Contexts and Cues in Cyberspace: The Pragmatics of Naming in Text-Based Virtual Realities

Abstract

Although the relative paucity of social cues in computer-mediated communication poses problems for the organization of social relations in cyberspace, recent studies have begun to focus on the ways in which this deficit is managed. This article contributes to this research by addressing the question of how participants distinguish between contexts in online discourse Data on cues, and on naming practices in particular in text-based virtztal realities called MOOs illustrate the structure o f contexts and the dynamics of contextualizing communication and interaction in cyberspace. PARTICIPANTS IN SOCIAL INTERACTION orient themselves by attempting to understand "what's going on." They do this by analyzing the contexts in which interaction occurs. This is true offline and online, but in the case of the textbased interaction that takes place in cyberspace, with its relative paucity of social cues, interpreting a context is particularly problematic. Nevertheless, studies have begun to focus on the ways in which this deficit is managed.

Impression Formation in Cyberspace: Online Expectations and Offline Experiences in Text-based Virtual Communities

“…Of course, this pattern is not peculiar to cyberspace. Geertz (1973) portrayed this scenario as a “confusion of tongues.” It is also evident in other studies of offline life, including Suttles' ethnography (1968) of ethnic and racial miscommunication, Tannen's account (1990) of gendered misconceptions, and Jacobson and Ziegler's (1996) analysis of misinterpretation and mistrust between scientists and non‐scientists. Paradigms, including prototype theory and related models of “theories of the world”, developed to understand offline behavior, are applicable to online behavior, and studies of the latter can contribute to assessing and expanding the former.…”

“…Prototype effects result from different sources. One is a lack of fit between a classical category and its background assumptions–one meaning of the term “context” is such background assumptions (Jacobson, 1996) The concept of “bachelor” exemplifies this source of prototype effects (cf. Lakoff, 1987a, 1987b; Quinn & Holland, 1987).…”

Donde te lleve el amor. Nuevos sujetos de estudio, nuevas condiciones de producción del conocimiento y sus [re]planteamientos etnográficos

“…También por teléfono, en el caso por ejemplo de una directora de una agencia matrimonial especializada en uniones hispano-rusas situada en Asturias o de una mujer española casada con un ciudadano de la República Centroafricana que regularmente venía al País Vasco para ver a su madre y familiares y aprovechaba para escolarizar un tiempo a su hijo en el sur de Francia, y en algún otro caso de personas que se 13 Empezamos a contar ya con un buen número de trabajos que muestran, entre otras cosas, que estas comunidades son complejas, organizadas y dignas de estudio. Sólo a título de ejemplo, pueden verse Rheingold, 1996;Jacobson, 1996Jacobson, , 1999Miller y Slater, 2000;Mayans, 2002;Hine, 2004. encontraban en ciudades españolas alejadas de Cataluña, que es donde se ubica el equipo de investigación y donde se realizaron la mayor parte de entrevistas cara a cara con miembros de parejas mixtas. E igualmente por Skype, especialmente en el tercero de los proyectos llevados a cabo, centrado en parejas mixtas con un cónyuge español residentes fuera de España, y en el cuarto, en donde parte de la muestra de parejas escogidas para revisitar bien ya no viven en España bien forman parte del grupo de parejas entrevistadas en el tercer proyecto.…”

18. The maxims of online nicknames

“…On the contrary, studies have shown that online self-disclosure is common in CMC environments such as blogs (Herring et al 2006;Huffaker and Calvert 2005), newsgroups (McKenna, Green, and Gleason 2002;Parks 1996), and MOOs (Jacobson 1996). A plausible explanation for this practice is that online self-presentation is an extension of the real self in a different social environment (Giese 1998).…”