Interpersonal relationships in CMC 19
communication to communicate with their partner, not only CMC.
McKenna and Bargh (1998) found that, for people who felt that their identity carried a
stigma with it, the anonymous Internet environment and the ease with which it is possible to find
like-minded people helped them to build significant relationships with others. Some of them
actually chose to meet their Internet respondent face-to-face and even entered into matrimony.
One of the participants in this research e-mailed the researcher, and told her story. She,
living in Minnesota, at first knew a person in the newsgroup, and e-mailed to him. After
exchanging e-mailing a few times, they called each other and he finally visited Minnesota to
meet her from England. This is just an example of the different channels that are also used by
online users. This, however, shows that CMC has a possibility to extend communication
channels and implies CMC has an influence on interpersonal relationship. Also, interpersonal
relationship in cyberspace can and do move into real life, and this may provide significant hope
for those who find it very difficult to build a connection and who are consequently very lonely.
McKenna and Bargh (1998) suggested that social interaction on the net has unique
characteristics: (1) anonymity, the fact that relationships may be formed without the ubiquitous
requirements of physical presence and proximity; (2) that the individual can choose when to log
on and off and repeatedly rewrite what he/she wishes to say, which gives him/her far greater
control that is usual for a relationship happening in real time.
Amichai-Hamburger, Wainapel, and Fox (2002) also found that the social services
provided on the Internet, with their anonymity, lack of need to reveal physical appearance, rigid
control of information revealed in the interaction, and the ease with which it is possible to find
like-minded people, provide an excellent answer to people who experience great difficulty in
forming social contacts due to their introvert personality. For introverts and neurotics, the
Internet can play a vital role in providing the opportunity to express their “real me.”
Convention