Off-line Interactions Research Articles

Online vs. Offline Interactions During Writing Tutorials: Focusing on Korean Learners of English

This study aims to explore differences found both at the surface level and at the interactional level between online and offline writing tutorials at a university located in Seoul, Korea. To date, tutors’ online interactions with tutees have not been examined as much as the offline ones, despite the surge of online teaching since the global outbreak of COVID-19. In order to examine how online and offline conditions affect tutor-tutee interactions, this study audio-recorded a total of 16 online and offline writing tutorials conducted by four different Korean writing tutors. Each tutor met two tutees twice— meeting one online and the other offline at first, and then the other way around for the second. Additionally, the tutees’ writings, including their first and revised drafts, were collected to better understand the tutor-tutee interactions. The surface-level comparison reveals that backchannels and overlaps hinder the communication in online tutorials and that tutees have limited access to the shared text because of technical limitations inherent to online communication. The interactional-level comparison shows that more collaborations occur during the offline tutorials than during the online counterpart. Based on these findings, this study argues for further technical development in the area of online courses, and suggests that both tutors and tutees need training and experience in order to efficiently communicate online.

Do I Know You? Managing Offline Interaction in Acquainted Stranger Relationships.

Sociology has a long history of analyzing relationships between strangers in everyday life. The ubiquity of social media and mobile technologies, however, necessitates refined theories of how people relate to and interact with strangers in a social world where online and offline contexts are intertwined. This study examines public encounters between acquainted strangers, a type of connection fostered through social media wherein people are both digital acquaintances and offline strangers. Drawing on ethnographic data of queer men who use mobile dating and hookup apps, I find that queer men experience these encounters as routine yet problematic, which past theories of stranger relationships cannot fully explain. I argue that offline interactions with acquainted strangers amplify interactional uncertainties around identification (e.g. “I know them, but do they know me?”) and recognition (e.g. “What are the moral demands of our relationship?”). Managing these uncertainties is socially significant as the decision to regard or ignore an acquainted stranger marks not only interpersonal acceptance/rejection but also broader forms of belonging and exclusion. These findings underscore how mobile technologies are fundamentally transforming what it means to be a “stranger.”

Can We Chat . . . Privately? Using Twitter Chats to Facilitate Offline Engagement for Nonprofits

This study examines a health-focused nonprofit organization’s Twitter chats, using qualitative content analysis and social network analysis (SNA) to describe the characteristics of participants and their patterns of interaction. Together, these analyses indicate that Twitter chats do not produce the dialogue that seems inherent to the format. The chats are driven by a small group of users, feature minimal levels of participation from most users, and are heavy on retweets rather than original messages. Nevertheless, these chats can serve to identify committed users and thereby facilitate future offline relationship building rather than being the primary source of relationship building. Offline interactions hold the potential to result in dialogue consistent with theoretical models; however, these interactions may instead serve organizational purposes within an advocacy context. Suggestions that focus on exploring the value of social media for generating offline engagement and relationship building for further research are made.

The Ties That Bind: How Online and Offline Interactions Affect Social Support and Quality of Life for Older Adults

Though a digital divide still exists, older adults are increasingly using a range of information and communication technologies (ICTs) – smartphones, apps, tablets, and computers – to communicate and engage with social ties. This symposium focuses on modalities of interaction – whether online or offline – that older adults use to interact with social ties. The research projects detailed examine the frequency of different interaction modalities, as well as impacts of these interaction modalities on older adults’ perceptions of social support and quality of life. Kadylak and colleagues focus on social robots and how older adults may engage with this evolving technology to improve social engagement and aging in place. Kim and Fingerman investigate whether daily social media use is associated with same-day negative or positive mood in later life. Xie and colleagues examine older adults’ patterns of both online and offline social interaction during COVID-19, and how older adults perceive these interactions. Schuster and Cotten, using a national sample of individuals aged 65 and older, examine whether social media use may be related to a range of quality of life indicators. Each of these studies provides additional insights into the ways through which older adults interact and communicate with social ties, and potential impacts of the different ways through which they interact, which may provide insights into groups seeking to increase social engagement among older adults in general and during times when social isolation may be exacerbated due to societal stressors, such as pandemics.

Perceived Intimacy Differences of Daily Online and Offline Interactions in People’s Social Network

This study examined which media people use on a day-to-day basis to communicate and whether tie strength influenced this media use. Furthermore, we analyzed whether online and offline interactions differ in perceived intimacy and whether tie strength impacts perceived interaction intimacy: 347 real interactions of 9 participants (3 male, 6 female) were analyzed; 172 online (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email, SMS interactions) and 175 offline (recorded phone and face-to-face conversations). The results revealed that the participants communicated most frequently face-to-face or via WhatsApp, especially with strong ties. Furthermore, participants rated their interactions with strong ties as more intimate compared to weak-tie interactions. Our findings have implications for Social Information Processing theory, as our findings show that people are equally able to communicate intimate messages online and offline.

