Physical Co-presence and Distinctive Features of Online Interactions

Abstract

As the Internet and digital technologies advance, computer-mediated communications have become increasingly embedded in human social life. Online communication mediums, such as social media and instant messaging applications, are so prevalent that they even further complicate how people interact in their everyday lives. So, how exactly do online modalities facilitate or materialise social interactions? In this chapter, we explore the very nature of online interaction by discussing its distinctive spatial and temporal settings that sharply contrast it to conventional face-to-face (FTF) interactions. We explore three dominant themes that transform the ways in which social interactions take place, namely, 1) the lack of a physical co-presence, 2) the ease of documenting past conversations, and 3) the ‘n-adic’ nature of online disclosures. We suggest that online interaction is not an ‘incomplete’ form of FTF interactions. Rather, it serves as an alternative, or even supplement, to FTF interactions that may underlie new patterns of interaction.