Online interaction across three contexts: an analysis of culture and technological affordances |
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| Authors: | Todd L Sandel Richard Buttny Mary Varghese |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Communication, University of Macau, Macau, China;2. Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA;3. School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Taylor’s University, Malaysia |
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| Abstract: | Students were linked virtually across three contexts: U.S., Malaysia, and China. Differences emerged in how student-created messages were constructed and interpreted; these impacted perceived relational affiliation. Messages constructed by students in Malaysia and China exhibited casual talk, greater self-disclosure, requests for personal information, and greater use of emoticons/emoji. Interactions were perceived as informal, friendly, and positive. U.S. students’ messages often showed institutional talk, less self-disclosure, and more attention to the instructor-assigned task. Asian-U.S. student pairs perceived their interactions as formal, less friendly, and less positive. This study shows how online technologies may be afforded and shaped by culture and interaction. |
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| Keywords: | Interaction technological affordances relational affiliation self-disclosure Asian and American students online communication |
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