Virtual Communication Project

Virtual Communication Project

You are to gather and analyze conversations comparing virtual to face-to-face interactions.

Begin by creating a brief 5 question opinion survey/interview on a topic of interest. This should include open-ended questions so that the people surveyed can elaborate on their answers.
Please be mindful of using open questions in your survey. These are questions that require an explanation / more than a few words. Here are some examples: What are some of the things you like about this class? What are the challenges of going to school while working full time? How is an online class different from a face-to-face class? What types of activities do you enjoy in your class? Describe the consequences of getting behind. Avoid closed questions. These are questions that can be answered with a couple words and offer no explanation. Here are examples: How many classes are you taking this semester? What classes are you taking this semester? When do you have class? Do you think you are going to pass? Did you turn in all your assignments? Are the tests hard? When is the semester over?

Complete the survey/interview with 3 people face-to-face then complete the same survey/interview with 3 people using virtual communication such as email, text messaging, chat room, discussion board, or any other virtual means that you wish to use.

To prepare your essay, think critically about your results.
Determine what your thesis is and state it clearly and concisely. It should briefly introduce your topic but more importantly should indicate how virtual interaction compares and contrasts with face-to-face interaction.This will be the first sentence of your essay.

In the body of your essay, you should include your survey-interview questions but it is not necessary to include your participants’ answers. Focus on the answers to these questions and compare and contrast the 2 sets of information. Were your results what you expected? How were they similar; how were they different? Was it easier to interact virtually or face-to-face? What were the challenges? What were the advantages of meeting face-to-face verses meeting virtually? What were the disadvantages of each way? How did the differences in the following seem to influence the nature of the responses: physical distance, anonymity, richness of communication, visual cues, time? You will want to be very thorough in the body as this is a very large percentage of your grade on the essay.

Your conclusion should summarize how virtual interaction with people compares and contrasts with face-to-face interaction reaffirming your thesis without restating it. This is where you conclude with an overall summary describing your insight into what the findings mean to you and what you learned about yourself in reference to your psychological well-being and the method of communication that proves more effective.

 

MORE INFO 

Comparing virtual to face-to-face interactions

Introduction

Now that we’ve covered the basic differences between virtual and face-to-face interactions, let’s take a closer look at each of these categories. We’ll start with communication bias, which is when we perceive something in a way that doesn’t reflect reality. For example: you might think that your colleague is less talkative than they really are because they don’t want to appear boastful or arrogant while talking over the phone; however, other people may not notice this at all! In this case, both sides would benefit from more interaction between them so they can get better acquainted with each other’s personalities before having any important conversations about work-related matters…

Bias

In a virtual interaction, you have the ability to be yourself. You can present your true self and this is what makes it so much easier for people to open up in face-to-face interactions. It’s easier for people to trust each other when they see someone who is themselves, rather than trying to impress others with an act or fit into a certain stereotype.

In face-to-face interactions, there’s often pressure on us all: we’re expected by society (and ourselves) not only look good but also sound good; how do I keep myself grounded without losing my cool? Virtual interactions don’t have these pressures because no one expects anything from you other than being yourself!

Communications

While virtual interactions can be a great way to communicate with people you don’t know, they’re not as effective as face-to-face interactions.

• People tend to use more formal language in virtual interactions, which makes them harder for others to understand. For example: “You are an outstanding employee!” would be better said in person than over email or text message.

• Less body language and facial expressions mean that your message may not come across as clearly as it would if you were communicating directly with someone face-to-face (and if it does come across correctly, how do we know? Because this person told us!).

• Eye contact is another important part of human communication—it shows that we’re listening intently and paying attention; however, this isn’t possible when there aren’t any physical cues such as eye contact or smiles involved during the conversation (especially since most people will only make themselves known through text messages).

Interaction

It’s important to remember that virtual interactions are not as effective as face-to-face interactions. Virtual interactions are more difficult to read nonverbal cues, which can make them less effective in building trust between individuals or groups. They also take longer than physical meetings and can result in a lack of rapport between the participants.

Language

In your day-to-day life, you can’t see facial expressions or hear tone of voice. Imagine how hard it would be if you had to rely on these things alone to judge someone’s mood.

It’s also difficult to tell if they’re joking or serious, bored or engaged in the conversation, or what they might say next—all because language is a barrier between people (and their words). If we could communicate without having this barrier between us, our interactions would be so much better!

Tone and Emotion

Tone and emotion are harder to convey when you’re talking with someone in virtual reality. When you see the same facial expressions, it’s easy to tell if someone is joking or angry. You can also tell if they are happy or sad by their eyes. But when you see a person’s whole body language, it can be harder to tell what they’re feeling—and this makes it hard for people who aren’t native speakers of English (or any other language) to connect with others online.

When we think about tone and emotion, we often think about how our voice inflections change when we get excited or angry—but there are other ways in which tone changes too! For example:

• If someone smiles at me while I’m talking with them online via Skype call then my facial expression will change from neutral (no smile) into either a slight smile/smile-like expression or more exaggerated version called Duchenne Smile Syndrome where muscles around mouth area contract causing brows raise up slightly due to contraction at corners of eyes slightly raising upwards as well as upper lip slightly lifting upwards creating small dimple on side cheeks which creates laugh lines around eyes just above outer corners which look like smile lines but different because these laugh lines don’t move together like normal ones do; instead they move independently so each one looks unique despite being created by same underlying mechanism

Takeaway:

So, what does this all mean?

• Virtual interactions are not as good as face-to-face ones. They’re more efficient, but they don’t have the same emotional impact or sense of connection.

• Face-to-face interactions are still better than virtual ones in many ways: you can see each other’s expression and body language, there’s no need for translation or interpretation (you know exactly what your coworker is saying), and you can physically interact with them—but these advantages come at a cost: some people find it difficult to talk in person because they’re shy or nervous; others may feel awkward talking on videochat because they think their voice will come across as too feminine; and those who prefer face-to-face communication might find that digital videochat isn’t an option due to busy schedules or other factors.*

Conclusion

In conclusion, while virtual communication can be a great way to communicate with someone you’ve never met in person, it’s important not to forget that there are many differences between these two forms of interaction. The most important thing is that you keep these differences in mind when making decisions about how to communicate with others.