[Air-l] CMC, ICT, digital communication

Mark Bell typewritermark at gmail.com
Mon Jul 24 10:07:06 PDT 2006


Folks,


I agree with the need for an umbrella term. I am not sure I like "online
communication" for the reason "online" is a vague word. Does "online" mean
on the "Internet", or a LAN's or both? You could say "online" meant plugged
into a digital network, then why not say that?

What about "Digital Networked Communication"?

Mark


-- 
Mark Bell
MA student in Ball State University's Digital Storytelling program
http://www.storygeek.com
"The future is here...it's just not widely distributed." - Tim O'Reilly




On 7/24/06, Pam Brewer <pam.brewer at murraystate.edu> wrote:
>
> Andrew and all--
>
> I think it's important that we only file a term as "archaic" if it has
> ceased to serve the function for which it was coined.  We gain a lot of
> knowledge capital from using these terms consistently over time.  That is,
> our field constructs a lot of contextual information regarding a term that
> is valuable.  It seems that the reservations with "computer-mediated
> communication" stem from the fact that communication mediated by
> technology
> has become more and more varied.  I particularly like some of Andrew's
> suggestions here--that we use the specific terms whenever possible but
> that
> we have a common broader term--I am drawn to "online communication" for
> the
> reasons Andrew has outlined, and, as I consider it, I don't see the more
> complex CMC as conveying any more or different meaning.
>
> Pam
>
> Pamela Estes Brewer
> Lecturer -- Coordinator, Professional Writing
> Department of English and Philosophy
> Murray State University
> PhD Student in Technical Communication & Rhetoric, Texas Tech University
> 270-809-4719
> fax 270-809-4545
> pam.brewer at murraystate.edu
>
>
> On March 1, 2006, Murray State University will begin moving all its phone
> numbers in the 762 exchange to an 809 exchange. My new numbers will be
> 270-809-4719 (office), and 270-809-4545 (FAX).
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Ledbetter, Andrew
> Michael
> Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 11:25 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-l] CMC, ICT, digital communication
>
>
> I've struggled with the term "CMC" in my own writing. While I wouldn't
> agree
> that the term is "archaic" (as many scholars still use the term
> frequently),
> it does "feel" dated to me. Of course, that may just be my own subjective
> feeling. But, in my own writing, I have tried to refer to specific media
> as
> much as possible (e-mail, IM, chat, Facebook, etc.) rather than using the
> term "CMC"... which might be a healthy move on the whole, since we know
> that
> there are significant qualitative and quantitative differences in
> communication across those media, despite their common online nature.
>
> Yet, simultaneously, people sometimes seem to think about, and socially
> construct, online communication channels as a unified whole. Thus, it
> seems
> reasonable that we have an umbrella term to refer to such media. Recently,
> I
> have tended to use "online communication"---it is less verbose than
> "computer-mediated communication", seems less intrusive than an acronym,
> and
> seems broad enough to include a lot of different technologies (e.g., both
> Internet and non-Internet interaction, etc.). In short, it seems to get
> the
> job done all right, though I'm sure the term has shortcomings too. But of
> course, I'm sure appropriate terminology varies from discipline to
> discipline.
>
> Andrew M. Ledbetter
> Ph.D. Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant
> Department of Communication Studies
> University of Kansas
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org on behalf of Mark Bell
> Sent: Mon 7/24/2006 11:00 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-l] CMC, ICT, digital communication
>
>
>
> Folks,
>
> As far as I have been told, CMC is an outdated term. One professor told me
> it was archaic and vague - asking if we should also refer to "pen mediated
> communication". There certainly is a lot of research into how we
> communicate
> in the digital, multi-channel, immersive environment, so we should have a
> unifying term.
>
> It sounds like we need a new term but I agree digital communication and
> ICT
> are far too broad. The work I am doing with Wikipedia is definitely
> stigmergic in nature (or at least I hope to prove it is) but that is very
> different from IM or email.
>
> M
>
>
>
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