Computer-Mediated Communication

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The recent dramatic increase in the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC), notably the use of voice mail (v-mail) and electronic mail (e-mail), marks this trend in human communication as one of the most significant changes in our society since computers were introduced. Is there a direct relationship between preferences to either of them and how computer literate an individual is? Is a preference for v-mail or e-mail related to gender or work position? Is there an age difference? That is, will older individuals who began their work careers with secretaries, rather than laptops, prefer v-mail over e-mail?

V-mail is defined as the storing and forwarding of digitized audio messages, and e-mail is defined as the computer-to-computer exchange of text messages. Using the computer for interpersonal communication was a "reinvention" process; it was a process of developing new uses for already existing technology. Individual computer users quickly saw the computer, originally a data processing device, in a new light. They saw the computer as a means of freeing them from communication time and space constraints. The saturation of the use of CMC has reached such proportions that in 1996, the number of pieces of e-mail circulated through the Internet (94 billion) exceeded the number of pieces of mail processed by the US Postal Service. Historically, the development of v-mail in industry followed the development of email; both means of CMC now are an integral part of most of our everyday routines. Many of us would be extremely inconvenienced if either v-mail or e-mail suddenly were unavailable.

Some individuals lean toward oral/aural-based modes and might be more comfortable with a telephone technology. Others prefer the concrete nature of text messages and might be more comfortable with reading messages rather than listening to them. Not having typing skills or strong listening skills can greatly influence preference.

In the technology acceptance model (TAM), scientists concluded that usefulness and ease of use are two variables that determine the adoption and use of information technology. Whereas media richness in technologies (MRT) can be used to compare information technologies with respect to resolving equivocality or reducing uncertainty, the TAM can provide a comparison of technologies with respect to their acceptance and use. Some scientists claim that e-mail messages promote accuracy because senders of these messages can take their time in composing and editing, whereas v-mail users cannot. Thus, e-mail is argued to foster more accurate information because it is based on a written medium.

Like e-mail, v-mail allows communication without the sender and receiver being physically present at the same time. Because v-mail is aural, it possesses its own set of distinctive characteristics. Intonation, inflection, and emotion add to the meaning of the message. On the other hand, v-mail lacks the precision of e-mail. Not having a visual mode to keep one remember an item points to a common problem with voice messages, as anyone who has tried to note a phone number rattled off quickly on a v-mail message can attest.

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