Interpersonal Communication in the Information Age: Opportunities and Disruptions

The Information Age and the Global Self

When Manuel Castells (1996/2010) launched the concept of the network society, he opened the discussion on a new structure of the society, dominated by communications in nodes powered by digital networks and communicated by the Internet. Networks form a new structure of the society and dominate the social relations, while communication occurs in nodes, following a decentralized structure. “A network is a set of interconnected nodes. The relative importance of a node does not stem from its specific features, but from its ability to contribute to the network’’s goals” (Castells, 1996/2010, p. 3). The communication process mediated by nodes through ICTs can contract or expand and transcend time and space. As a result, the network society accentuates the process of individuation, creating what Castells (1996/2010, 2014) called the Me-centered society. It is a form of reconstruction of the social relations having the self as the focal point: communities are formed based on each person interests, values and aspirations; the global and selective networks (networked individualism, Rainie & Wellman, 2012) combine online with offline interactions and are constructed around an autonomous self; finally, the Internet-based mass self-communication (Chandler & Munday, 2016) allows personalization and flexibility to a scale never met before.

The culture of real virtuality (Castells, 1997/2010) shapes how social networks operate. Such a culture organizes around computer-mediated communication with flexible social norms not embedded in a particular social structure. The culture of real virtuality and the primacy of technology for the sake of technology, key features of social structure in the information age, are the very sources of the state and civil society crisis (p. 423). The global self manages to form nodes and become visible irrespective of traditional power forms (e.g., class and economic condition). The culture of real virtuality allows an inclusive symbolic environment and opportunities for marginalized individuals and groups to become visible and expand their influence and coordination (Castells, 2009/2011). Time and space become particularly irrelevant. In fact, in the new network society, the self organizes around new forms of time and space: timeless time and the space of flows.

By using the notion of timeless time, Castells (1996/2010) discussed the challenges of the global self in the network society, meaning the continuous effort to annihilate time, compress time, and eliminate the sequencing of time. Therefore, the development of communication technologies “can be understood as the gradual decoupling of contiguity and time-sharing“ (p. 36). The self-presence in the real virtuality includes the past, the present and the future and eliminates the sequentially of communication flow. The virtual self can compose and decompose different time sequences and re-create time according to self-interests and fantasies. Individuals play with new identities and experience simultaneous presence in different spaces of flows—new forms of space arrangements that allow time-sharing practices and fluid identities (Howard, 2000). Such spaces of flows are defined by communication in nodes, by dominant social actors in the networks. They are “places connected by electronically powered communication networks through which flows of information circulate and interact, which ensure the time-sharing of practices processed in such a space” (Castells, 1996/2010, p. 36). The concept of space of flows brings into discussion the role of dominated self-identities. Castells describes them as a “system of VIP spaces throughout the world” (2014, p.140). In contrast, nowadays, we operate with the term “influencer” to understand the way particular identities create hubs based on the power of experience, inducing different subversive social interactions (Abidin, 2016). Influencers are defined as communication nodes committed to deploying and maintaining an online identity with the expectation that others will do the same (Borchers, 2019, p. 256). Personal experience becomes a way of domination and resistance to dominance, as technology appropriation replaces the space of places with the space of flows.

The global self faces the pressure of affirming identity, using the new technological tools that practically create endless opportunities. Nevertheless, the global self in the network society depends on the sharing and re-interpreting of the cultural codes in different hubs. The re-affirm self needs to frame the meaning of experience to be accepted according to the codes in-scripted in certain networks (Castells, 1997/2010, 2014). The logic of networking society lies in affirming self-identity by re-interpreting the already existing cultural codes and proposing alternative meanings. The culture of the meme, for example, is a quintessence of reinterpretation of meanings using familiar cultural codes (Yus, 2018; Wang & Wang, 2015). At least in interpersonal relations, the ability to be visible and change the game’’s rules rarely serves an instrumental goal. Instead, the preeminence of experience and sharing meanings within the networks is a self-actualizing process: “I am, thus I exist” (Castells, 2014, p.16).

