonverbal and verbal cues regarding the physical spaces. In the psychological spaces, self-awareness and awareness of the emotions, cultures, and things that are not seen are also significant when communicating.

Within sociology, Warranting theory is a theory adapted by Joseph B. Walther and Malcolm Parks from the works of Stone.

Mediated communication or mediated interaction refers to communication carried out by the use of information communication technology and can be contrasted to face-to-face communication. While nowadays the technology we use is often related to computers, giving rise to the popular term computer-mediated communication, mediated technology need not be computerized as writing a letter using a pen and a piece of paper is also using mediated communication. Thus, Davis defines mediated communication as the use of any technical medium for transmission across time and space.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Walther, Joseph B. (February 1992). "Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction: A Relational Perspective". Communication Research. 19 (1): 52–90. doi:10.1177/009365092019001003.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Walther, Joseph B. (February 1996). "Computer-Mediated Communication: Impersonal, Interpersonal, and Hyperpersonal Interaction". Communication Research. 23 (1): 3–43. doi:10.1177/009365096023001001.
  3. 1 2 3 Wellings, Elizabeth (2011). "Dr. Joseph B. Walther: Who's Who in Interpersonal Communication". Unpublished Manuscript. Department of Communication Studies, Texas State University.
  4. Whitty, Monica; Jeff Gavin (2001). "Age/Sex/Location: Uncovering the Social Cues in the Development of Online Relationships". CyberPsychology & Behavior. 4 (5): 623–630. doi:10.1089/109493101753235223. hdl: 2381/9609 . PMID   11725656.
  5. 1 2 Lampe, Cliff; Nicole Ellison; Charles Steinfield (2007). "A Familiar Face(book): Profile Elements as Signals in an Online Social Network". CHI 2007 Proceedings: Online Representations of Self: 435–444.
  6. Carlson, John R.; Robert W. Zmud (April 1999). "Channel Expansion Theory and the Experiential Nature of Media Richness Perceptions". The Academy of Management Journal. 42 (2): 153–170. doi:10.2307/257090. JSTOR   257090.
  7. Henderson, Samantha; Michael Gilding (2004). "'I've Never Clicked this Much with Anyone in My Life': Trust and Hyperpersonal Communication in Online Friendships". New Media & Society. 6 (4): 487–506. doi:10.1177/146144804044331.
  8. Duthler, Kirk W. (2006). "The Politeness of Requests Made Via Email and Voicemail: Support for the Hyperpersonal Model". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 11 (2): 500–521. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00024.x .
  9. Vlahovic, Tatiana A.; Roberts, Sam; Dunbar, Robin (2012). "Effects of Duration and Laughter on Subjective Happiness within Different Modes of Communication". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 17 (4): 436–450. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01584.x .