McEwan - Chapters 2 & 3

In chapter 2 of McEwan’s  Communication Competence and Identities in Networked Location , the author discusses the importance of competence when using communications technologies to send messages due to their potential audience, a challenge to communication competence, “communication apprehension” and how to get around it, and examines the argument of anti-social media. When deciding how to communicate a message, the intended and actual target(s) affects how we choose to deliver that message. Communication technologies facilitate communication through one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many, and McEwan relays the notion that these technologies, particularly those that aid many-to-many communication, gave rise to a new form of communications called  masspersonal  communication .  This kind of communication most often takes place when people engage in mass and interpersonal communication simultaneously, like through social networking sites. Technologies like thes...

Fixed & flexible networks/ fixed & flexible selves Whether online or offline, we all have an identity or maybe multiple identities. Within networked spaces, this identity is influenced by the way we perceive these networked spaces: fixed or flexible. This sense of flexibility or fixedness is based on anonymity, stability and corporality of identity. Flexible networks, for instance, are more anonymous, less corporeal and less stable. People are thus more able to present an identity or multiple identities that are to a lesser extent in line with their offline identity. Often identities in fully flexible networks are disconnected from the embodied self and from any of the connections that know parts of the identity of the embodied self. Allowing individuals to experiment with different parts of their identity and their self-presentation. However, concerns about the anonymity of the internet are raised, as people are able to deceive others or act upon suppressed ide...

SKILLS:  In McEwan’s second chapter about communication competencies, skills are found to be a crucial pillar in producing meaningful computer-mediated channel messages. In this section of the chapter McEwan outlines Spitzberg’s (2006) four critical skills : attentiveness, interaction management, expressiveness and composure.  Attention deals with the concept of tailoring a message to a specific individual rather than a large group. Attention will ensure the individual feels important and cared for. Without attention to the internet’s customs and culture, individuals will easily ignore your message or remove themselves from your network . On the other hand, interaction refers to knowing when and how to discuss different topics. Having strong interaction skills demands the knowledge of posting relatable and relevant information, without over-posting. Networks will be seen as incompetent if they post above the norm.  Expressiveness refers to the skill of u...

After reading two of McEwan’s scholarly pieces, Communication Competence and Identities in Networked Locations , it has come to my attention that symbolic interactionism is a prominent part in communicating with others, as most symbolic integrationists claim that it is one’s self that is communicated through the physical actions of others. Cooley, one of the first symbolic integrationists, created a concept known as “the looking glass self”. This theory suggests that the members involved in a network community deliver messages with the intent to influence what people believe about their own self. Mead, on the other hand, speculated that people could use their own knowledge on how society expects an individual to think and behave to better understand one’s self and improve upon their identity performances. Similar to symbolic interactionism, the dramaturgical perspective also claims that it is one’s self that causes an individual to act accordingly to the expectations of an au...