Overhearers’ perceptions of familiarity between interlocutors in computer-mediated communication based on GIF usage

<p>Given the ever-growing presence of computer-mediated communication (CMC), it is important to understand CMC and how it relates to communication in general. Despite considerable research on CMC, various features are still underrepresented, such as GIF communication. This study examines what GIF usage suggests about interlocutors’ social relationships. In particular, through a perception experiment among young adults, this study investigates how GIF usage affects perceptions of social closeness between interlocutors. I find that participants perceive interlocutors to be significantly closer when one responds to another with a GIF with embedded text instead of a text-only response, an effect that I link to increased expressiveness between people who are socially close. In addition, this effect is stronger for participants who self-report as frequent social media and GIF users than for those who do not. This could imply frequent CMC users perceive more social closeness because of their familiarity with online social cues.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.available

2021

Author dc:creator

• Druckmiller, Alexa F.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eric Acton, Ph.D.
• T. Daniel Seely, Ph.D.

• CMC
• GIF
• Perception
• Social closeness
• Linguistics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1110

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2478