Spend some time thinking about how technology has forced our communication to evolve. We stay in touch over Facebook, we text our friends to see what they are doing later, we meet potential romantic partners through online dating sites, we cyber-bully, we take college courses without ever meeting our teachers, we email our bosses to find out the agenda for a teleconference, and we often don’t answer the phone unless we know who is calling. This is all called Computer Mediated Communication, or CMC.

There is a debate among researchers about CMC. On one side, you could argue that it enhances our relationships. We talk more often through CMC and can stay in touch much easier. On the other side, it would seem that CMC hurts relationships, because messages seem to be shorter, and because you’re missing all that non-verbal communication (e.g., body language, eye contact, expressions, etc).

TOPIC: Does CMC enhance human communication or detract from it? Weigh both sides in your response.

Review the materials in Week One Resources to generate ideas for consideration.

Part 1: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/50386993#50386993
Part 2: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/50387010#50387010

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