HCOM-3332 Computer Mediated Communication and Social Relations

This course examines the role of computer-mediated communication in social relationships. Students will gain practical and theoretical understanding of how communication technologies (e.g., email, social media, and mobile devices) are utilized to initiate, develop, maintain, and dissolve interpersonal and group communication. Additionally, students will gain knowledge regarding how traditional interpersonal communication concepts can be augmented to understand the increasingly mediated nature of social interaction. Such understanding will enable students to become more mindful regarding the positive and negative outcomes of using communication technology in such areas as constructing individual or multiple self-presentations, in managing interpersonal impressions and relations, in considering communication privacy, and in providing social support.