Posted by noa on October 5, 2000, at 12:07:15
In reply to Hypotheses about Online Text Communication, posted by Dr. Bob on October 5, 2000, at 10:09:11
>2. A person's writing style reflects aspects of their personality, and changes in it reflect changes in their thoughts and feelings. (6.1)
Comment: yes, but sometimes the personality that comes across in text is one that is rarely exhibited in person, or the relative intensity of that aspect of the personality is different, ie, some aspects find expression in writing and less so in person, and vice versa. Writing gives the opportunity to play and try out different aspects of our personalities.
4. If a person has a web site, it reflects aspects of their personality. Having others visit it and visiting those of others is emotionally significant. (7.6)
Comment: yes, I think that having others visit your website is incredibly significant, and a risk, if the person has also disclosed personal info and feelings in a forum like this.
1. The act of writing fosters self-expression, self-reflection, and cognitive restructuring. (1.2)
Comment: very much so, at times. For me, a significant problem is that a big part of my sense of self that is negative, is non-verbal, and feels beyond the reach of language. Writing helps in the attempt to bridge my cognitive/logical/verbal self to this non-verbal sense of self. I wonder if others have similar experiences?
2. Online text communication that does not take place in "real time" enhances impulse control, self-reflection, and cognitive assimilation. (4.1)
Comment: definitely. "Chat" rooms in real time tend to get kind of primitive. That happens here, too, though, and people can still be somewhat impulsive and reactive in this format, too, but less so than in real time. At the very least, even if they are as impulsive, it isn't as disruptive to other threads of conversation as it is in a real time chat format.
3. Receiving online text communications from others can promote the development of steady, supportive, reality-testing, ego-building "internal voices". (1.7, 4.4)
Comment: Yes, hearing something once, the idea might be lost, and thus not integrated as an "internal voice", but somehow having access to "quotable" text allows us to visit and revisit ideas which facilitates integration.
4. The opportunity to send online text communications to others, even before --- or without -- any replies, can help a person feel the others are available. (4.3)
Comment: Yes, I agree, and with the added benefit of not worrying if you are "bothering" them, ie, it is there for the other person to read at their convenience.
5. A person can use online text communication as a way to explore and experiment with new behaviors or different aspects of their identity. What they learn or rehearse online can be carried into their offline life. (7.2, 7.3)Comment: Definitely (similar to my comment above).
. Online text communication can desensitize a person to social interaction and build social skills. (7.4, 7.5)
Comment: yes, and that is one reason it is so useful for people with social anxieties.
7. Access to online information tends to be empowering and transformative. (7.10)
Comment: I have found this so. I feel much more empowered as a patient, to be able to find information so easily about medications, different health issues, etc.
1. Online text communication is more subject to "simple" misunderstandings and conscious and unconscious distortions of meaning or intent. (2.1)
Comment: Don't we know it!!
1. With online text communication, a person can be less inhibited and -- deliberately or not -- more open about aspects of themselves, including their "true self". (2.2, 6.2, 7.1)
Comment: Yes, as I wrote about in an earlier comment. Mostly, I think this is a positive potential, however, I think that it could also provide opportunites for expressing negative, even dangerous aspects of personality, as well as opportunities to "practice" these aspects and gradually loosen inhibitions, to the point that someone might turn to actually acting out these aspects. I think this is an especially important issue with kids, because their personalities are still developing, and are more vulnerable to this influence.
4. Ambivalence about intimacy can be expressed as a preference for online text communication and its blend of openness and distance. (2.3)
Comment: Yup! I agree this could go either way--either to enhance development, or to shield from taking "real" and necessary risks.
1. Online support groups benefit from having rules about appropriate behavior, effective enforcement of those rules, and knowledgeable and confident leaders. (10.1)
Comment: Definitely!!!
2. Online support groups tend to be less cohesive. (10.3)
Comment: Less cohesive than what? In-person support groups? Perhaps.
3. In online support groups, a person can explore and experiment with different "identities" at the same time. (10.7)
Comment: Yes, and this can be helpful to a person who is just getting their feet wet in connecting with others, but it can also lead to big problems, as we all know here.
1. Differences in status are less apparent in online text communication. Clinicians tend to be perceived less as authorities and more as consultants or even "twins". (11.4)Comment: Wow, how interesting!! Throws a whole monkey wrench into theory on transference/countertransference. Can you explain the "twins" concept??
poster:noa
thread:844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20000813/msgs/850.html