Negotiating the Ethics of Representation in RHM Research

Drawing from my experience conducting an interview-based study on vaccine hesitancy, this essay explores the ethical negotiations RHM researchers face when recruiting participants from online communities, and especially communities that are stigmatized or otherwise distrustful of researchers. I discuss the specific challenges I faced during this process, and offer four suggestions for researchers engaged in this work. These include the valuable role of reflexive journaling, the need for participant input in the distribution of recruitment messages, the importance of accounting for the dynamic nature of online communication, and the ways that participant communication online may shape off-line interactions. This essay can offer guidance to RHM scholars facing similar situations, and contribute to the broader conversation about practice-level ethical concerns in RHM research involving online communities

Network Design Mode of In-Seam Gas Extraction Parameters Using Mathematical Modelling—Take Tangan Colliery as an Example

Gas extraction is a practical and effective way to guarantee mining-process safety and deliver greater environmental benefits through reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increase the supply of a valuable clean gas resource. It has been effective in recent years, however it still has a series of problems that need to be solved. Gas extraction design mainly relies on engineering experience rather than quantitative design, resulting in low input-output ratio of gas extraction because of unreasonable design. How to build a bridge of communication between engineers and scientists is the key to realize scientific gas extraction. In this work, taking our previous gas-coal and gas-coal-heat coupling models of gas extraction as the theoretical basis, a new communication and design concept—an engineering design platform for gas extraction—is proposed using the network mode. Through the platform, on- and off-line interactions between service centre (scientific workers) and design objects (enterprises or individuals), such as data transmission, material review, scheme design and reviews, and so on. It greatly improves the efficiency and standardization of gas extraction design. Appling the networked platform, the gas extraction engineering parameters were quantitatively designed in the working face of 3307, Tangan colliery. According to the extraction time, the working face was divided into 6 extraction units. The number of boreholes were 763, the drilling capacity of coal was 0.03 m/t, and the extraction rate of each unit was more than 25%. The networked mode of in-seam gas extraction design would transform the traditional experience to the quantitative mode.

Genesis of methodological approaches to definition and organization of university information and education space

The paper presents the analysis of methodological approaches to the origin, formation and development of the ‘information and education space’ concept, and also notes the relevance of its application in contemporary society. The genesis of methodological approaches to the definition of an information and education space concept is based on a theoretical analysis and generalization of the philosophical, historical, pedagogical, sociological and cultural sciences, which made it possible to specify its essential content. It is indicated that the use of media resources, sites, instant messaging services acts as an organizational and pedagogical toolkit, which provides means for optimizing time management, managing on-line and off-line interactions as part of the learning process in present-day universities and colleges. The main purpose of this article is a brief analysis of a system-holistic, mental-emotional, personality-developing, socio-geographical, distance, and local-poster approaches to the essence of information and education space determination; and also the definition of this pedagogical phenomenon. The study has used various methods described in this paper: a hindsight analysis of domestic and foreign experience in the use of state-of-the-art IT solutions; theoretical methods; established pedagogical methods; empirical methods, an educational experiment; programmed learning techniques; interactive methods; forecasting methods; intuitive methods; methods of statistical data processing; methods for the study and generalization of contemporary pedagogical experience in the development of a personal information literacy in education. The result of the introduction of the methodological approaches described by the authors of this article to the organization of the educational information environment of the university was a positive dynamic in the development of information needs, reflection and self-assessment of educational and cognitive activities in the Internet environment, as well as assessing the ability of self-education and self-development among students of various profiles and areas of preparation.

Asynchronous Opinion Dynamics with Online and Offline Interactions in Bounded Confidence Model

Nowadays, about half of the world population can receive information and exchange opinions in online environments (e.g. the Internet), while the other half do so offline (e.g. face to face). The speed at which information is received and opinions are exchanged in online environment is much faster than offline. To model this phenomenon, in this paper we consider online and offline as two subsystems in opinion dynamics and assume asynchronization when agents in these two subsystems update their opinions. We unfold that asynchronization has a strong impact on the steady-state time of the opinion dynamics, the opinion clusters and the interactions between online and offline subsystems. Furthermore, these effects are often enhanced the larger the size of the online subsystem is.

Let’s ‘Meetup’ at the theme park

Many people enjoy theme park and other leisure experiences with their families; however, today a great number of single, geographically mobile individuals desire to partake in such experiences. ‘Meetup’ is the world’s largest social network of local groups and thus allows for both online and off-line (in person) interactions. Using an ethnographic approach, this study examines how individuals can enjoy activities centered on common activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) via immersion in a Meetup group over the course of a year. Notably, members visited with greater frequency, had less tolerance for long lines, and were more likely to attend special events, eat at specialty restaurants, and consume alcohol. Group members also exchanged travel advice and both contributed and detracted from the enjoyment of the theme park experience. Membership in this Meetup group increased the frequency of visits and deeper exploration of the theme park resort, thus improving behavioral loyalty among annual pass holders. Managers can learn from these online communities to foster interactions among their guests and better target this new market.

