PSY 359 Chapter 3: Group Dynamics on the Internet

Group Definition

A collection of two or more people who interact with and potentially influence one another’s behaviors

what factors influence if we identify with a group or not?

• Group demands (as demands increase, identification increases)

• Membership (as the difficulty to achieve membership increases, identification increases)

• Status (as the status conferred by membership increases, identification increases)

WMST-L Study (Korenman & Wyatt, 1996) - primary reasons participants felt were primary benefits of group affiliation?

information and sense of community

Reddit Participation Study - how does active engagement correlate with online group identity

Active participation correlated with stronger group bonds,

shared identity with average members,

and high emotional attachment/commitment.

Classic Offline Conformity - CHECK

“individuals change their behaviors, expressions, or beliefs to match a physical group's norms due to real, face-to-face social pressure”

• Established by foundational research like Asch's line length experiments and Sherif's autokinetic effect experiments.

Zero-history groups

groups that are composed of individuals who have yet to meet at the time at which the group is formed.

• members have no expectations of meeting online, and dynamics arise from the dynamics of online communication

Online Conformity Study (1992): Tested whether Asch's offline conformity effects apply to computer-mediated communication

do offline confirmity effects apply to online? (key takeaway)

Key Takeaway: Propensity to conform is significantly reduced in computer-mediated environments compared to face-to-face setups (where only 25% never conformed).

Norms definition

patterns of behavior accepted as normal that govern how individuals are expected to act in a given situation (can be explicit or implicit)

Folkways

Folkways: Everyday customs that can be violated without serious consequences (e.g., table manners).

mores

Mores: Strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations; violations bring serious consequences (e.g., religious doctrine).

laws

Laws: Formal, standardized norms enacted by legislatures and enforced by legal sanctions (e.g., operating a motor vehicle).

situational norms

Situational Norms: Rules that change depending on the context (e.g., shouting at a football game vs. shouting during a lecture).

Early email norms

Early email communication conformed to specific patterns regardless of topic;

misspellings, grammar errors, crude jokes,

and sarcasm were acceptable or preferred,

while formal styles appeared out of step.

twitter norms

Tweet length and word length steadily decreased over three years to maximize efficiency under the 140-character limit (e.g., "b4", "idk").

do norms differ between online sub groups?

Different online sub-groups adopt distinct communication norms (e.g., teenagers vs. journalists/PR professionals).

Organic Convergence

Norms naturally emerge as users observe one another and align on shared behavioral patterns (similar to offline findings by Asch and Sherif)

Transferring Offline Norms

journalist bloggers study 2005 study

sers frequently attempt to adapt face-to-face (F2F) social rules to new digital mediums.

• Journalist Bloggers Study (2005): Journalists entering blogging tried to maintain their traditional F2F norm as "nonpartisan gatekeepers," though ~25% strayed to voice personal opinions.

Personal Space Norms (Second Life Study - Yee et al., 2007): Examined whether F2F proxemic norms transfer to 3D virtual environments

JUST NOTES!!!

• Offline Baseline: Physical distance preferences vary by culture and gender (e.g., Americans prefer ~4 ft; males maintain larger personal space than females).

• Avatar Behavior: Male-male avatar pairs maintained greater interpersonal distance than female-female pairs.

• Gaze Avoidance: Avatars positioned too close compensated for the violation of personal space by angling away to avoid direct eye contact.

"The Sign on the Door" Metaphor

• Offline settings rely on lifetime cultural experience, physical presence, and unwritten rules to maintain social order.

• Online settings lack real-time observational and physical cues.

• To compensate, platforms post explicit rules (e.g., Terms of Service), functioning like "no shoes, no shirt, no service" signs to enforce boundaries and behavior.

Individual vs. Platform Control

Individuals maintain agency over their behavior to a degree

• actions are ultimately constrained and controlled by the software, tools, and services provided by tech companies.

Digital Footprint —> Digital actions are increasingly shaped by the realization that online contributions are not fleeting, as corporations, governments, and powerful entities routinely collect and analyze user data.

