Didi Hill

October 19, 2015

Journal #2

Social Information Processing Theory

The social information processing theory is something that I believe relates

to this generation. I chose it because of the personal experiences I have had with it

as well as seeing peers having occurrences as well. This theory goes deep into how

people communicate with technology and what is thought to come from it.

This theory can be applied to various ways of everyday life. One example is

communication over Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, etc. On these sites, it is very

easy to remove emotion from the text and feel as though you are able to say

anything to anyone. This shows how the cues are filtered out. These cues can be

facial expressions, tone of voice, and/or body movement. Nonverbal cues are very

important within an interaction to be able to better understand what message the

other person is trying to communicate. The book talks about how moral issues will

be talked about more frequently over computer-mediated communication (CMC).

This is due to the cues being removed. People are able to feel as though they are able

to state their opinion about any topic even though they may not say it face-to-face.

When I was in first grade, my best friend, Grace, moved to America from

Australia. We stayed very close until she moved back to Australia. Grace and I have

been able to keep up with each other’s lives by being able to use CMC. We may not

text everyday or Snap Chat, but I am able to see what she is doing by what she posts

on her social media. Grace is also able to see what I am doing. By us keeping up with

each other, we are maintaining our relationship but slowly growing it. I believe in

this theory very much due to this circumstance. The social information processing

theory is very easily applied to my life. I think it is so simply practical because I am

in college and away from most if not all of the people I grew up with. I have to

remain a part of some kind of CMC to maintain a relationship with those people. I

believe this also applies to most other college students because they are in the same

place as I am with some of their relationships back at home.

This theory has much more strengths than it does weaknesses but a

weakness is most definitely the way it portrays online dating in everyday life. I

agree with the majority of what Joseph Walther says about the theory but I do not

agree when he generalizes how people react. I don’t think the Internet is a very

reliable tool to use when explaining any kind of theory. This is because someone can

portray himself or herself as someone completely different so therefore it would be

hard to know if the results of testing the theory would be accurate. One other

weakness is all CMC forms can affect a relationship differently. On Facebook, one

may put their political views on a public status and because of that a good friend

may not talk to them again. On the other hand, said person could message a good

friend directly over text message and tell about her political views. This

communication method is more personal therefore the good friend may be more

willing to listen and accept the differences. These are the two major weaknesses I

found within the theory.

The social information processing theory is a very easy theory to understand.

It is so applicable to this generation because there are many, many different forms

of computer-mediated methods of communication. From students to employees of

businesses to CEOs of major corporations, every area of life has a way of

communicating over technology and that is why this theory is so easy to apply to

life.