Does mobile instant messaging facilitate social presence in online communication? A two-stage study of higher education students

Abstract

Online social presence supports student learning by making group interactions more appealing and has become a central concept in computer-mediated communication. However, questions remain over how social presence is presented in a mobile instant messaging (MIM)-facilitated environment and to what extent MIM can afford social presence compared to a threaded discussion forum. This study offers a new contribution by examining the social presence levels afforded by a MIM app (WeChat) and comparing it with a threaded discussion forum. We present a two-stage study. In stage 1, we analyzed social presence levels in the MIM postings of class A with a validated instrument comprising three dimensions, namely, affective, interactive, and cohesive responses. In stage 2, we employed a historical cohort control experimental research study to compare social presence levels manifested in class A to those in class B who used an online forum. Follow-up interviews were conducted to solicit explanations of the differences in social presence levels. The results show that compared to the asynchronous threaded forum, the quasi-synchronous MIM is particularly suited to promoting (a) expression of emotions (affective social presence), (b) expressing agreement (interactive social presence), and (c) phatics and providing support (cohesive social presence). Four attributes might contribute to the differences including (a) the ease of use of non-verbal cues, (b) location-free digital interaction, (c) presence awareness, and (d) multimodality. The implications for future practices and research are discussed.

Effects of using mobile instant messaging on student behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement: a quasi-experimental study

“…Furthermore, the availability of non-verbal cues, such as emoticons, emojis, and stickers, can convey emotions in student interactions (Tang & Hew, 2019 ) and make online conversations livelier and friendlier (Wang et al, 2016 ). Recently, Tang and Hew ( 2020 ) compared the levels of social presence between students using MIM and those using AOD and found that MIM is particularly suited to promoting expressions of emotions (affective social presence), agreement (interactive social presence), as well as phatics and support (cohesive social presence). However, this study focused solely on the social aspect of MIM use but did not examine its influence on other dimensions of students’ learning.…”

Communicative Guanxi: Making Online Discussion Forums Come Alive

“…Social presence is the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel effectively connected (Swan & Shih, 2003). Social presence allows virtual community members to negotiate meaning and structure communication (Tang & Foon Hew, 2020). Without a social presence, members of a virtual community cannot successfully construct and share knowledge; social presence encourages social connectedness among members of a virtual community (Akcaoglu & Lee, 2018;Shanthi et al, 2018).…”

Comunicación grupal en Whatsapp para el aprendizaje colaborativo en la coyuntura COVID-19

“…En segundo lugar, por el tiempo que actualmente los jóvenes estudiantes, invierten para establecer extensas conversaciones escritas en WhatsApp con fines concretos para el aprendizaje, que pueden redundar en consecuencias adversas en el rendimiento académico, referidas por Yeboah & Ewur (2014) como argumentaciones (Vilches y Reche, 2019). Tercero, por afectar la privacidad de los usuarios, al exponer los números telefónicos de sus dispositivos móviles en la vista pública del grupo de conversación entre estudiantes y docentes (Tang & Hew, 2020). Cuarto, por el problema de la desregulación en el uso del chat grupal, que tiende a sobresaturar de mensajes a los participantes y abrumarlos por su escasa claridad comunicativa y para la coordinación grupal hacia el desarrollo de actividades conjuntas (Vilela, Urbano y Díaz, 2015).…”