Online interaction across three contexts: an analysis of culture and technological affordances

ABSTRACT

Students were linked virtually across three contexts: U.S., Malaysia, and China. Differences emerged in how student-created messages were constructed and interpreted; these impacted perceived relational affiliation. Messages constructed by students in Malaysia and China exhibited casual talk, greater self-disclosure, requests for personal information, and greater use of emoticons/emoji. Interactions were perceived as informal, friendly, and positive. U.S. students’ messages often showed institutional talk, less self-disclosure, and more attention to the instructor-assigned task. Asian-U.S. student pairs perceived their interactions as formal, less friendly, and less positive. This study shows how online technologies may be afforded and shaped by culture and interaction.

KEYWORDS:

• Interaction
• technological affordances
• relational affiliation
• self-disclosure
• Asian and American students
• online communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Students were informed by all instructors that, after grades were assigned, their response papers and messages would be used for research study and analysis. Consent was sought and received from all participants. To protect their identities, all real names and other personally identifying information has been removed or disguised.

2. Excerpts presented in this paper are unedited, and NOT corrected for spelling or grammar mistakes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Todd L. Sandel

Todd L. Sandel is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Macau, SAR, China. He is also Editor-in-chief of the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. His research examines how migrant communities and individuals use and create messages using social media, and how they are shaped culturally.

Richard Buttny

Richard Buttny is Professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University, USA. He is also associate editor of the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. He has studied topics such as accounts of an accountability for action, therapeutic talk, racial discourse, reported speech, the rhetoric of violence, and risk communication.

Mary Varghese

Mary Varghese is Senior Lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Taylor’s University, Malaysia. Her research examines the meaning making potential of discourse. She has studied media and Malaysia-China diplomacy, the waterfront settlements in Malaysia, and English as a medium of instruction in Malaysia. Her current projects include an investigation of child poverty in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.