Deindividuation - check from doc notes

A psychological state involving the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

• Lowers personal inhibitions, causing individuals to disregard moral values and act spontaneously without prior thought.

• anonymity contributes to this

Group polarization - take from doc notes

a tendency for opinions and ideas to become more extreme in group settings than actual privately held opinions and ideas (a mechanism to which the other kinds of social loafing occur)

Selective Exposure

A strategy to minimize cognitive dissonance where individuals maximize exposure to ideas consistent with their pre-existing beliefs and minimize exposure to ideas that challenge or threaten those beliefs.

Cognitive Dissonance - check from doc notes

The psychological discomfort resulting from holding two or more inconsistent beliefs; individuals actively seek to reduce this dissonance.

The Echo Chamber Effect

Unlike laboratory settings with random group assignment, internet users proactively join groups of like-minded individuals who reinforce and push their viewpoints toward more extreme positions

"The Daily Me": Predicted by Nicholas Negroponte (Being Digital, 1995),

describing how individuals customize news consumption by ideology to screen out disagreeable perspectives

Algorithmic Curation

Platforms dynamically restrict exposure by recommending content tailored to user preferences (e.g., Yahoo! selecting news stories based on a user's Facebook likes/dislikes).

Group Polarization on Twitter

Not included:

• "Birds of a Feather Tweet Together" Study (Himelboim et al., 2013)

• "Dynamic Debates" Study (Yardi & boyd, 2010):

witter users frequently voice strong opinions in a public environment where keyword searches and hashtags allow anyone to join conversations outside private friend network

Group Mobilization

Internet transformed the way people mobilize for action, gathering together for some larger purpose or cause and persuading others to join

mobilization pre intervet vs digital era

• Pre-Internet: Mobilization relied on slow-diffusing channels (e.g., phone calls, faxes, radio, print flyers, newspaper ads), requiring substantial time for messages to spread.

• Digital Era: Allows instantaneous, low-cost distribution of mass emails, texts, and social media posts to millions of followers.

Micro-Coordination

The ability to use real-time digital communication (tweets, texts, alerts) to continually update participants and adjust plans dynamically as conditions change, replacing rigid, prearranged schedules.

Group Mobilization: The Arab Spring

EXAMPLE

NOTES

• Information Surge: Social media catalyzed political uprisings; daily tweets about Egypt's political status surged from ~2,000 to ~230,000 in the weeks leading up to President Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

• Citizen Media: Ordinary citizens used mobile phones to distribute real-time commentary and video, placing a human face on systemic oppression.

• Viral Sparks: Images and footage of Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia spread rapidly online, inspiring global outrage and widespread protests.

• State Reaction: Online mobilization was effective enough to prompt the Egyptian government to briefly shut down internet access across the country to quell civil unrest.

Global Collaboration

Companies rely heavily on virtual work groups to minimize travel expenses and recruit global talent.

"Flat World Platform" (Friedman, 2005):

In The World Is Flat, Tom Friedman describes an internet-enabled system that allows global individuals to collaborate, create products, and form communities in a flat, globalized market.

Online vs. Collocated Dynamics

Group dynamics unfold significantly differently in virtual work groups compared to collocated (face-to-face) groups.

Applicant Selection Experiment (Hightower & Sayeed, 1995):

Information Distribution:

Discussion Bias Defined:

Consensus Reinforcement

CMC vs. F2F Effect

Investigated how 3-person groups collaborated using computer-mediated communication (CMC) vs. face-to-face (F2F) meetings to select a candidate for a marketing manager position.

Researchers rigged candidate profiles and distributed partial information packets to each member, requiring full information sharing to identify the single best-suited candidate.

Group members selectively shared positive information about the winning candidate and negative information about losing applicants, while suppressing negative details about the winner and positive details about losers.

• Consensus Reinforcement: This selective sharing reinforced the perceived group consensus rather than introducing complications or encouraging debate.

CMC vs. F2F Effect: While polarization occurred in both settings, discussion bias was more than twice as large in online groups compared to face-to-face groups.

