Theory of Electronic Messaging: How Messengers and Social Networks Change the Way We Think and Speech

We live in a world saturated with all sorts of online messages: SMS, social media messages, instant messengers, chats and much more. It would seem that the text of an instant message is not something very complicated and looks like a simple two-dimensional object on the screen, but its meaning is not static – it is closely related to the speed with which it was typed and the frequency of pressing the enter button. Surely you have noticed how your emotions change while [username] typing?! The dynamics of the conversations vary from quick exchanges of one or two words to fluent prose interrupted by long pauses, and in these contrasts we can see the essence of the conversation (not just in the text of the message). In both cases, the messages are permeated with temporarinesswhich has never been printed on paper.

Text messages on the screen do not precede or follow speech, although they often resemble speech more than writing. This form of conversation, in which each line can be checked before it is sent, is the defining characteristic of instant messaging. Today, messages occupy a gray area between speech and writing, retaining different qualities of each depending on the temperament of the interlocutors. With each app update and the launch of a new online service, computer-mediated communication changes the nature of conversation and, in turn, affects the way we interact.

❯ [username] prints…

Most users don't like to wait more than a minute for content to load on the Internet. Anything longer than that causes frustration and boredom. However, in the realm of human interaction, the rules change a little. Boredom often gives way to anticipation. And with the help of an ellipsis or the “

trobber

“, an animated image commonly referred to as a “buffering icon,” visually indicates hesitation in responding, and provides the opportunity for interlocutors to speculate about each other's motives in real time. In this way, online dialogue exists as if in the form of

space-time rift

The ellipsis established its original function (depicting silence or hush) in comic book prose in the mid-20th century, but its use in conversational usage was a phenomenon that only became possible with the advent of instant messaging. As a result of this usage, its additional role emerged, which was to depict hesitation or confusion.

What impact does the presence of a pulsating ellipsis have on the flow of a conversation? Its role is to reassure the user enough to stay in the chat and remind them that they are not alone. When you see three wavy dots, you think that you just have to wait and then you will receive a message soon. The ellipsis is a non-verbal representation of the user's action, but it does not guarantee that the message will be received. The ellipsis may be followed by nothing, in which case those keystrokes at that moment will be forgotten on the Ethernet network. Your interlocutor may be texting on a train that suddenly enters a tunnel and you lose connection. Or in the middle of a chat, your interlocutor gets distracted and begins to treat the conversation like an email that can be answered later, leaving you to regretfully wonder if you offended them with your words…

Or the ellipsis may actually end with an answer; or, less commonly, the answer may be “

…

» as a typed message, so that

dot-dot-dot

has turned from a buffer into an operator. This becomes a confirmation of the previous uncertainty.

It is no secret that the media speculates on possible future scenarios, as opposed to fulfilling its traditional role of covering current and recent events. Social media has also adopted this feature, introducing features such as the “

[username] prints…

“, after which a message may soon appear. Both social networks and mass media seek to create the feeling that something important is about to happen. By exploiting anticipation and appealing to a sense of the future, both seek to retain their audience for as long as possible.

Online economy

— is an attention economy in which human communication turns into profit.

❯ Silent conversation

Housemates, work colleagues, family members, school friends, college friends and other groups of acquaintances and relatives are now represented in the form of online chats and corresponding message chains.

Modalities

chat and language in each of them are different, and the user is a slightly modified version of himself. It is clear that in group chats, as in real life, we put on many masks and represent different characters. In group chats, we behave a little differently than how we behave in the space of a personal chat, where some of our “

real

” character.

The online chat environment allows us to participate in multiple conversations simultaneously, switching between personas. This raises questions: what is the long-term effect on a user’s objectivity/subjectivity when their attention (and their behavior) is fragmented across so many platforms? At what point does a group chat become so large that it ceases to be an intimate interaction? How do multiple personas of a user, operating on a single social network, interact with the larger social media ecosystem?