Castells’ concepts are primarily used to explain macro-phenomena, for example social movements (Castells, 2015), political and socio-economic transformation around the world (Castells, 2017), and to a lesser extent in discussing meso-phenomena, for instance, interpersonal communication effectiveness, the commodification of human interactions and interpersonal conflicts arise as part of individual’’s adaptation to the Information Age. Also, people’’s experience with the new information age is presented somewhat optimistically by Castells, who focuses on the opportunities created by the global network for individuals to interact with others from various cultural and political backgrounds. Indeed Castells (1997/2010, 1998/2010) acknowledged that the culture of virtual reality accentuates the social polarization and social exclusion; by making some groups more vulnerable than others—in this respect we later investigate various forms of digital divide (Van Dijk, 2005; 2006), as well as the role of digital literacies in shaping the new social inequalities (Hargittai & Dobransky, 2017; Hargittai & Hinnant, 2008). However, Castells’ theoretical frame is mainly used to analyze the societal change by the influence of technology and to explain how different macro-phenomena interact with each other, for example, the rise of social and cultural movements (Castells, 2015) or the transformation of the state and power in a globalized world (Castells, 2017).

Here, we argue, the core concepts briefly presented above could be deployed in an interpersonal communication framework to approach challenges the network society brings in how we reflect, listen, explain, negotiate, and reinforce our interactions with others.

Opportunities and Disruptions for Interpersonal Communication in the Information Age

Interpersonal communication theories have incorporated the use of information and communication technologies (Walther, 2007, 2011, 2017) and perpetual interconnectedness to understand human behavior in interaction (Walther et al., 2015). Mainly, Computer-mediated Interpersonal Communication focuses on the way individuals form and manage social relations and how do we exploit the new technologies for relational purposes. Instead of analyzing the macro-phenomena, Computer-mediated Interpersonal Communication focuses on relational communication; and the emergent theories allow discussion about opportunities and disruptions generated by the information age when people interact in small groups (families, friends, acquaintances, co-workers).

We have to specify here that micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis are generally used in social sciences. At the macro level, we work with structural dynamics, articulation between system and actors and between individuals and practices (Serpa & Ferreira, 2019), whereas at the micro level, we study human behavior in the context of everyday interactions (Giddens, 1997). Meso-analysis is conceived as an intermediate level (Fine, 2012) and an articulation between the two extreme—macro and micro units. A group-level analysis constitutes a typical example of a meso approach. Still, one specific element of a meso-analysis focuses on relations and how their different typologies influence individuals, social practices and systems. Social relations (for example, hierarchies, interdependencies, mutuality) are communication frames and linkages between the social structure and the everyday interactions.

In the Interpersonal Communication area, the meso-level of analysis prevails, and the same happens in Computer-mediated Interpersonal Communication (Walther, 2017). Such analysis level focuses on individuals in mediated relations with others and how this affects the general structure of the communication environment and communication practices. Some of these theories have the communication medium as a focal point. Consequently, they are of particular interest if we want to apply Castells’ concepts of real virtuality, timeless time, and space of flows. The so-called clues-filter theories (Walther, 2007) started from the assumption of a society marked by digital networks and Internet communication and try to explain how such new communication structures would create communication patterns and choices in people’’s interactions. The social presence theory (Short et al., 1976; Rice & Case, 1983), Media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986; D’Urso & Rains, 2008) and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (Postmes & Baym, 2005) are labeled as clues-filter theories (Walther, 2007, 2017) and largely used nowadays in studies on interpersonal communication mediated by technology. In the current paper, we will analyze each of these theories in connection with the main concepts formulated by Castells and discussed above. Also, by using examples, we reveal their potential in explaining different meso-phenomena.

