In high school, I used to post on a particular Internet forum dedicated to video games and other various topics. At one point, one of the other members and I realized that we lived pretty close to one another and even went to the same nearby mall. We decided to meet up one day to hang out and see a movie.
Although we both posted on the forum, I hadn't actually had a great deal of interaction with this person (we'll call him Mark). Because of our limited interaction, the Hyperpersonal Model lends itself well to an analysis of my experience. The Hyperpersonal Model predicts that impressions formed over CMC will have less breadth and more intensity than those formed in FtF. Thus, when an online relationship leaves virtuality, the theory asserts that one of two things can happen. First, if someone forms a negative impression of another person online, he will react positively when meeting the partner in FtF because he will conclude that his initial reactions were too negative. On the other hand, if his initial impressions were positive, he will be disappointed because his partner will not live up to his exaggerated expectations.
Online, my impressions of Mark were quite positive. He seemed very outgoing, friendly, and talkative. In fact, he was the one who proposed that we meet each other. This led me to believe that he was a very open person. However, although he was not exactly unfriendly when we met in person, he was definitely a bit more quiet and unassuming than I anticipated. This somewhat negative reaction, relative to the impressions I had formed about him online, gives support to the Hyperpersonal Model. Because of the various aspects of the Hyperpersonal Model, such as the fact that Mark was able to use selective self-presentation online, I had formed an inflated positive impression of him. With the introduction of visual cues in FtF, my impressions became less intense.
Comments:
http://comm245brown.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-how-did-you-know-my-name.html
http://comm245brown.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-awkward-silence.html
2 comments:
Good post Evan. Your interaction seems to be following the same pattern that a lot of our classmates have reported on: that CMC interaction yields a very positive impression that inspires a meeting between the two people, who then notice that, in FtF, things are much more quiet, unimpressive, and dull. I believe a lot of this has to do with the fact that people will selectively self-present in CMC and will design their communication in a way that presents them in a positive light - as they want to be perceived. In FtF, they don't have this luxury and their nonverbal cues/natural inclinations betray the identity that they have crafted in CMC. I also wonder if the KNOWLEDGE of not having a mediated space as a staging ground for selective self-presentation might contribute to the awkwardness of an initial FtF meeting.
Interesting post Evan. It seems that your experience is contradictory of Ramirez & Wang’s findings. In your case you had not had a great deal of interaction with Mark prior to meeting, which, according to Ramirez & Wang would likely lend itself to a favorable outcome in real life. However, Mark’s behavior offline did not seem to reflect his online behavior in any way so it seems unlikely that you would have been able to predict the outcome at all.
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