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- Text Comparison—theories covered in A First Look and ten other textbooks
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Information for Instructors. Read more
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New to Theory Resources?
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Social Information Processing Theory
Joseph Walther
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Essay Questions 11th Edition
A self-help tool to aid in the study of the First Look text
- Describe the link between social information, interpersonal impression formation, and relationship development.
- Walther originally developed the hyperpersonal perspective with reference to text-based media such as e-mail. To what extent do the four elements of the perspective also apply to modern social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? How about video chat like Zoom or FaceTime? Or text messaging?
- Take a close look at your use of one social media site or app. What elements of your use of the site are low warrant information? Which are high warrant information? Given that people tend to trust high warrant information more than low warrant information, what impression might viewers of this information form of you?
- When it comes to hostile groups, Walther makes the startling claim that such groups may reduce hostility by communicating exclusively using text-only channels. Use the four elements of the hyperpersonal perspective to explain why Walther offers that advice.
- The critique section describes modality weaving. What does modality weaving look like in your life? Does SIP explain your modality weaving choices? How could the theory be expanded to better account for modality weaving?
CHANGE TO: View by Type
Resources
by Theory
Instructors can get additional
resources. Read more
Archived chapters (PDF)
from previous editions
are available in
Resources by Type.
See list
New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more in this short
video overview (3:01).
Social Information Processing Theory
Joseph Walther
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Essay Questions 11th Edition
A self-help tool to aid in the study of the First Look text
- Describe the link between social information, interpersonal impression formation, and relationship development.
- Walther originally developed the hyperpersonal perspective with reference to text-based media such as e-mail. To what extent do the four elements of the perspective also apply to modern social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? How about video chat like Zoom or FaceTime? Or text messaging?
- Take a close look at your use of one social media site or app. What elements of your use of the site are low warrant information? Which are high warrant information? Given that people tend to trust high warrant information more than low warrant information, what impression might viewers of this information form of you?
- When it comes to hostile groups, Walther makes the startling claim that such groups may reduce hostility by communicating exclusively using text-only channels. Use the four elements of the hyperpersonal perspective to explain why Walther offers that advice.
- The critique section describes modality weaving. What does modality weaving look like in your life? Does SIP explain your modality weaving choices? How could the theory be expanded to better account for modality weaving?
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