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The Relationship Between Technology And Human Communication

Decent Essays

Technology is reshaping human communication in a fundamental way. On the surface, the restrictions on total character count imposed on modern means of communication like text messaging and microblogging encourage the condensation of lexical units and simplification of grammar (Lyddy et al., 2014; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Gamon and Dumais, 2011). These changes toward quick and increasingly informal linguistic expressions then combine with the unique openness afforded by the internet to lead to complex patterns of sharing and withholding personal information, affecting individual wellbeing, interpersonal relationships and even societal and political landscapes (Bureke and Kraut, 2016; Utz and Beukeboom, 2011; Weeks et al., 2017). Due to the significant and multifaceted impact that computer-mediated communication (CMC) has on our society and daily lives, my intended area of emphasis within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is CMC, which falls under the umbrella of social computing. It is vital to note that the relationship between technology and human communication is not one-sided. Rather, a dichotomy exists between technological advancement and human behavior. As a researcher, I am interested in exploring such dichotomy with two major research questions. First and foremost, it is imperative that we understand the semiotics of computer-mediated discourse itself beyond the mapping of formal linguistic rules and structures. As previously mentioned, the informal nature of online

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