[Air-l] CMC, ICT, digital communication

[Han N. Lee]

Hi Jillana, :-)

I think the special issue (2005, vol.21, no.4) of The Information
Society may be helpful in answering your question. Some of the authors
in the issue discuss how the internet/CMC/ICT is conceptualized for
its study/discipline(?)/field to be thought of.

The authors in the issue say that there isn't really any clear-cut
difference among CMC, ICT and digital communication, and all other
sorts. Rather they serve as vague umbrella terms that in a way provide
us with a coherent sense or shared faith of "it"--whatever it is that
we are studying, organized under, have created specific journals
(e.g., NEW MEDIA & Society, Journal of COMPUTER-MEDIATED
COMMUNICATION) for so that we can submit our research to and get
tenured, etc.

Also I recall from the AoIR conference in Chicago that someone did a
content-analysis-like study on all the published articles of Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication and presented what types of
articles have been published and how the terms have changed over a
decade to refer to "it". CMC was widely used in the beginning then has
faded away, sort of. Now ICT seems used more widely. Anyway, although
it's just a case of one particular journal, it should be worth looking
at.

Then again, there are at least two different ways of answering that
question. That is, as scholars who are pioneers of internet research
in its early stage and shaping what "it" is, we can discuss what CMC,
ICT, and digital communication SHOULD mean. Or we can look at what
CMC, ICT, and digital communication DO mean grounded in empirical data
(e.g., users' everyday language, popular media's rhetoric). I prefer
the later.

Cheers,

Han

-- 
Han N. Lee, Ph.D. Student
Department of Communication, Machmer Hall
University of Massachusetts
240 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9278

Curriculum Project Assistant
Commonwealth College
408 Goodell Building
140 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9272
vm: 413) 577-0729


On 7/24/06, Jillana Enteen <jillana at jillana.net> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to sort out the differences in etymology and meaning
> between CMC, ICT and digital communication. I'm having a hard time--
> other than recognizing the academic/educational basis for ICT and its
> roots in IT, it seems to me that these terms are used interchangeably.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> best wishes, jillana
> Jillana Enteen
> jillana at jillana.net
>
>
>
>
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