As group chats grow in size, the relevance of each individual utterance often diminishes, and the flood of notifications for each trivial comment increases. The psychological effects of incessant notifications as stimuli become increasingly apparent. It has been suggested that habitual social media use may represent a “

neural dependence

“, according to a study by a neuroscientist

Daniel J. Levitin

«Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as competition with other people. Multitasking creates a dopamine-addicted feedback loop, effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and constantly seeking external stimulation.“.

The dispersion of attention across a number of platforms that are increasingly becoming potential venues for work and social interaction means that the need to constantly check them all is exacerbated.

❯ Social serialization

2016 was the year that YouTube, Facebook*, and Instagram* (owned by Meta, a recognized extremist organization in Russia) launched live streaming features using a smartphone or tablet. Users could directly broadcast sporting events, concerts, hunts, travels, and other locations to their followers. Facebook and Instagram also followed Snapchat’s lead and created their own “stories,” which combine fragments of a user’s day into a single frame. Story modes are an interesting combination of the urgency of live broadcasts with our desire to create narratives. Live and stories offer unprecedented means of chronicling our experiences and sharing them with others. The live nature of the story mode feature encourages users to choose one platform over another, especially if the action they are capturing is unique.

There is a clear trend in social media to replicate popular features across platforms as these platforms attempt to achieve a monopoly over social media rather than carve out a specific place within the broader social media landscape. This means that services are becoming increasingly standardized. The unification of features across leading platforms signals a clear intent to dominate the market. Users often create accounts on platforms that meet specific communication needs, only to find that the same platform has implemented a host of additional and seemingly redundant features. And so we end up with a multitude of platforms that specialize in everything and nothing, nearly identical in a race to the middle.

And this creates difficulties when the boundaries between work and personal life are blurred.

On January 1, 2017, a law came into force in France that gives workers “right to disconnect” In an effort to combat unpaid overtime, the law requires companies with more than 50 employees to prohibit checking work email outside of work hours. This somewhat limits the intrusion of work into employees' privacy and counteracts the emerging culture in which workers are expected to be “always on.”

However, this move is easily undermined by the rise of work/social hybrid networks. The somewhat paradoxical “business and employment-focused social networks” that are becoming popular online raise questions about whether it is always possible to keep work and personal life separate. Ostensibly professional networks such as LinkedInare increasingly becoming Facebook clones. Notifications, timelines, and other features that have proven so effective in capturing our attention are being carried over into the world of work. Platforms like Slackdesigned for team communication, represent the socialization of work and challenge the distinction between work and communication.

The professional is becoming blurred with the social. This dissolution of boundaries is a symptom of the disappearance of fixed working hours, unstable work situations and the growing “freelance workforce”, whose key characteristic is constant availability.

❯ You are a product

If you're not paying for something, you're probably not a customer, you're a product being sold. That pretty much sums up the way the collective social interaction of hundreds of millions of people makes money for a small number of people.

Franco Berardi

developed the idea of an economy based on the concept of “

semi-capital

” Semi-capital is characterized by the virtualization and subsequent financialization of all intellectual activity and human interactions. Berardi argues:

«The mobile phone is a tool that makes possible the connection between the needs of semi-capital and the mobilization of living labor in cyberspace. Today, a new state of alienation has taken root, in which workers routinely volunteer to work overtime, the population is tied to mobile phones, debt has become a postmodern form of slavery, and antidepressants are routinely used to satisfy the endless pressure of production. As a result, the conditions for community are on the rocks, and new philosophical categories are needed.“.

Whether it's a late-night email from the boss or a barrage of notifications from peripheral friends, the number of distractions that can distract our attention increases.

This doesn’t mean that people are incapable of compartmentalizing their own digital lives, but it does highlight the important role that platforms play in shaping our mental state. Given the indefinable (or, more accurately, ever-changing) social utility of platforms, it seems that in the future it will be increasingly difficult to separate work from personal life. This distinction matters to individuals, but not to those who profit from the platforms themselves, where the opposite is actually true and the goal is engagement at all costs.