Hyperpersonal Communication in College Roommates

Naturally like most students, I spent a significant amount of time this past summer looking for college housing.  When a close friend of mine suggested that I live with two of her friends I logically looked them up online and started a Facebook group message. This started our hyperpersonal communication. As we all know, Facebook messaging is asynchronous and about as lean of a medium we can have.  While we could each look at each other’s pictures and see past posts, it was not a very rich interaction.  We all got to know one another on a rudimentary level. Taking turns being the senders and receivers of the information, we used the message stream to express the sides of ourselves that we wanted. We could choose which facets of our personalities we wanted to display and which ones we wanted to down play. If we wrote something we didn’t want to say, Facebook messenger gave us the capability to delete it before it was sent. One of the things that were most surprising to me from lecture was that we are more likely to believe something that it said online compared to face-to-face. Looking back, I can see that I was actually inclined to believe whatever they were saying for the simple fact of I had no reason to not believe it.

We moved one of our conversations from the lean Facebook messenger into Skype, a more rich form of communication. Together, we all experienced the differences and nuances in each other that the richer medium provided.  Professor Jackson talked about cognitive recalibration. I did not understand it at the time, but I found myself thinking “that’s not what I expected” and “that’s not how I pictured…”. Even the little things, like hand gestures and mannerisms were now actually displayed in front of me rather than created in my head. When we finally met face to face, there wasn’t as much as of a surprise in meeting them because in a way I already felt like I had. We still shook hands and made reference to the face that I was nice to meet in person. However, it was far more casual and less charged than meeting face to face for the first time with no prior interactions.

I liken it to reading a book. When reading, our minds create a whole world full of things like what the characters look and sound like, how they dress, and images of the scenery and setting. When the book is made into a movie, we find ourselves comparing our own thoughts and idealized impressions to what the movie shows.

In closing, I think we have again hit on some very interesting topics that are only becoming more relevant to the modern world as time passes. This class is going to put us ahead of the average business man/woman for the simple fact that we are going to be aware of all of these topics. Understanding the limitations and advantages of computer mediated-communication is indispensible in today’s day in age.

--Zach O.