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10 Chapter 1 What Is Computer-Mediated Communication? the foundation for interactions on Bebo or Friendster, and it is likely those the- oretical processes—fundamental attitudes and behaviors—have not changed in the twenty years since and that they are just as applica...

10 Chapter 1 What Is Computer-Mediated Communication? the foundation for interactions on Bebo or Friendster, and it is likely those the- oretical processes—fundamental attitudes and behaviors—have not changed in the twenty years since and that they are just as applicable today to Facebook and Whisper, and will remain so another twenty years from now. Thus, taking a theoret- ical approach lets us understand how humans communicate via computer-mediated tools in a way that is timeless and that will be just as utile to you in the thirtieth year of your career as it is in the third month. By understanding the communicative processes going on within an interaction rather than focusing on a specific website or online tool, our knowledge and understanding of CMC can be much richer and more robust, and thus valuable to understanding how humans communicate. Technology and Humans: Who Controls Whom? An initial question when studying CMC may be how we actually use computers for mediated communication. How do we choose which computers to use for which interactions and in what ways? One way to broadly consider how individuals use mediated communication is to consider the mutual influence of technologies and their users on how those technologies are used. Two dominant approaches can be taken to explore how individuals adopt, co-opt, and are influenced by the devices and channels they use, and scholars and practitioners have utilized both to explain and explore CMC and its processes. Below, we discuss technodeterminism and so- cial determinism as means of understanding the mutual influence exerted between humans and the communicative tools we use. Technodeterminism A technodeterministic approach to CMC takes the position that the mere presence of a technology changes society. Technological determinism, first suggested by Karl Marx, suggests technology shapes a society’s development and culture, so that society adapts to technology. In other words, because the technology is there, society inevitably is changed because of it. A technodeterminist, for exam- ple, may take the position that because we now have widespread diffusion of mobile phones, we have less of a need to communicate in person and face-to-face as we can utilize the technology to interact. Many organizations currently seem to take a tech- nodeterministic perspective as they seek to jump onto the bandwagon of that latest social medium, developing a presence in the channel because it is there rather than because either (a) they have a strategic use for the medium or (b) that channel lets the organization do something other social media or channels may not. For example, con- sider a staff member at an assisted-living home for elderly residents who realizes that TikTok is becoming popular, and adopts the new channel first, and only after joining tries to figure out what to do with it and whom to communicate with via TikTok. Technodeterminism suggests the medium comes first and we adapt our communica- tion to it. Social Determinism Alternately, a socially deterministic approach to CMC takes the position that society guides how a technology is adopted and used. Social de- terminism suggests a society collectively constructs a technology and its uses, so that society adapts the technology to its own purposes and goals. In other words, because people use a technology, they collectively shape how that technology is used. A social determinist, for example, may note that we have appropriated mo- bile phones to allow us more ways to keep in contact with diverse people we may not have been as likely to reach out to over just landline phones or through writ- ten letters. Particularly those focused on user-design and end-user experience (often denoted as “UX” in industry parlance) take a social deterministic perspective as they seek to explore user behavior to understand how users are actually using a  Approaching CMC 11 particular device, platform, or service, regard- less of whether users are utilizing the technol- ogy as its designers intended. Which Is It? At times, either, both, or neither of these two approaches may be useful to un- derstanding how individuals utilize CMC. For example, exploring the meaning of a Face- book “Like,” Hayes, Carr, and Wohn (2016) found that some Facebook users utilized the Like button simply because it was there. As the only one-click means of communication, users clicked Like to explicitly communi- cate to another user they liked content the user posted to Facebook, using the button because it was there as a channel to send a message. However, in the same study, Hayes et al. found that users also sometimes used the Like button more selectively within certain FIGURE 1.4 We often hear laments that smartphones disconnect us from our surroundings. Yet similar con- groups or subsets of their friends because of cerns were expressed about personal music devices, social norms that had developed around the the telephone, books, and even writing in general. Per- button: some users Liked something a friend haps the concern is one of technodeterminism rather posted because that’s what their network had than how we actually use our media in comparison to decided was the means of indicating a post how we used earlier channels. had been seen or valued, thereby socially con- structing the meaning of a Like. In these cases, users had perceived the Like button as a way to communicate more meaning than simple appreciation of a post, con- structing meaning amongst themselves. Because different perspectives can help make sense of different situations, it is probably not fair to say that either technodeterminsm or social determinism is cor- rect. Rather, both are useful means of thinking about the relationship between CMC and the people who use computer technologies to interact. Sometimes people use the technology just because it’s there, sometimes people use the technology because that’s how they’ve been shown to use it or how their peers use it, and sometimes (and likely often) it is a combination of the two. Take a moment and think about the CMC tools you have used today and how you have used them. What tools did you use and why did you use them the way you did? Likely you will find an interest- ing mix of technodeterminism and social determinism in your own use. Technology and Others: Beyond Our Focus If all this is CMC, what is not CMC? Just as “What is CMC” has become an increasingly complex question, so too is what may not be considered CMC, and thus is beyond the focus of our exploration. The easiest part of this answer is FtF communication, which has likely been and will continue to be the focus in most of your other communication coursework. We will explore FtF communication here, but only insomuch as it serves as a comparison point to CMC. Another form of communication often confused with (but typically different from) CMC is mass- mediated communication: television, radio, newsprint, and other forms of one- to-many communication. Although these forms of communication are often mediated, they lack several of the fundamental elements of CMC, such as interactivity and identifiability. Related, several types of communication that occur via the Internet and computers, such as online newspapers, podcasts, and Skype