Group members:
Zeyu Zhu (zz52) - Brown
Joe Strandberg (jls289) - Brown
Emily Abramson (era38) - Yellow
For this assignment we ventured into the vast deposit of messages in Google Groups to analyze the contents of responses given by anonymous internet users. The types of posts we encountered were fairly diverse in style, but as our data will show, also highly focused on concrete information. The topics of the four threads we decided to investigate include problems with making friends online, depressed (ex)-girlfriend, lack of friends and excitement after marriage, and finally dealing with cats that have chronic diarrhea. The threads were carefully chosen to have extensive, substantial replies since so many other topics had mostly responses with only a few words or irrelevant comments/flames.
The data from the 20 messages that we analyzed are summarized below:
| % inter-rater reliability | 92.5 | | |
| | frequency | % of msgs | Braithwaite’s results (% of msgs) |
| Information | 19 | 95.0 | 31.3 |
| Tangible assistance | 1 | 5.0 | 2.7 |
| Esteem support | 7 | 35.0 | 18.6 |
| Network support | 1 | 5.0 | 7.1 |
| Emotional support | 5 | 25.0 | 40.0 |
| Humor | 4 | 2.0 | N/A |
Our inter-rater reliability, at 92.5%, can be considered as fairly high. We believe several factors contribute to this considerable level of agreement between all three of us. First, the topics we examined are largely direct questions asking for specific advice, thus the replies tend to be straightforward without much convoluted text. Secondly, as according to Wallace’s theory of social support over CMC, online exchanges are anonymous and lack nonverbal cues, so the responses would likely not be overly complex to difficult to analyze. Lastly, related to Walther’s dimensions of social support, the anonymity of CMC exchange increases confidence and reduces fear of humiliation, so the posters might be more direct and frank about their comments instead of writing in a roundabout or vague manner.
The presence of information in messages is quite high in our data as well, at 95% as opposed to Braithwaite’s much more moderate 31.3%. The heavy occurrence of information likely directly relates to the type of questions asked by the opening poster. Since the topics openly asked for counsel about specific situations, the replies are expected to contain a high amount of concrete information. For example, the messages for the lady inquiring about chronic diarrhea in cats all include some form of advice or situation appraisal since they are appropriate for the topic. Tangible assistance, however, is very rare in our sample much like Braithwaite’s data, with only 1 message that expressed willingness for active participation. This correlates with the prediction that online exchanges lack personal connection and physical presence, thus strangers are unlikely to offer physical help to each other over an impersonal environment.
Esteem support is the second most common type of comment in our analysis. Many replies contained sympathetic statements such as “it’s not your fault” or “you are correct about this situation, don’t worry about what he/she says.” Our data showed a higher percentage of this occurrence than Braithwaite’s results, but the differences is not as dramatic as the information category. We believe the discrepancy stem from the type of help asked, which in our cases (all except the chronic diarrhea one) were dealing with psychological issues such as depression and loneliness. Those themes often imply low self-esteem, so the replies would naturally offer plenty of esteem-boosting remarks. Network support, however, is rather low, along the lines of Braithwaite’s results. Few posters were willing to offer actual contact information or link to networks, which is curious since some threads are basically expressly the desire for a larger network of friends.
Emotional support showed up in ¼ of our messages, which is less than Braithwaite’s figures but still significant. As we stated earlier, the topics we examined tend to exhibit psychological problems rather than physical, so the responses are fairly likely to be oriented around assisting the mind – that is, emotional support. None of our topics deal with any potentially humorous situations (with the possible exception of cats’ chronic diarrhea), so humor is expectedly infrequent like Braithwaite study’s outcome, used only in a few situations to cheer up the person asking for help.
Walther’s social distance dimension is well-demonstrated by our data, as several topics talked about deeply personal problems (depression due to antisocial behavior, marriage issues, etc) that most people would be unwilling to discuss in real life with strangers. Anonymity, as mentioned earlier, is useful to elicit clear-cut responses. Interaction management correlates with our description of the types of messages such as controlled humor and information-laden replies. Lastly, the ease of access to online support helps people (like the lady who has cats with diarrhea) to seek information when a professional (e.g. veterinarian) is not readily or cheaply available.
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