BREACHING OR BUILDING SOCIAL BOUNDARIES - SIDE-EFFECTS OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is sometimes heralded for its po wer to break down social boundaries and to liberate individuals from s ocial influence, group pressure, and status and power differentials th at characterize much face-to-face interaction. We review research cond ucted within the framework of the social identity model of deindividua tion effects (SIDE) demonstrating that this is not always the case. Wh en communicators share a common social identity, they appear to be mor e susceptible to group influence, social attraction stereotyping, gend er typing, and discrimination in anonymous CMC. Although CMC gives us the opportunity to traverse social boundaries, paradoxically, it can a lso afford these boundaries greater power, especially when they define self- and group identity.