Creating virtual proximity to support interpersonal relationships: A case study of chatroom interaction

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Speaker
Susan Fussell
Systems Scientist, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

When
-

Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)

Description

Research has shown that people who share a common physical environment are more likely than those who interact remotely to develop and maintain collaborative interpersonal relationships; however, the mechanisms underlying this finding are not yet well understood. In our current work, we (Robert Kraut, Jane Siegel, Susan Brennan, and myself) have been trying to clarify the relationship between proximity and interpersonal relationships through a strategy of decomposition: By analyzing (a) the sorts of interpersonal processes necessary for successful collaboration, and (b) the ways in which specific aspects of physical proximity facilitate these interpersonal processes, our goal is to better understand how “virtual proximity” can be established to support social relationships in computer-mediated communications systems.

In this talk I will first describe some of the ways in which proximity might benefit the development of collaborative relationships. Specifically, I will focus on how people use cues from their physical environment to achieve basic interpersonal goals, such as initiating conversations or maintaining awareness of others’ activities. Then, I will discuss how affordances of particular communications technologies can make it more or less effortful for people to achieve these interpersonal goals in computer-mediated communication. I will then draw upon long term observations of one chatroom community to illustrate how people have developed social conventions to achieve interpersonal goals that are not easily accomplished by the technology alone. By combining the affordances of synchronous text with social conventions, I will argue, members of this chat community have been able to create a type of “virtual proximity” that supports enduring interpersonal relationships.

I will end with some thoughts about the implications of these observations for the support of interpersonal relationships in other communications technologies.

Speaker's Bio

Susan Fussell has been a system scientist in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon since 1997. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University in 1990. Her previous positions include member of technical staff in the Interpersonal Communications Group at Bellcore and an assistant professorship in the Psychology Department at Mississippi State University. Dr. Fussell’s research interests include face-to-face and computer-mediated communication, shared mental models in work groups, and the communication of affect and emotion. She is editor, with Roger Kreuz, of “Social and Cognitive Approaches to InterpersonalCommunication” (Erlbaum, 1998).