Chapter 3 Verbal Communication 87Mediated Contexts
Have you ever sent an e-mail or a text message that was misunderstood by the
recipient? It has happened to all of us—and that’s often because our e-mails,
text messages, tweets, and wall postings lack the nonverbal cues and hints we
provide in face-to-face conversation. So if you text your spouse to say that
you both have to spend Friday night with your slightly quirky Aunt Ethel,
and he texts you back “Great,” is he really excited? Is he being sarcastic?
“Great” could mean either thing, but you can’t see his nonverbal reaction to
know if he’s smiling or grimacing and rolling his eyes. That’s why communi-
cation in mediated contexts must be extra clear to be effective (DeAndrea &
Walther, 2011).
Other characteristics of our online language can also influence commu-
nication. For example, people in computer-mediated groups who use power-
ful language, such as direct statements of their personal goals,
are seen as more credible, attractive, and persuasive than those
who use tentative language (hedges, disclaimers, and tag ques-
tions) (Adkins & Brashers, 1995). However, group-oriented
language can be more persuasive and effective than language
pushing personal goals. For example, one study of an interna-
tional adolescent online forum found that students who were
elected as “leaders” (Cassell, Huffaker, Tversky, & Ferriman,
2006) made references to group goals and synthesized other
students’ posts.
Interestingly, sex and gender can influence the language you
use with technology. In online games, for example, people who
were assigned avatars of their own gender were more likely to use
gender-typical language (more emotional expressions and tentative
language if assigned a feminine avatar) than those assigned mis-
matched avatars (Palomares & Lee, 2010). Another study found
that people infer a person’s sex from language cues online (for
example, amount of self-disclosure, expression of emotion) and
conform more to computer-mediated partners when they believe
them to be male (Lee, 2007).
But technology affects language use in broader ways as well,
including the proliferation of English as the language of the
Internet. Individuals in Salt Lake City, São Paulo, and Stockholm
can all communicate digitally, often in English. Critics often
claim that because English dominates the mass media industries,
English speakers’ values and thinking are being imposed on the
non-English-speaking world. Nevertheless, many non-Western
countries have benefited from this proliferation, with countless
jobs being relocated to places like India and Hong Kong (Fried-
man, 2007). Every day brings increasing language diversity to the
Internet, and Internet-based translators make it much easier to
translate material into innumerable languages (Danet & Herring,
2007).
TEXTING YOUR FRIEND “Coffee?” is a
perfect way to schedule a quick get-together,
but if you’re asking your professor to meet over
a cup for career advice, it’d be smart to send a
more formal email. Blend Images/Veer