Discussion Oct 29-Nov 4 Question 1

1). How does CMC differ from f2f communication? (Think outside the box).

CMC group members tend to focus more on the task and instrumental aspects of the process than on the personal and social aspects of the group. Thus they tend to be more content oriented and less social-emotional in their communication style than the face-to-face groups are (Harris & Sherbloom, 2011). It is also stated that CMC groups can come to more unique ideas than face-to-face groups. However, it will also take the CMC groups longer to reach consensus. CMC groups are not able to complete tasks as quickly as FTF groups. When the task involves social-emotional interaction, CMC groups do worse. Interpersonal relations and perception of other participants and tasks in CMC groups are poorer than face-to-face groups. Ways that groups can try and fix this are by using social networks, such as Facebook. Facebook allows for groups to maintain both the social and task aspects of their relationships, which can stimulate motivation and commitment among group members.