CMC vs. F2F Effect:

While polarization occurred in both settings, discussion bias was more than twice as large in online groups compared to face-to-face groups.

Subgroup Emergence:

Online In-Groups and Out-Groups

Virtual work groups frequently split into in-groups and out-groups based on shared identity markers, such as physical location (e.g., New York vs. Chicago team members sharing a location identity).

Global Friction Points:

Online In-Groups and Out-Groups

International virtual teams face heightened coordination hurdles and misunderstandings stemming from:

• Cultural differences, language barriers, and conflicting time zones.

• Differences in unwritten norms, such as varying strictness regarding "due dates" or mismatched work weeks (e.g., Arab businesses closing on Fridays while US teams work, vs. Arab teams working on Sundays while US teams are off).

Geographic Distribution & Subgroup Imbalance (O'Leary & Mortensen, 2009): Examined 6-person US and Canadian student teams collaborating via email over 3 weeks.

Unbalanced Subgroups

• Geographically dispersed teams experienced greater conflict, coordination problems, and weaker identification with the overall team.

• Unbalanced Subgroups: Teams split unevenly (4 members at one site, 2 at the other) caused the minority subgroup to feel alienated and powerless against majority out-voting.

"Us" vs. "Them" Dynamics (Privman et al., 2013)

Survey of professionals on distributed teams found that uneven communication channels, cultural gaps, and conflicting goals create an "us" vs. "them" gulf.

• Teams with strong "us" vs. "them" attitudes were significantly less effective.

• Experience navigating distributed team pitfalls helps teams overcome these division issues over time.

Status effects —> Detectability & Impact

Status cues are harder to detect in online environments, rendering status effects less pronounced compared to face-to-face settings.

Status effects —> Discussion Dominance Study (Kiesler et al., 1984):

Compared relative contributions in 3-person consensus-seeking groups meeting face-to-face (F2F) versus via computer-mediated communication (CMC).

• While one individual tended to dominate discussions in all groups, individual dominance was significantly reduced in online settings.

Status effect —> Equalizing Effect

Computer-Mediated Communication can serve as an equalizer where traditional status cues carry less weight, enabling quality ideas to surface regardless of their source.

What is the main advantage of forming virtual work groups in global organizations?

It reduces expensive travel and allows corporations to recruit global talent regardless of geography

What key factor determined project success in Jarvenpaa et al.'s (1998) study on global virtual teams?

The rapid development of "swift trust" among team members during the early stages of collaboration.

What communication behaviors characterized high-trust virtual teams? (Jarvenpaa et al., 1998)

• Frequent message exchange

• Optimistic, excited tone

• Clear orientation toward project goals

• Shared leadership and proactive volunteering for roles

• Honoring commitments and staying in touch even while traveling

What communication behaviors characterized low-trust virtual teams? (Jarvenpaa et al., 1998)

• Infrequent communication (going up to 8 days without a message)

• Making few commitments

• Expressing frustration over lack of engagement

• Rarely building upon or replying to teammates' contributions

How did high-trust virtual teams handle missed deadlines or short absences?

Members quickly rejected bad excuses, stopped apologizing, and focused on delivering work immediately.

According to Crisp & Jarvenpaa (2013), what is the key variable for developing swift trust in global teams?

Establishing explicit group norms early in the project life cycle.

What explicit group norms do high-trust virtual teams establish at the start of a project? (Crisp & Jarvenpaa, 2013)

• Performance goals

• Project milestones

  • What the group considers acceptable conduct

Why is early video conferencing important for swift trust in virtual work groups?

It provides early synchronous communication and visual contact ("signs on the door"), letting team members look each other in the eye to establish positive group dynamics.

Swift trust

form of trust that develops rapidly in temporary, ad-hoc, or virtual teams where members have no prior history together and limited time to build traditional, long-term relationships.

created based on:

• baseline assumption (that everyone will try and is committed and comptent)

• role-based focus (trust in a team member’s professional roles to complete tasks)

• action oriented (established through early frequent action and communication)

• driven by explicit norms (relies on establishing goals and expectations early on)