CMC in Personal Relationships Chp3

Online self representation, I can only imagine the fun had in doing the study they discussed in this chapter. The framework for online profiles made sense, and I think it was important to focus on a single type of profile for it to be successful. As the authors point out the motivation for telling the truth or lying and how much you share is directly related to the purpose of the profile. Comparing match.com profiles with facebook would be like comparing apples to oranges. It was an enlightening chapter. I found myself giving a lot of introspective thought to how I taylor my online appearance throughout this chapter. I was surprised to find out the level of honesty was rated a 4/5 by the study but it seemed the profiles lied quite a bit. Even though the lies were not large themselves there were a large number of things that were lied about. I found it interesting that the size of a single lie was more important than the number of lies in terms of determining how honest someone was with their profile. The majority of the chapter seemed to confirm what I think most of us knew about online profiles and CMC in general. Its much easier to bend or manipulate information and perception to suit your needs in a asynchronous format than FtF.