Computer mediated communication and eye catcher

Currently, computer mediated communication is a fast growing type of communication which is also a popular research topic. Thanks to computer mediated communication, people can get to know each other and communicate with another person without knowing the other person in real life. In addition to this, two perspectives are formulated: the lost perspective and the liberated perspective. The liberated perspective suggests that due to the lack of physical communication through the new media, real and interpersonal relationships can be formed. The opposite of the liberated perspective is the lost perspective; this perspective suggests that it is impossible to form a close friendship over the Internet because relationships via the Internet are seen as superficial and impersonal precisely by the absence of physical communication.

To solve the problem of absence of physical communication, Dr. M.L. Antheunis, who is a researcher of the Tilburg University, investigates the possibilities of using an eye catcher during computer mediated communication. With an eye catcher it is possible to have eye contact with the person with who one is talking to via the computer. Eye catcher is an extensive version of Skype and it will give the user the opportunity to have more physical communication with the other person. When eye catcher is available for the normal user and this study about the eye catcher is finished a new research can be done in which researchers investigate the effects of eye catcher on relationships. With these researches it is possible to make clear decisions about the lost and liberated perspectives. Which perspective will be remaining, the lost or the liberated?

 

Interview Dr. M.L. Antheunis

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

One week before the the royal wedding, I am curious about what this wedding will do with the (social) media on the 29^th of April. This is what I think: the trending topics on that day on Twitter will be: wedding, Prince William, Kate Middleton and off course, the wedding dress of Kate. For months, the media are speculating about the wedding dress of Kate Middleton, and finally she will show her dress to Prince William and the rest of the world. Furthermore, the newspapers around the world will be completely under the spell of this wedding. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo will be overwhelmed by interested people from all over the world who are searching for pictures of the wedding, the wedding dress of Kate and off course Prince William. And let’s be honest, I can’t blame them because I will do the same thing on April the 29^th.

Children and their privacy on social network sites

According to the popularity of Facebook among students in the Netherlands, Facebook is also becoming very popular by children. 70 percent of the Dutch children between 9 and 12 year have an account on Facebook or Hyves. Due to the fact that more children use social network sites, these sites have to be private for the safety of the children. It is important that the profiles of children are only visible for the ‘friends’ of the child and not all other members of social network sites. Nowadays, children say that they know that they can change their settings, so that their profile is only visible for ‘friends’, but they do not want this. Therefore, the settings of the social network site of a child should be private automatically.

It is necessary that the profiles are automatically private and parents do also have to keep an eye on the social network sites of their children.