Strategic Uses of Social Technology
An Interactive Perspective of Social Psychology

This volume explores how aspects of a situation interact with characteristics of a person to explain our technologically supported social interactions.

Zachary Birchmeier (Edited by), Beth Dietz-Uhler (Edited by), Garold Stasser (Edited by)

9781107647879, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 January 2014

228 pages, 6 b/w illus. 1 table
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.31 kg

'Although the book sets out to delineate the effects of technology on social behavior, many of the conclusions drawn provide profound insights on social behavior in general. Who would have thought we could learn so much about ourselves by studying our behavior in a setting where we can be almost anyone. Strategic Uses of Social Technology is a good read for those interested in communications, organizational behavior, technology, or simply human social behavior.' R. Scott Tindale, Director of the Applied Social Psychology Program, Loyola University Chicago

On an everyday basis, we communicate with one another using various technological media, such as text messaging, social networking tools, and electronic mail, in work, educational, and personal settings. As a consequence of the increasing frequency of use and importance of computer-supported interaction, social scientists in particular have heeded the call to understand the social processes involved in such interactions. In this volume, the editors explore how aspects of a situation interact with characteristics of a person to help explain our technologically supported social interactions. The person-by-situation interaction perspective recognizes the powerful role of the situation and social forces on behavior, thought, and emotion, but also acknowledges the importance of person variables in explaining social interaction, including power and gender, social influence, truth and deception, ostracism, and leadership. This important study is of great relevance to modern readers, who are more and more frequently using technology to communicate with one another.

1. Introduction: a social psychological analysis of computer-supported social interaction Zachary Birchmeier, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Garold Stasser
2. A SIDE look at computer-mediated interaction: power and the gender divide Russell Spears, Martin Lea, Tom Postmes and Anka Wolbert
3. Trust, deception, and identity on the internet Melanie C. Green and Jordan M. Carpenter
4. An interactional approach to social influence in computer-mediated communication Kai Sassenberg
5. Social interaction in cyberspace: social construction with few constraints Susanne Abele
6. Dynamics of leader emergence in online groups Andrea B. Hollingshead
7. Ostracism in cyberspace: being ignored and excluded in electronic-based interactions Eric D. Wesselmann and Kipling D. Williams
8. Opinion-based groups: (racist) talk and (collective) action on the internet Craig McGarty, Girish Lala and Karen M. Douglas
9. A juxtaposition of social influences: Web 2.0 and the interaction of mass, interpersonal, and peer sources online Joseph B. Walther, Stephanie Tom Tong, David C. DeAndrea, Caleb T. Carr and Brandon Van Der Heide
10. The virtual social world: the continually changing landscape of social interaction Garold Stasser, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Zachary Birchmeier.

Subject Areas: Human-computer interaction [UYZ], Psychology [JM]