The social presence theory (see Walther, 2011)—initiated in the late 1970s when the first research on computer interaction was conducted, stipulates that different communication media allows the presence of emotional-driven cues to various extents. From video chat to emails, these communication channels are systems that support a few or more nonverbal cues, and therefore the closeness and the involvement of the users vary, allowing different types of social interactions. The social presence theory focuses on the communication medium possibilities and constraints and how different technological applications render socio-emotional content. To use Castells’ terms, we can talk about different self-presence in the real virtuality, as a result of the various communication media and their capacity to transmit nonverbal clues in addition to verbal/written content. The sequentially of the communication flow is substituted to a more or lesser extent by various media communication, which the virtual self differently manages. The advancement of digital technologies challenges the initial form of the social presence theory, mainly because many current media systems incorporate audio-video content, live interaction, and access to nonverbal cues. Also, the development of personalized avatars adds nuances to the social presence theory and raises the question of the reciprocal influences between the online and offline self. Nowadays, people have a variety of ways to represent themselves. People are used to personalization, from voice messages on our phones to the characters we choose when playing a digital game: some digital applications provide more dramatic transformations; others allow limited personalization. The use of avatars in digital media (e.g., online games) allows subtle or severe changes in the way we present ourselves and interact with others. We can choose a tall avatar or a shorter one, a bossy one or a submissive one. Such digital representations could influence how we interact in the virtual environment (for example, the role played in a particular game) and our offline behaviors. When people confirm the expectations of the avatar features and thus transform their behavior both online and offline, it is a process referred to as the Proteus effect in the literature (Yee & Bailenson, 2007). There are actually two types of effects avatars could create on ourselves: first, attitude modification—meaning that it could change the way we see different people and different tasks, it could change our motivation and the meanings we attribute to things we do. Second, behavior modification—meaning that people could react differently to different tasks—changes their performance, approach tasks in different ways or interact with others differently (Fox et al., 2013). The Proteus effect proved to be a useful approach in changing people’’s outcomes in various tasks by increasing their effectiveness and resilience (Song et al., 2014; Van Der Heide et al., 2013). It proves that the interplay between our online and offline self-representation creates opportunities for self-efficacy and self-enhancement.

The social presence theory also explains why individuals use various media for different relational purposes and why they sometimes prefer using only some of the features of a particular medium of communication (for example, only voice) even when other features are available (e.g., video options). Besides, the social presence theory explains the extraordinary flexibility of the self in the information age: self-disclosure, question-asking, or micro-coordination is performed differently on the various communication channels, resulting in greater conversational effectiveness (Tidwell & Walther, 2002) and participants’ confidence throughout the interactions. The virtual self has unlimited possibilities to control the conversational flows and the outcomes of various social interactions: the possibilities to interrupt and initiate conversations, provide limited or extending access to the socio-emotional cues, negotiate meanings, and create contexts. The “omnipotent self” depends on various disruptions associated with each communication channel, namely, technical aspects of the communication systems and the digital competencies of the interaction partners (Walther et al., 2010). Particularly the new information age provides both opportunities and disruptions for intergenerational communication. In a globalized society, highly affected by migration, the new communication technologies create bridges between grandparents, children and grandchildren in transnational families (Baldassar et al., 2014), and the social presence theory explains the rise in popularity of some applications (e.g., WhatsApp) and the ephemerality of social media applications in general. The concept of space of flows, developed by Castells, explains the process of media displacement (the replacement of old media with new ones): the new media allow time-sharing practices between people who live far away and engage in different other activities while communicating (Nimrod, 2017). Family members share daily activities, and perpetual connectivity removes the boundaries between online and offline communication. Thus, popular applications allow time-sharing practices, with few interruptions caused by differences in affordability and digital skills, for example, instant messaging applications that also allow video calls (e.g., WhatsApp).

The lack of social context hypothesis (Walther, 2017) brings nuances to the social presence theory by focusing on interpersonal communication dysfunctionality mediated by technology. The self becomes de-individualized and anomic: interpersonal relationships become more disinhibited, conflicts arise, and negative emotions aggravate conflicts fostering different forms of bullying, cheating and diverse forms of deceit (from financial to emotional scamming). For example, the online romantic scam developed to a scale never imagined before. In 2012, there were 230.000 victims of online romantic scammers only in Great Britain (Whitty & Buchanan, 2012). Though romantic scamming existed before the Information Age, the lack of social context transformed such phenomena by incorporating very sophisticated ways of approaching victims and generating huge profits. The actual geographic localization of the scammers becomes very difficult to know—it is almost impossible in many cases. The scammers’ self-presentation takes advantage of the lack of social context, which helps manipulate their social presence. “Scammers can use photographs that range from low-quality and heavily pixilated photographs to high quality studio shots; often multiple shots of the same model are used, which strengthens the scammer’’s credibility who can supply limitless photographs at the victim’’s request” (Ghana-pedia.org, cited by Rege, 2009, p. 496). Nevertheless, replacing the social presence with real virtuality allows forms of online sophistication of self-presentation difficult to decode in terms of credibility and intentions. Also, the commodification of the online self, “selling yourself” through different performative acts, is a process of losing the markers of authenticity, as self-identity is a context-dependent social construction (Turkle, 2017).

