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Table of Contents and Abstracts, JCMC Volume 2, Issue 4

Editors' Introduction to Network and Netplay Sheizaf Rafaeli, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Margaret McLaughlin, University of Southern California, USA Fay Sudweeks, University of Sydney, Australia On-Line Smiles: Does Gender Make a Difference in the Use of Graphic Accents? Diane Witmer, Purdue University, USA Sandra Katzman, Interac Co. Ltd., Japan In the gender-bending world of computer-mediated communication (CMC), is it possible to determine the gender of a message sender from cues in the message? This study addresses the question by drawing on current literature to formulate and test three hypotheses: (i) women use more graphic accents than men do in their CMC, (ii) men use more challenging language in CMC than do women, and (iii) men write more inflammatory messages than do women. Results indicate that only the first hypothesis is partially supported and that women tend to challenge and flame more than do men in this sample group. The authors also discuss implications and pose questions for additional research. Framing Flames: The Structure of Argumentative Messages on the Net Edward A. Mabry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA The purpose of this study was to assess the use, in computer-mediated communication, of the strategic message structuring tactic known as f raming. Interlocutors in computer-mediated environments have software supported systemic resources facilitative of constructing messages using framing tactics in their argumentative discourse. It is hypothesized that framing strategies are related to the emotional tenor of a disputant's message and that a speaker's emotional involvement with an issue should be curvilinearly related to the appropriation of framing as an argumentative discourse strategy. Results from the analysis of 3000 messages, obtained from a diverse sampling of computer-mediated discussion groups and forums, provided support for the primary hypothesized relationship. A speaker's emotional involvement was significantly and curvilinearly related to two message f raming devices (message dependency and coalition building) and a measure of conciliatory face-saving moves. Telelogue Conversations Alexander E. Voiskounsky, Moscow University, Russia Mediation processes form the basis of human psychological development. Speech signs play a crucial role in the internalization of mediating means. In the computer-mediated communication (CMC) field, speech has its own peculiarity, thus modifying the possible directions of the internalization process. The analysis in this chapter shows the specifics of CMC speech, i.e. telelogue speech. In particular, features and attributes inherent in oral and written forms of speech are found in dialogues, monologues, and polylogues (telelogues). Analysing English usage by those netters for whom it is not the mother-tongue, one could find a peculiar kind of pidginized 'network English' being formed. "Hmmm ... Where's That Smoke Coming From?" Writing, Play and Performance on Internet Relay Chat Brenda Danet, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, The Smithsonian Institution (1996-1997), USA Lucia Ruedenberg, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and New York University, USA Yehudit Rosenbaum-Tamari, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Israel Ministry of Absorption of Immigrants, Israel Digital writing is strikingly playful. This playfulness flourishes particularly in synchronous chat modes on the Internet. This paper is a study of writing, play and performance on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). We analyze a "virtual party" on IRC, whose highlight was a typed simulation of smoking marijuana. Three interrelated, yet analytically distinct types of play are discussed: 1) play with identity; 2) play with frames of interaction; and 3) play with typographic symbols. We adopt a qualitative, textual, and micro-sociolinguistic approach, drawing on work in discourse analysis, the study of orality and literacy, and the anthropology of play and performance. In all play there is reduced accountability for action. In the material world, masks and costumes at carnival time liberate participants; here, the ephemeral, non-material medium, the typed text, and the use of nicknames provide the mask. Although the improvisation analyzed here is typed and occurs between geographically dispersed strangers, it has fascinating affinities with "live" interactional forms such as jazz, charades, and carnivals. Using the News: An Examination of the Value and Use of News Sources in CMC Steve Jones, University of Tulsa, USA This study examines one facet of the penetration of personal computers into everyday life. It seeks to discover how members of a Usenet newsgroup value and use news sources. Electronic news sources predominated. An important finding is that media use was not tied to the user's geographic locale. The study raises several questions for future research: What are the rhetorical dimensions of media use in electronic communities? How might our understanding of readers and communities be affected by new patterns of media use in electronic communities? Conduct Control on Usenet Christine B. Smith, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA USA Margaret L. McLaughlin and Kerry K. Osborne, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA In this paper we examine the frequency, form, and tone of reproaches for misconduct on five newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.soaps; soc.motss; soc.singles; rec.sports.hockey; and comp.sys.ibm.pc.games. Where possible, subsequent accounts offered by offenders are also examined. Results indicate that few individuals respond publicly to their reproachers and that complete "traditional" remedial episodes in Usenet are relatively rare. Discriminant analysis supports a tentative conclusion that different offense types elicit reproaches which vary in form and tone.

