Computer-Mediated Communication - Essay Example

Out of hundreds of SNSs, some of the most popular examples of this form of CMC include MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter which have become an integral part of daily practices for people around the world. Basically, the aim of this paper is to contemplate the efficacy and significance of SNSs as they form a very important example of CMC and then apply course concepts like online self-disclosure and disembodiment to them so as to explain how CMC functions or relates with the course concepts through SNSs.

As mentioned above, SNSs support a variety of public interests and service like information sharing and networking as a result of which CMC has been made a lot easier on many levels. While some of such sites cater to a particular group of people who share same cultural or regional background, most sites typically cater to the needs of diverse audiences. In addition to this feature, there exists a difference in the way various information and communication tools are incorporated in different sites as all SNSs do not offer the facility of online blogging or instant video/image sharing.

One of the most interesting features of this example of CMC is that not only people who are already connected outside the computer world can take advantage of the facilities offered by such sites, but strangers are also facilitated a lot as most sites support them much in connecting easily based on similar set of interests and shared political, racial, or education views (Boyd and Ellison). Though SNSs imply the concept of networking hugely yet researchers suggest that this alone could not be considered as a solo feature which helps differentiating SNSs from other mediums of CMC like blogs and social support sites.

This is because networking is neither the sole service nor the sole purpose of most of such sites rather educational and business purposes also remain significant. Though a lot of connections are made between people by this medium of CMC which might not be made otherwise, yet that could not be classified as the sole goal of SNSs. “What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks” (Boyd and Ellison).

A lot of business deals and transactions are finalized online by using such sites for enhancing communication between parties from opposite ends of the world. Similarly, this forms a great means of CMC also because education is made a lot easier as owing to many lectures offered online by expert teachers, one does not necessarily have to attend colleges on a full-time basis now. Many academic and industry researchers have written a lot in the past years concerning the wide range of academic and social advantages offered by SNSs.

These sites are capable of addressing many interests of the public when it comes to communication by using effective and handy communication tools like online blogging, mobile connectivity, and video/image sharing. In addition to that, there are certain course concepts like online self-disclosure, disembodiment, and privacy management which help much in further understanding the significance of CMC. Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs creates much excitement for the bloggers online. This is because people can open up about their