Knowing when not to use the Internet: Shyness and adolescents’ on-line and off-line interactions with friends

The goal of the study was to explore the content of on-line and off-line peer interactions among shy and non-shy adolescents. Participants were 148 ten-to-eighteen year old adolescents in Rome, Italy (n=98) and Ottawa, Canada (n=50). Participants completed self reports of shyness and loneliness and web logs of their interactions with friends both in person and on-line. Among the results, there was little general difference in the general content and emotion expressed during the two modalities of interaction with friends, both of which were used in a wide variety of ways. Importantly, shy participants used the on-line modality more extensively than their non-shy counterparts to express negative emotions and to convey content regarding negative exchanges with peers. Such use of electronic communication may be an important contributor to their loneliness.

The Dynamics of Motherhood Performance: Hong Kong's Middle Class Working Mothers On- and Off-Line

This paper examines the on- and off-line identity performance of a group of Hong Kong middle-class working mothers who are users of an internet based community. The development of my involvement in this community from lurker to participant and then to virtual ethnographer provides a unique opportunity to compare the on- and off-line interactions of an Internet based community. By examining the relationship between the dominant discourse of motherhood and these women's motherhood performances on- and off-line, three modes of performativity are identified and discussed. I argue that although there is considerable pressure within this community to uphold the dominant motherhood discourse, users’ reflexivity and subversion regarding this performance are evident in both on-line and off-line contexts. In particular, users’ performativity in what I call the ‘Si Nais behaving badly’ mode can be read as a reaction towards, though not necessarily subversive of, society's prevailing conception of motherhood. My findings throw light on how the structure of internet chat frames these women's presentation of self, and how internet chat exposes aspects of their self-hood, which portray a much more varied identity than the literature on motherhood currently suggests.

New Technologies and Language Change: Toward an Anthropology of Linguistic Frontiers

▪ Abstract Research to date on the relationship between new communications technologies and language emphasizes linguistic and social differences between online and off-line interactions and the impact of global English on the non-English-speaking world. These studies conclude, for the most part, that computer-mediated communication reproduces the social, political, and economic relations that exist in the real world. Related areas of research, including ethnographies of global hip hop and studies of urban hybrid language varieties, offer important models for using anthropological approaches to advance our understanding of the interconnections and situated-ness, of language, new technologies, global media, and social change.

On using nomadic services for distributed intelligence

This paper presents a next generation integrated IN architecture among Flexible Intelligent Network Elements (FINE) based on the multimedia multimode (client, server and agent) IN Service Node concept (Proc. ICCE '97, Cannes (1997) 77), to perform a crafty Unified Media Communications Service (UMCS) across heterogeneous networks. The FINE architecture represents a network of configurable interworking elements allowing user access to a Unified Message Store (UMS) and Universal Communications Channel (UCC) via traditional PSTN/ISDN/PLMN equipment such as telephones, pagers and fax machines on the one side, and networked computers and mobile terminals equipped with mail readers and Web browsers on the other side, to enable both on-line and off-line interactions. A virtual cluster of FINEs within an integrated personal communications network is dynamically configured in a distributed or centralised manner according to user profile requirements, network size and performance to provide artful messaging, telephony and I 3E services (Intelligent Inter-, Intra- and Extranet) in a changing environment. The FINE consists of a Channel Matrix Switch (CMS), several Resource Platforms (RP) containing Media Conversion Processors (MCP) and Channel Managers (CM) to perform the media translation and routing in the required interchange formats, an Internet Gateway (IG) to hold the subscribers' mailboxes and provide the internet connectivity, and a FINE Controller (FINEC) to realise the FINE Service Logic (FSL) and manage the FINEs. Each FINEC can be deployed in some of the three modes — independent (server), dependent (client) and autonomous (agent) — with respect to the user/network configuration, thus allowing a dynamically configurable (per user/ per node/ per service) centralised or distributed service architecture. The FINE itself is organised along with other nodes by a Network Operation Support Environment (NOSE), a service oriented and TMN compliant Operation, Administration & Maintenance Centre. Service logic can be transferred, installed and mounted on demand among the FINE Controllers and the terminal equipment to provide optimal QoS.

Assessing the Winning Teams program of interactive satellite-based training.

This research assessed an interactive satellite-based training program integrating interactive audiovisual experiences with face-to-face interactions. Key elements were content created by experts, high-quality video segments, satellite-based interaction, off-line interactions among teams of parents and caregivers, workshops, and team building exercises. For pragmatic reasons, it was necessary to develop brief assessment instruments concurrently with training. A large set of survey items were created from draft materials and reduced empirically through piloting to those with the best psychometric properties. To avoid the appearance of traditional testing, knowledge was assessed with Likert items. Surveys measured participant satisfaction, knowledge, attitudes, and the application and articulation of concepts. Participant satisfaction was high. Participants increased positive attitudes and learned appropriate vocabulary. Training was more effective than no training or watching videotapes. The program appears to represent a viable model of training that could successfully be applied to Internet technologies.