Furthermore, the tenor and frequency of reproaches for particular offenses vary according to newsgroup, supporting the thesis that norm violations are differentially treated in Usenet "communities." The analyses and discussion include an examination of gender differences in the newsgroups studied. The Relcom Network: An Investigation of its Users Alexander E. Voiskounsky, Moscow University, Russia Relcom is the most intensively used network available in the former Soviet Union, and its users form a sample of highly active and educated citizens of the recently formed independent states. To describe this sample, surveys of the users were conducted via the network. The results include data on demographic characteristics of users, their attitudes, motivations, and typical ways of network usage. Attitudes towards possible social monitoring service functioning in the network are also investigated, and the potential directions of its functioning are rated by the respondents. Risky Business: Do People Feel Safe in Sexually Explicit Online Communication? Diane Witmer, Purdue University, USA This article defines and contextualizes basic types of CMC as electronic counterparts to other forms of communication. It then discusses the ways in which message privacy and security can be compromised in the electronic environment and reports a survey study of individuals who engage in potentially embarrassing forms of CMC via USENET newsgroups. The questionnaire asked respondents how risky they perceived their communications to be and why they felt secure enough to engage in "risky" communication. Survey results were equivocal on the question of user perceptions of privacy, but indicated that the perceived risk was low in this sample group. Finally, the chapter discusses implications and proposes an agenda for future research. Virtual Rape Richard MacKinnon, University of Texas, USA The current social construction of rape in virtual reality is not a worthwhile endeavor in that it forces theorists to adapt an undesirable concept in order to import it into virtual reality. Rape exists as such in "real life" because of the social construction of women relative to the social construction of men. The relationship of these constructions is not and does not have to be analogous in virtual reality because virtual reality presents an opportunity for social reordering. Among these opportunities is the exploration of the ramifications of bodies presented arbitrarily. Given these opportunities, theorists seeking to pursue positive constructionism ought to endeavor to develop virtual-reality specific constructions which empower rather than import real life constructions which victimize. Networked Interactivity Sheizaf Rafaeli, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Fay Sudweeks, University of Sydney, Australia What makes computer-mediated groups tick and/or stick? To what degree are computer-mediated discussants really sustained "groups"? Does the grouping quality reflect anything beyond technical structure? Are technical structure and grouping related? How do threads define groups, or vice-versa? Does any of this change between academic and commercial networks? We propose that one useful perspective for studying group computer-mediated communication (CMC) is interactivity. Interactivity is a theoretical construct that grapples with the origins of captivation, fascination, and allure that can be inherent in computer-mediated groups. In the coded data from the sample of messages collected by ProjectH, we have a representative snapshot of communication among the very large groups populating the networks. The central unit of interest in studying computer mediated groups is, in this case, the thread of messages. A message thread is a chain of interrelated messages. Rather than individuals' self-report, linguistic and sociolinguistic analyses of content, or observational data of larger units, we examine interactivity, the dependency among messages in threads. Results indicate that the content on the net is less confrontational than is popularly believed: conversations are more helpful and social than competitive. Interactive messages seem to be more humorous, contain more self-disclosure, display a higher preference for agreement and contain many more first-person plural pronouns. This indicates that interactivity plays a role in the social dynamics of group CMC, and sheds a light on comparing interactive messages with conversation. The focus, we propose, should be on the glue: that which keeps message threads and their authors together, and what makes the groups and their interaction tick. Clustering on the Nets: Applying an Autoassociative Neural Network to Computer-Mediated Discussions Michael Berthold, University of Karlsruhe, Germany Fay Sudweeks, University of Sydney, Australia Sid Newton, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, Australia Richard Coyne, University of Edinburgh, Scotland ProjectH, a research group of a hundred researchers, produced a huge amount of data from computer mediated discussions. The data classified several thousand postings from over 30 newsgroups into 46 categories. One approach to extract typical examples from this database is presented in this paper. An autoassociative neural network is trained on all 3000 coded messages and then used to construct typical messages under certain specified conditions. With this method the neural network can be used to create "typical" messages for several scenarios. This paper illustrates the architecture of the neural network that was used and explains the necessary modifications to the coding scheme. In addition several "typicality sets" produced by the neural net are shown and their generation is explained. In conclusion, the autoassociative neural network is used to explore threads and the types of messages that typically initiate or contribute longer lasting threads.  Search JCMC: concept keyword