Caroline and aoir: I still think Susan Herring's analysis in "Posting in a Different Voice: Gender and Ethics in CMC" (in Charles Ess (ed.), _Philosophical Perspectives on Computer-Mediated Communication_, 115-145. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1996) is one of the best pieces for examining anonymity and its impact on communicative behavior - including an "amplifier effect" on predominantly male "anarchic/agonistic" communication style (_contra_ the then prevailing view that cyberspace represented a "gender-blind" medium). Sjarif Abdat (Indonesia) and Graham P. Pervan (Australia). "Reducing the Negative Effects of Power Distancee During Asynchronous Pre-meeting without Using Anonymity in Indonesian Culture" (in Fay Sudweeks and Charles Ess [eds.], _Second International Conference on Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication 2000_, pp. 209-215. Murdoch, WA: Murdoch University, 2000 - ISBN 0-86905-747-2) analyzes from a cross-cultural perspective the impact of anonymity on Group Support Systems. The impact, BTW, is frequently _negative_ in a culture marked by Confucian values of face-saving, as well as South Asian characteristics of high power distance; they recommend, in light of these negative impacts, that anonymity be a switchable feature of GSS - at least as designed for use in South Asia. (The volume is available at cost on the CATaC web site - < http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac02/> Hope that helps! Cheers, Charles Ess Director, Interdisciplinary Studies Center Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC 2002: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac02/ Education is what is left over after you've forgotten everything that you've learned. (source unknown)

From: "Caroline Haythornthwaite" <haythorn@uiuc.edu> Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 17:46:01 -0500 To: <air-l@aoir.org> Subject: [Air-l] Reading on anonymity, gdss

I'm looking for a good reading for undergraduates on the impact of anonymity in CMC on communication and other behaviors, and also one on Group Decision Support Systems. I know of a number of articles that discuss anonymity along with other things, but I wanted one that brings that work together. With GDSS there are some books but I'd like something shorter. I'm interested in something that is quite recent (say 5 years or so) and can give a bit of state of the art on the subject.

Thanks.

/Caroline

------- Caroline Haythornthwaite Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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