This paper investigates whether social anxiety and loneliness lead to contrasting beliefs and preferences among cell phone users towards texting and talking on their cell phones. Three hypotheses are examined: (1) that social anxiety and loneliness are differentially associated with generalized preferences either for texting or for talking on the cell phone, (2) that these preferences are linked to contrasting beliefs concerning the social functionality of the short message service (SMS), and (3) that these divergent beliefs mediate the effects of social anxiety and loneliness on cell phone users' generalized preferences for texting or talking. Results from an Internet questionnaire (N=158) showed that, whilst lonely participants preferred making voice calls and rated texting as a less intimate method of contact, anxious participants preferred to text, and rated it a superior medium for expressive and intimate contact. These divergent beliefs accounted for 36% and 16% of the variance in preference for texting and voice calls, respectively, and significantly attenuated the influence of loneliness and social anxiety when they were added to the regression equations for these measures. Results are discussed in terms of the hyperpersonal possibilities of mobile communications technologies.

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Problems were solved using information written either as: (a) bureaucratic style prose, (b) flow chart or algorithm, (c) a list of short sentences, or (d) a two-dimensional table. Prose was always slower to use and more error-prone than other versions, but for nonprose formats there were interactions with problem difficulty. Easier problems resulted in no differential error-rates, although the table was used most rapidly; for harder problems, the algorithm gave fewest errors. Differences in retention strategies appeared when subjects worked from memory. Here performance with prose and short sentences continued to improve over trials, whereas performance with the algorithm and table deteriorated. It is concluded that the optimal format for written information depends on conditions of use.

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This study investigated the claim that keyboard-based computer-mediated group discussion suppresses normative influence relative to informational influence. In a simulated panel of inquiry presented with computer databases containing inconsistent and incompletely shared information, four-person groups attempted to reach decisions either in face-to-face (FF) discussions or in real time computer-mediated (CM) discussions via a network linking computers at separate locations. CM groups reported greater difficulty communicating ideas than FF groups and took longer to reach a decision. Contrary to previous research, CM groups exhibited a preference for a normative style of discussion, exchanging proportionally more positional and value statements and proportionally fewer factual and inferential statements than FF groups, but only in the final stage of the experiment. This discussion style led in turn to lower levels of private post-decision agreement and decision satisfaction among CM groups. Results are discussed in terms of the restrictions imposed by computer mediation on group discussion, and how these combine with other task conditions to determine group goals and discussion style.