Electronic Love Letters and Social Information Processing Theory

Cortez 2022-04-22 07:01:05

With the development of modern technology, online chat platforms such as QQ and WeChat have gradually become the main place for people's daily communication. People communicate with distant family and friends through online chat, and some people develop romance. Of course, any popularity will be questioned at the beginning. At the beginning of the Internet, many people held a contemptuous attitude towards establishing intimacy through computer-mediated communication. Many scholars also proposed theories for this, such as social clinical theory. Compared with face-to-face communication, online chat has a certain lack of interactivity, and communication is easy to be indifferent. This point of view is also very reasonable now. It cannot be denied. Face-to-face communication with the current actions and expressions can better reflect the inner changes of the other party. The language of the Internet is more decorated, as Walther believes that people who meet online have the opportunity to create and maintain a completely positive image. In "Electronic Love Letter" we can see Joe in the relationship with Katherine. Some of his characteristics as a businessman are hidden in the online chat image, which is why Catherine did not suspect that Joe was ny152 when she saw Joe sitting opposite her in the cafe. In her mind, the image of ny152 competed with her. The opponent Joe is completely inconsistent, and when Joe learned that the other party in the online chat was Catherine, he tried his best to make up reasons to ensure that he would not hurt Catherine, and it was precisely because of the positive image he had created in the online chat that Catherine was against her. He has an indelible trust

On the other hand, the theory that online communication lacks social context clues believes that users' identity information is difficult to find, the behavioral norms of interaction are less clear, and it believes that people will be more selfish. Indeed, in "Electronic Love Letter", if Catherine knew from the beginning that Joe was ny152, then their happy relationship on the Internet would likely end, and it is precisely this lack of identity information that enables two people to throw away the real grievances For soul exchange, it is not difficult for us to see that Catherine and Joe are each other's soulmates. Due to the lack of information, they do not know each other's appearance, and they will not be disturbed by each other's appearance, but this does not mean that they will not have feelings for each other in their hearts. After making guesses, Joe said to his friend outside the coffee house, "If she is beautiful, he will marry her at all costs." Obviously, even if the chatting heart is in harmony, it will take a certain amount of beauty to maintain it in reality. This is the same as most of the people who have not yet found online dating. The people who are in love with each other on the Internet, but can be successful after meeting offline are often the ones with good looks. The lack of online identity information has also given cybercriminals a certain space for crime. Using photos of beautiful and handsome men to disguise themselves to the final real appearance has provided jokes for many netizens, such as the famous Qiao Biluo incident.

The computer-mediated communication provides another channel, which makes it unnecessary for both parties to participate in the chat at the same time. This is a major feature of online chat that is different from face-to-face communication. With room for deliberation, people can plan, frame, and edit their own comments more carefully, which is an important reason why Joe was able to revise again and again the fabricated text of his "no-appointment" behavior and finally explain it in the most official form. . "Time" is also very important in online chat, such as the time gap of chat, the shorter the gap, the more frequent the chats, which can also increase the emotional connection between each other, and the speed of replying to a certain extent reflects the degree of intimacy between each other. There is also a lot of wisdom in choosing when to send messages. Sometimes time is so clever, there is a scene in "Electronic Love Letters" when Catherine just wanted to find Joe and Joe happened to send an email, "I think you should be online at this time".

More and more people's views on online chat have changed. It is undeniable that online chat is very important to the management of interpersonal relationships in a wide range. Friendship is a good medium for people. People are very optimistic about establishing good interpersonal relationships through cmc. Imagine that when you have a conflict with people in face-to-face communication, your violent temper may cause you to have physical conflicts. Afterwards, regret often accounts for a large proportion, but one party goes offline during online chat. , the chat relationship is effectively terminated, which to a certain extent gives people a space to calm down. Although certain derivatives of cyber violence cannot be ruled out, online chat is still relatively optimistic.

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Extended Reading

You've Got Mail quotes

  • Kathleen Kelly: [about "NY152"] He couldn't possibly be the Rooftop Killer!

    Christina Plutzker: Remember when you thought Frank might be the Unibomber?

    Kathleen Kelly: That was different.

  • Frank Navasky: [about Birdie] She fell in love with Generalissimo Franco!

    Kathleen Kelly: No, don't say that. Really. We don't know that for sure.

    Frank Navasky: Well, who else could it have been? It was probably around 1960.

    Kathleen Kelly: Do you want some popcorn?

    Frank Navasky: I can't believe this! I mean, it's not like he was something normal, like a socialist or an anarchist or something.

    Kathleen Kelly: It happened in Spain. People do really stupid things in foreign countries.

    Frank Navasky: Absolutely. They buy leather jackets for much more than they're worth. But they don't fall in love with fascist dictators!