Media richness theory (D’’Urso & Rains, 2008) has also been applied to interpersonal communication to understand the role of communication technology. Some indicators for media richness are relevant in such theoretical frame: (1) the number of cues supported by a particular medium; (2) the immediacy of feedback; (3) the potential for the use of natural language (colloquial use of language); (4) the personalization of the content. The theory argues that the equivocality of the situation interacts with the media richness, and people “feel more comfortable” and prefer working with leaner media richness in non-equivocal situations/messages and with more media richness in equivocal situations/messages. Assuming that individuals aim to achieve communication effectiveness, they will choose the communication medium according to the level of equivocality of the situation. Thus, the effectiveness of interpersonal communication will depend on what Castells (1996/2010, 2014) mentioned regarding the communication in networks: there are certain codes in-scripted in certain networks, and when judging the equivocality of a message situation, individuals base their evaluations on their previous experience—as the logic of the network society is the immersion in the new communicative experience. It will explain why we use alternative media channels in apparently similar situations. Thus, we can use email (a less rich media) for transmitting a non-equivocal message—for example, the hour and the outline of a work meeting, and video call (a richer media) when we aim for a more equivocal situational message—for example, report from a holiday trip. Although the media richness theory explains how individuals reach effectiveness in technology-mediated interpersonal communication, some authors have observed dysfunctionalities, such as the deliberate use of rich media to deceive others by sending equivocal messages (Hancock et al., 2004). Nevertheless, the use of media richness to achieve effectiveness in computer-mediated communication depends on people’’s familiarity with the new media codes. Disruptions occur in interactions between people with different understandings of a particular media. For example, in a previous work (Ivan & Hebblethwaite, 2016), we note the fact that grandmothers used alternative media (with different levels of richness) to construct messages to family and friends, unaware of some of the shared codes: For instance, they will use Facebook to access visual content posted by family and phone to express their opinions regarding the same visual content. Thus, communication efficiency is not met in such situations, as expressed by media richness theory (time and effort required).

The Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE from now on, Postmes & Baym, 2005) is one of the theoretical models often used to explain different outcomes of interpersonal communication mediated by technologies. SIDE highlights two factors that drive people’’s online behaviors in interaction: (1) the visual anonymity leaning to deindividuation; (2) using salient social category/groups to relate with others—social identification process, long time investigated in the socio-psychological literature (see Tajfel & Turner, 1979). SIDE argues that online social interactions with unknown others generate a loss of individuality, although people rely on the social categorization process (in group-out group mental schema). When a person’’s (online) behavior seems to belong to a particular group, that person is automatically labeled as belonging to that social group and treated as such. Subsequently, forces of strong like (attraction) and strong dislike (rejection) shape online interpersonal communication and groups’ polarization occurs almost instantly. In The Power of Identity (1997/2010), his trilogy’’s second book, Castells discusses the structural similarities of the contemporary social movements—forms of collective identities opposing the dominant socio-economic (capitalist) order, aiming to address various inequalities and injustice. More recently, Castells (2015), in the book Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age recuperates the idea by underlining the role of autonomous communication networks supported by Internet and digital technology: they create new forms of social movements and protests with the capacity to induce socio-political change. Indeed, we are witnessing the eruption of different social movements supported by the network society. Simultaneously, at the meso-level, groups’ polarization dominates people’’s online interactions: Social Media Sites, for example, trigger group’’s individuation and segmentation in communication flows. SIDE explains why salient group clues drive people online communication: the globalized self-identity is often expressed in terms of group belongings. We are members of community groups, online professional groups, but also online groups organized around spare time activities, hobbies, social roles or interests, to name a few. Our online self “is forced” to make choices to belong to some groups instead of others. SIDE explains that individuals tend to evaluate others on Internet-mediated interpersonal communication after perceiving similarities or dissimilarities from shared membership in various social categories. Online interpersonal communication is then shaped by category identification. The nuances added to SIDE, with the advanced visual features in almost all online applications and the perpetual connectivity; do not change the essence of the theory. The fact that people can see a photo or a live video representation actually accentuates the tendency to place the interaction partner in particular group categories (Walther, 2011). Several dysfunctionalities emerge, such as aggravating forms of racism in people’’s online interactions (Bliuc et al., 2018). The SIDE theoretical model could explain the increase of different forms of prejudices in online interactions compared to face-to-face interactions (Kahn et al., 2013). When interacting online, we are subjects of deindividuation processes and exposed to de-personalization (see Lee, 2004). The inability to determine the actual identity of the person we interact with online creates the opportunity for de-personalization: the group category replaces the individuality to some extent, allowing the interaction partners to reduce the unpredictability of the social interactions.

