In the third part of this week, we will discuss a concept known as social presence, which we can define simply as the feeling of being with another person online. Why this occurs, and how, and why it is important for social media will be discussed as well. Join the conversations at www.wvucommmooc.org!

1. Part 3
Social Presence
LOVE AT FIRST LIKE

2. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• Can we feel close to people through
technology?
• As close as face-to-face?
• Closer?

3. TECHNOLOGY AND
INTERACTION
• Not new
– But increased
• We want things to be like FtF
– Right?

4. A READING BREAK
• http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/
12/16/japan.virtual.wedding/index.html?iref
=allsearch

5. A READING BREAK
• Huh?
• This is something I’d love to see
discussion about

6. MEDIA EQUATION

7. MEDIA EQUATION
 Media = real life (Reeves and Nass, 1996)
 Stone age brains, space age tech
 If it looks like a duck…

8. WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESENCE?
• Presence – “Illusion of Non-Mediation”
(Lombard & Dittion, 1997)

9. WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESENCE?

10. WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESENCE?
• Biocca, Harms, & Burgoon (2003)
– “a sense of being with another” (p. 460)
– “How well did one person feel connected to
another through an interface?” (p. 464)

11. WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESENCE?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNw4o
icWmWU

12. FEELING SOCIAL PRESENCE
• What leads to feeling social presence?
– Do we need face-to-face/nonverbals?

13. FEELING SOCIAL PRESENCE
• What leads to feeling social presence?
– Do we need face-to-face/nonverbals?
– Research on channels has been inconclusive

14. FEELING SOCIAL PRESENCE
• What do we need?
– Transparency of technology?
– “A sense of telepresence is felt by media
users when the technology becomes
transparent in the interaction”
(Bracken, Pettey, Guha, &
Rubenking, 2010, p. 126)

15. FEELING SOCIAL PRESENCE
• What do we need?
– Interaction?
– Skills?

16. BEYOND BEING THERE
• Hollan & Stornatta (1992)
– Is FtF the gold standard?
– Crutches vs. shoes
– Instead of focusing on what media lack, why
not focus on what they provide?

17. SP AND RELATIONSHIPS
• What does this all mean for social media
and relationships?

18. MORE LINKS
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Media_Equat
ion
• http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.h
tml
• Ispr.info
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaDNhp
WDmyg