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Thurlow, C., Lengel, L. & Tomic, A. (2004). Computer Mediated Communication: Social Interaction and the Internet. London: Sage.

This is a uniquely friendly and easy-to-understand treatment of CMC. Communication is often complicated, and computerization makes it stranger still, yet the authors have deftly demystified both the miraculous and the mundane of computer-mediated interaction.
Joseph B. Walther PhD, Cornell University

Computer Mediated Communication is an accessible but scholarly guide to the nature of online human communication and the impact of the internet on identities, relationships and communities in international contexts.

Innovatively structured according to core learning outcomes, the book:

provides students with a theoretical foundation to the communicative nature of new technologies,
enables students to engage with major social issues associated with online interaction, and
quips students with key technical skills as a stimulus to independent and critical inquiry.

Whether used as a coursebook with undergraduates or as a sourcebook for graduate students, this is an interdisciplinary book for Language and Communication Studies, Media Studies, Information Science, Cultural Studies, Sociology and Psychology. The book is also designed to respond to the particular needs of course leaders and to new developments in the field.

As an additional gateway for interactive learning, readers are invited to access this dedicated website with hundreds of carefully chosen weblinks for clarification and further research - all indicated by the WWW logo.

List of contents

For Students: Getting into CMC
For Course Leaders: Teaching CMC

Learn: Basic Theory

Unit 1    Defining CMC: An introduction to the field

Unit 2    Situating CMC: Technologies for communication

Unit 2    Theorizing CMC: Technology and social interaction

Unit 4    Describing CMC: Interpersonal dynamics

Unit 5    Explaining CMC: Group dynamics

Unit 6    Contextualizing CMC: ‘Flaming’ and embedded media

Critique: Central Issues

Unit 1    Online ethics and international inequities

Unit 2    Online identity: Real or virtual?

Unit 3    Online communities: Real or imagined?

Unit 4    Language and the internet

Unit 5    Women and the internet

Unit 6    Interpersonal attraction, cybersex and cyberporn

Unit 7    Anti-social behavior, online compulsion and ‘addiction’

Apply: Fieldwork

Task 1   Searching and researching on the internet

Task 2   Collaborating online: Doing CMC, discussing CMC

Task 3   Creating a webpage: HTML and WYSIWIG editing

Task 4   Making conversation: Online chat and messaging

Task 5   Building community: Metaworlds and visual chat

Task 6   Constructing identity: Personal homepages and webcams

Explore: Focus Areas

Topic 1 Political communication in CMC

Topic 2 Forensic communication in CMC

Topic 3 Organizational communication in CMC

Topic 4 Health communication in CMC

Topic 5 Lifespan communication in CMC I

Topic 6 Lifespan communication in CMC II

Topic 7 Instructional communication in CMC

Topic 8 Visual communication in CMC

Topic 9 New media developments in CMC

References

List of stimulus and task readings

All other references

Indexed Glossary of Key Terms
Index

More information about the book's contents
can also be found by visiting the main sites
of either Sage USA or Sage UK.