Chapter one sets forth a rationale for studying computer-mediated communication (CMC) and reviews both the common channels used to conduct it as well as the dominant metaphor for understanding it, "cyberspace." The authors argue that society is growing increasingly mediated and that studying CMC helps people to understand better how their individual sense of self and their perceptions of reality are affected by communication technology. The chapter also uses research findings to suggest how human communication is affected in five different channels: electronic mail, bulletin board systems, Internet Relay Chat, Multiuser Domains, and the World Wide Web. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the cyberspace metaphor, including where it originated, what the metaphor can help us to understand, and how it shapes our perception of what online communication is like.

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Ask students to create a timeline of their first encounters with the computer-mediating channels discussed in this chapter (electronic mail, bulleting board systems, Internet Relay Chat, Multiuser Domains, and the World Wide Web). On the timeline, identify when and where you first engaged the channel and how you recall feeling about the experience at the time. In class or on a class listserv, have students respond to the following: How new is this technology to you? Do you find yourself using these channels in the same way as when you first encountered them or has their utility changed with time? As the instructor, you are likely to find that a number of students have not experimented with all of the channels. In our experience, students are least likely to have had an experience in a Multiuser Domain (MUD). Since so much of the identity and social research about computer-mediated communication has been conducted in MUDs (addressed in chapters three and four, respectively), it could help students to appreciate just what the channel is like to spend a class session MUDding. If you do not have the technical expertise (or time) to build your own MUD, direct to students to one of the choices listed on the Mud Connector <http://www.mudconnect.com/>or similar sites. You might also be prepared to have students experiment with bulletin boards and Internet Relay Chat. In rarer cases, some may even need oriented to your campus e-mail system and the Web.

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IRChelp
http://www.irchelp.org/
This site contains a good deal of helpful information for getting started with Internet Relay Chat programs.

Short Take: Author Andrew Wood on the metaphors of the wired world
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/short021601.htm
A San Jose Mercury News interview with one of the book authors on the role of metaphor in CMC.

Top Mud Sites
http://www.topmudsites.com/
Updated daily, this site rank orders the most popular MUDs online.

Yahoo Mail
http://mail.yahoo.com
If students do not have access to free e-mail account, or if they simply want to use an alternative site for managing assignments in this course, we recommend using a free service like Yahoo's or one of the dozens of other service providers on the Internet.

Please note: These pages exist outside of Lawrence Erlbaum servers and their content is not endorsed by the page maintainer or any other university entity. These pages have been selected because they may provide some guidance or insight into the issues discussed in this chapter. Because one can never step into the same electronic river twice, the pages may or may not be available when you request them.

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Wright, K. (2000). Computer-mediated social support, older adults, and coping. Journal of Communication, 50, 100-118.

Wright reports the results of a study conducted with older adults and their search for social support through computer-mediated channels. Among the significant findings of the survey was that high Internet users in this cohort reported satisfaction with the social support that they received online. Indeed, those with greater involvement in their online community ultimately perceived less life stress. This research article serves as a good example of the potentially life altering effects of online communication.

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Download a PowerPoint slideshow for this chapter

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Adams, T., & Clark, N. (2001). The Internet: Effective online communication. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers.

Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books.

Lessig, L. (1999). Code and other laws of cyberspace. New York: Basic Books.

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{Test Questions are Forthcoming}

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Lisberger, S. (Director). (1982). Tron [Film]. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Productions.

Tron offers a fanciful view inside the world of computers and is interesting for the way in which it envisions entering a "cyberspace" back when the computer was becoming a regular part of people's lives in the early 1980s. Scenes from this film thus provide one alternative to the metaphors of cyberspace discussed at the end of chapter one. Moreover, since this film is discussed in chapter ten of the text, showing clips from it early in the term creates a bookend experience for students, allowing them to reflect upon any changes they've experienced in their perceptions about the use of communication technology through the term.

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