Social Cues

Social Cues

I was thinking about social cues and the argument that goes along with them, the Reduced Social Cues Model. Social cues provide information about the interaction and the situation, thus according to the model the lack of these clues makes CMC less effective than face-to-face communication. I disagree. This blog is bound to be more adventurous than I would ever be in a face-to-face conversation, and the reason for that is all the benefits to CMC, which I feel make it equally as effective.

Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXY0XwDsQ6c

There are just some days where I need a few minutes break from the chaotic life I live. The fifteen units, forty hour work week, and hours upon hours I spend studying and doing homework catch up with me, but instead of reeling in the turmoil I can instead jump online and vent my worries away. I can talk to strangers, talk to friends, or post a blog such as this where only the random passerby will have the misfortune of reading it. Because the reader need not know what I look like or where I come from, what matters lies only in what I have to say. If they like it then they can communicate with me, if not ignore me. But maybe just maybe, I might open the gates to other student/worker bloggers who were waiting for the opportunity to tell their story too. This may sound a bit ridiculous, but I never feel as liberated as I do after writing all my thoughts and feelings down, even if I don’t think anyone is ever going to read them. Should they be read however, they will not be read with a predetermined judgment or stereotype of who I am and why I am saying the things that I am. All this is because of the lack of social cues in CMC.

Basically, I am grateful for the opportunity to complain. I can complain about school, teachers, homework, or whatever else it may be and no one I know and love will have to hear about it. Plus, without the face-to-face nonverbals, complaining comes off more as venting than anything else. If someone else wants to complain right back, they should feel free, it is nice to know that I am not the only one who feels this way. So whether or not I made the point about CMC being equally as effective I don’t know, but I will say that it is effective for me. It opens me up, calms me down, and keeps me going