Mighty Digests # 24: LAMERICHS & TE MOLDER: Computer-Mediated Communication: From a Cognitive to a Discursive Model

Lamerichs, J. & te Molder, H.F.M. (2003). Computer-mediated communication: From a

cognitive to a discursive model. New Media & Society 5(4): 451-473.

I appreciated the focus of the article on the social dimension of CMC and “an approach in which

text and talk are analyzed as part of social practice.” (p. 452)

Another important point is that “Rather than viewing talk as a descriptive route to what we ‘really’ think, it must be understood as performing various kinds of discursive actions.” (p. 452)

From this perspective, even the concept of “identity” can be reinterpreted as a discursive social construct:

“We have tried to illustrate how participants manage their identities in ways which cannot be accounted for when adopting a traditional social psychological view.” (p. 468)

It was fascinating to read about CMC from a 1991 perspective, with concepts like “cuelessness”, “flaming”, and about its alleged “ephemeral” character.

Again, an important point for me is that:

 “A discursive approach is participant-centred, i.e. it begins from the perspective of the participant rather than that of the researcher.” (p. 459)

And:

“An important starting point for analysis is the way in which participants themselves orient towards a particular utterance. Instead of using researchers’ informed guesses, the focus is first on the kind

of understanding that co-participants display in subsequent turns (for example, they may treat a particular utterance as a compliment, an invitation or an accusation).” (p. 459)

...

P.S. Is there something I am missing, maybe between the lines, or in discursive terms, about our two last readings for the course, one being about depression and the other about suicide?