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4 - Nonverbal communication and cultural differences: issues for face-to-face communication over the internet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Pio Enrico Ricci Bitti  and
Pier Luigi Garotti
Edited by
Arvid Kappas  and
Nicole C. Krämer
Pio Enrico Ricci Bitti
Affiliation:
University of Bologna, Italy
Pier Luigi Garotti
Affiliation:
University of Bologna, Italy
Arvid Kappas
Affiliation:
Jacobs University Bremen
Nicole C. Krämer
Affiliation:
Universität Duisburg–Essen
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Summary

Overview: The various forms of interpersonal communication that take place on the internet are considered and several questions concerning the efficacy of interpersonal communication over the internet are raised (i.e., whether this form of communication can be compared to actual face-to-face communication).

The technologies for communication over the internet do not always allow access to “kinesic” behaviors through the visual channel or to vocal-intonational modulations of speech through the auditory channel; they therefore cannot count on a wide range of nonverbal signals that are of extreme importance for certain communicative processes. Graphic and linguistic strategies permit internet users to compensate for this lack of communicative signals and render communication via the internet more immediate, natural, spontaneous, and expressive. Videoconference might be an effective means for conveying the sense of presence to interlocutors; it can be used in many different areas: in work (long-distance collaboration and meetings between people in different locations), long-distance education (teleteaching, e-learning), and health care (telemedicine, telehealth, psychotherapy), as well as in legal contexts.

This contribution, finally, analyzes the video-based interactions between individuals belonging to different cultures and evaluates the differences in nonverbal communication in this perspective.

Introduction

The internet is now a means of communication widely used in the interaction between individuals: It is used for work, to chat with friends, to meet new people, to discuss matters of social importance, for educational purposes, etc. The videoconference has now been added to the most frequently used systems (email, discussion forums, mailing lists, etc.

Type
Chapter
Information
Face-to-Face Communication over the Internet
Emotions in a Web of Culture, Language, and Technology
 , pp. 81 - 99
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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