Despite the growing popularity of electronic mail and the Internet, most people still prefer to communicate with others face-to-face, according to two separate studies conducted at Kent State University. These findings dispute reports that the personal computer has become the preferred method of communication between people.
Researchers in Kent's School of Communication Studies examined the appropriateness and effectiveness of six different methods of communicating interpersonally, including face-to-face, telephone, fax, letter, e-mail and voice mail. These communication channels were compared and the results, published in the Journal of Communication, revealed that people perceive interpersonal communication to be the most effective and appropriate for both giving and receiving communications.
"We found that a feeling of social presence is important because of the actual presence of another person who provides immediate exchange of both verbal and non-verbal information," said Rebecca B. Rubin, professor of Communication Studies at Kent and one of the study's co-authors. "The results also show that despite the availability of alternative communication channels, the motives for using face-to-face communication to fulfill one's own and others' needs don't diminish," Rubin added.
The second study, published in the current edition of Communication Quarterly, focuses solely on the Internet as a functional alternative to face-to-face communication - meaning that people should want to communicate on the Internet for the same reasons as communicating face-to-face. The results examined the relationship between these reasons, as well as the role of communication apprehension in determining such motives.
"We found clear evidence the Internet is not perceived as a functional alternative to face-to-face communication," said Lisa M. Flaherty, one of the co-authors and instructor of Communication Studies at Kent. "The results suggest that people use the Internet to fulfill some needs and face-to-face to fulfill other needs," Flaherty said.
Both Rubin and Flaherty agree that there is an important role for electronic communication in many peoples' lives. "With today's increased channel options, dependency on face-to-face channels may be ineffective and inefficient, especially when we think of communicating with people in distant regions of the world" Rubin added. While both of the studies dispel popular notions that electronically based communication is supplanting traditional interpersonal interaction, the authors caution that research in this area is limited.
According to Rubin, "We can't forget that the use of e-mail, the Internet and other electronic communication channels is a relatively new phenomenon that is only just capturing large segments of the population."
Kent State University's School of Communication Studies offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in communication and is northeast Ohio's only doctoral program specializing in interpersonal and mediated communication. The School's Communication Research Center is a focal point for scholarly activities in communication regionally and nationally. The website is located at http://www.kent.edu/comm
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03-07-99