Explores the growing concentration of ownership and control over the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Examines efforts of copyright owners to extend their control over information and cultural products into new media markets. Discusses the commercialization of the NII, and points out concentration, commodification, and commercialization…

Examines the frequency, form, and tone of reproaches for misconduct on five newsgroups. Finds that few individuals responded publicly to their reproachers and that complete "traditional" remedial episodes in Usenet were relatively rare. Concludes tentatively that different offense types elicit reproaches which vary in form and tone.…

Proposes that a useful perspective for studying group computer-mediated communication is the theoretical construct of interactivity. Examines a representative snapshot of communication among the very large groups populating the networks. Finds that conversations are less confrontational than popularly believed: conversations are more helpful and…

Works from a constructivist framework to adapt an existing hierarchy of person-centered persuasion to analyze student performance in 42 dyadic verbal disagreements. Finds that students using person-centered tactics were rated by their partners as more persuasive: partners' level of construct differentiation appeared to mediate these effects; but…

Tests, in two studies, whether people respond to computer personalities the same way they respond to human personalities: experiment 1 matched dominant and submissive subjects with a computer endowed with like characteristics; experiment 2 used the same experimental design to assess users' psychological responses to changes in personality-based…

Presents a case study of autobiographical letters written by a turn-of-the-century prostitute to a Boston matron. Shows how, in creating a narrative of her life, the author of the letters uses several rhetorical strategies to recreate her character to persuade her audience (and herself) that she is worthy of respect. (SR)

Investigates how a speaker's expectations about the audience can influence public speaking anxiety and willingness to speak. Indicates that audience characteristics interact with speaking contexts in complex ways but that, in general, audience pleasantness exerts a stronger influence than audience familiarity, with pleasant friends the most…

Focuses on a grass roots environmental organization to examine the extent to which activists' usual place of residence, as indicative of wealth, mediates the manner in which they describe current and probable future conditions. Argues that where a person lives for most of the year exerts a strong influence on perceptions of and communication about…

Combines theoretical insights of communication accommodation theory and the communicative predicament model (CPM) of aging with methodological procedures of interethnic communication. Finds that older communicators in dissatisfying conversations were characterized as being underaccommodative and negatively expressive. Interprets data theoretically…

Finds that just over 60% of a random sample of people in an Internet newsgroup reported forming a personal relationship with someone they had first contacted through a newsgroup. Shows that nearly two-thirds of those whose personal relationship began online chose to have other forms of contact as well. (SR)

Focuses on applications of a widely cited empirical study in the communication field--A. Mehrabian and S. Ferris' 1967 study that inferred that communication is 7% verbal, 38% vocal, and 55% facial. Notes that these applications overlook important limitations which do not warrant formulation of a precise numerical formula. Discusses lessons…

Examines the "CJ story" (regarding a letter claiming deliberate AIDS infections that received national news coverage and later exposed as a "hoax") as a product of oral folk tradition that had become transformed into "news." Discusses news (like folklore) as a cultural construction, reflecting and reinforcing cultural anxieties and concerns. (SR)

Examines the degree to which interpersonal solidarity and sexual communication satisfaction are related to relationship stages and reports of satisfaction in intimate relationships. Finds that feelings of solidarity in developed relationships are more salient than sexual communication satisfaction to reports of overall relationship satisfaction.…

Discusses the "gendered closeness perspective," which challenges the notion that women have closer relationships than men. Examines the relationships of same- and opposite-sex siblings to determine how the perspective applies in a familial context. Indicates limited support for the "gendered closeness perspective," primarily in…

Tests a methodology for obtaining data regarding difficult to access communication--joint conversation reconstruction. States that students participated in a conversation with a friend and then were asked to reconstruct the conversation, either alone or with the friend. Finds that conversations reconstructed by participants jointly resulted in…