Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!njin!princeton!phoenix!vnend
From: vnend@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (D. W. James)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: psychology of computer use.
Message-ID: <5333@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 12 Jan 89 16:00:17 GMT
References: <8901092247.AA05892@multimax.encore.com> <312@gloom.UUCP> <14616@oberon.USC.EDU>
Reply-To: vnend@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (D. W. James)
Organization: Princeton University, NJ
Lines: 23

In article <14616@oberon.USC.EDU> greenwoo@mizar.usc.edu writes:
)I do have a question for everyone..  The one study done in this area.. states
)that Computer Communication causes users to like each other less..  Do you 
)agreewith this?

	Is this users who knew each other in advance, or who were meeting for
the first time via computer communications?  From personal experiance I have
to disagree with this as it stands.  However, it can be generalized and made
more accurate.  That is, Computer Communications causes users to become more
polarized.  If you disagree with someone, it will be more violent over 
computer channels than in person, and if you agree with someone you will
more quickly become confidants.  Computer communications, be it real-time or
e-mail, lacks the dampers that society has imposed in most other forms of
communications.  This has lead to such extremes as the flame-wars we are all
familiar with to a friend of mine who recieved a dozen long-stemmed roses from
a gentleman she met via BITNET' Chat the day after they met.


-- 
Later Y'all,  Vnend                       Ignorance is the mother of adventure.   
SCA event list? Mail?  Send to:vnend@phoenix.princeton.edu or vnend@pucc.bitnet   
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     "Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including                         staying away from chocolate ..." Oleg Kiselev