Conclusion

The classic Castells trilogy on The Information Age challenges how we see our global society influenced by the rise of communication technologies. Communication in networks marks the shift from an industrial society to an information society, and it shapes the transformations of human relations. The Internet contributes to the rise of self-autonomy (Castells, 2014). Sociability is reconstructed as an interplay between online and offline interactions. In Castells’ views, the Internet does not isolate people but increases their sociability and empowers them in various ways, raising their feelings of security, personal freedom and power, influencing their well-being positively (Castells, 2014). Sharing Castells’ optimism on how network society creates efficiency and innovation in human interactions, in the current paper, we also draw attention to less optimistic aspects that come with the constant pressure of constructing relationships through virtual reality. We argue that the culture of real virtuality also creates a de-individualized and anomic self: polarizing emotions, aggravating conflicts and various forms of bullying and deceitful behaviors. Also, communication disruptions might occur in interactions between people with a different understanding of a particular media. In fact, Castells (1996/2010) acknowledged that the new information society creates new forms of inequalities and vulnerabilities but expressed a somewhat optimistic view on how such inequalities might be reduced over time. Castells (1997/2010) focused more on the opportunities that emerged in the social network society to create “a voice” for collective identities, for new social movements addressing social inequalities and injustice. However, we cannot ignore that the new information society exposes social interactions to de-personalization and prejudice manifestations. Various forms of explicit ageism, sexism and racism could be found in Internet-based communication and communicating in networks favors the evaluation of others in terms of group categories, setting the route of prejudice and polarized attitudes.

Finally, the theory of the network society is one of the most influential macro-theory in the communication field in the past 50 years. It helped researchers understand and predict various phenomena: from the rise of new social movements to the transformation of the public sphere. It anticipated the role of Internet-based technologies in practically any sphere of our lives. Still, in various sub-fields of the communication area, Castells’ theory remains rather un-exploited. A potential explanation lays in the general difficulty to bridge macro-theories with meso-theories when explaining human behavior. Communication field incorporates a large number of meso-theories and the articulation with the few dominant macro-theories is particularly difficult. In this context, this article bridges three of the most used meso-theories from the interpersonal communication domain with Castells’ main concepts of the network society theoretical framework. The three theories discussed here—The social presence theory, Media richness theory, and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE)—consider technology-mediated social interaction as a cue-filtered interaction, allowing opportunities and disruptions for interpersonal communication. From this point, we underline the opportunities and dysfunctionalities for interpersonal communication in the Information Age. In the case of the social presence theory, for example, we present the role of the avatars in changing online and offline attitudes and behaviors; and discuss the importance of understanding the interplay between online and offline self-representations. The fact that we chose certain features to create and re-create our online identity is an effect of the culture of real virtuality and an opportunity for improved self-enhancement and self-efficacy.

The media richness theory explains how individuals reach communication effectiveness in interpersonal relations by using media channels’ opportunities for transmitting messages with different levels of ambiguity. It practically explains the coexistence of diverse communication technologies and why people shift among them. As Castells (1996/2010) mentioned, the network society brings the reinterpretation of cultural codes. The current digital skills require similar interpretations of the role of digital media for different situational messages. At the interpersonal level, digital inequalities—indicated by Castells as intrinsic aspects of the rise of the networks society—manifest themselves as gaps to access the technological codes shared by others.

Finally, SIDE explains the fragmentation and polarization of online groups. The rise of collective identities and the new social movements in the Information Age, anticipated by Castells, is accompanied by communication in hubs and the pressure to categorize the self and the interaction partners in groups and act accordingly. When interacting online, therefore, we treat others as academics, progressive or traditional, ecologists, or mothers and, to a lesser extent, rely on their individuality.

Nevertheless, the network society creates a new form of social organization; it “conveys the best and the worse in humankind” (Castells, 2014). The theory itself became that influential over time because it proved to explain a variety of phenomena. It ranges from macro-level (e.g., the new ecologist movements and the rise of populism in many democratic countries) to meso-level phenomena (e.g., the role of social media influencers and online brand communities), and even to micro-level (e.g., the commodification of romantic relations that we notice, for example, in dating websites or the raise of the selfie phenomenon—as a type of online social practice).