[Nettime-bold] M/C 'chat' issue now available

["Axel Bruns" <mc@mailbox.uq.edu.au>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 23 August 2000


   The Media and Cultural Studies Centre at the University of Queensland
    is proud to present issue four in volume three of the award-winning

                   M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture
                      http://www.api-network.com/mc/

            PLEASE NOTE THE NEW ADDRESS: UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS!


         'chat' - Issue Editors: Felicity Meakins & E. Sean Rintel


This issue of M/C explores the notion of 'chat', examining its contexts,
forms, functions and operations. 'Chat' appears to be a descriptive subset
of 'talk', often characterised somewhat unfairly as idle or frivolous
'small talk', 'gossip' -- the kind of tête-à-tête that is mediated through
cups of tea (alluded to in Jen Henzell's cover image). However, 'chat' is
not only an extremely prevalent activity, but, as Trollope implies, a
primary social activity. Serious academic regard for 'chat' can be traced
to Malinowski's coining of the term "phatic communion" to refer to talk
that expresses the "ties of union", a notion later taken up by Laver.
Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson made a similar distinction between the
content level of communication (contains assumptions that are communicable)
and the relationship level (which reveals the speaker's attitude to the
assumptions communicated and the speaker's relationship with and opinion of
the hearer). 'Chat', they argue, is more about building and solidifying
relationships between interactants than imparting information. Even gossip,
probably the most content driven form of 'chat', lets hearers know that
they are regarded well enough by the speakers to be drawn into confidence.

We have divided the M/C 'chat' issue into two sections along the lines of
context. The first section deals with what might be termed 'traditional' or
'more general' forms of chat, where the interactants are either physically
(face-to-face) or acoustically (telephone) copresent. Given both the period
and the medium in which M/C 'chat' is being published, it should not be
surprising that the second section deals with computer-mediated
communication (CMC). With the advent of CMC, 'chat' -- and research on it
-- has been transformed, taking with it much of the old formula and leaving
behind some of its trappings.


These are the articles you can find in M/C's 'chat' issue:

  "Two Rhetorical Uses of the Description 'Chat'"
Charles Antaki explores the paradoxical manner in which the description of
a discursive event as 'chat' may be used to socially persuasive ends.

  "Still on Holidays Hank? - 'Doing Business' by 'Having a Chat'"
Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley see strategy not only in description but in the
strategic nesting of 'chat' within another discursive situation.  In an
analysis of a computer helpline call, a switch to an informal 'chat' mode
is seen to be useful to the successful conclusion of a formal business
transaction.

  "Chatting in the Neighbourhood - Does It Have a Place in the World of
Globalised Media?"
Mark Frankland's article is a broad diachronic and synchronic overview of
the place local media such as 'chat' and community newspapers fit into in
an evolving and increasingly global media-scape.

  "Invitation or Sexual Harassment? An Analysis of an Intercultural
Communication Breakdown"
Zhu Yunxia and Peter Thompson examine intercultural potentials for
miscommunication within a series of three telephone invitations to a party,
from a male Chinese tutor to a female Australian student, which resulted in
an accusation of sexual harassment.

  "The Naturally-Occurring Chat Machine"
Darren Reed and Malcolm Ashmore perform an interesting methodological
reflection on the nature of the data collection and the transcription
processes of Conversation Analysis.


Special CMC Section:

  "Computer-Mediated Chat: Ways of Finding Chat Partners"
Paul ten Have begins the CMC section with an introduction to some of the
fundamental features and concerns of CMC research in his ethnographic
investigation of how to find someone to talk to in a chat room.

  "E-Mail and the Problems of Communication"
Derek Wallace observes a growing belief that electronic chat is not the
more restricted form of communication, as first suggested, but a different
form which is potentially useful in supplementing face-to-face interaction
within businesses.

  "Neither Male nor Female: Other - Gendered Chat in Little Italy"
Miranda Mowbray investigates Little Italy's gender presentation options and
considers why other-gendered participants are more likely to remain in the
one space than those who chose 'female' or 'male'.

  "Familiars in a Strange Land: A Case Study of Friends Chatting Online"
Cynthia Campbell and Scott Wickman observe that most IRC work has
concentrated on chat between strangers. They choose instead to concentrate
on computer-mediated chat between acquaintances.

  "Swedish Chat Rooms"
Ylva Hård af Segerstad discusses the result of questionnaire data and
logged conversations to determine if written online Swedish is being
adapted in ways particular to it, or if the Swedish written language is
being developed in analogy, with adaptations observable in international
chat rooms.

  "Chatting to Learn and Learning to Chat in Collaborative Virtual
Environments"
Teresa Cerratto and Yvonne Wærn discuss the importance of conversation to
educational contexts and the communication problems inherent in using an
electronic medium as an educational tool.

  "Statistics of Major IRC Networks: Methods and Summary of User Count"
Kajetan Hinner has created a system capable of capturing usage statistics
for all the major IRC networks, making this system available on his
Website. His article details the processes involved in creating the Socip
statistical program and sample graphs of the kinds of information that his
system can provide.


Downloadable Article:

  "Dialogue on Film and Philosophy"
Ulf Wilhelmsson's article is a Socratic dialogue about film in which
Quentin Tarantino moderates a discussion involving numerous influential
philosophers, film-makers, film-scholars and the odd Beatle (John Lennon).


                - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And in other news, recently published M/C Reviews articles include:

"Subverse: 2000 Queensland Poetry Festival"
  by Carolyn Hughes

"Review of 'Alternative Australia: Celebrating Cultural Diversity'"
  by Susan Luckman

"Leisure Works Best: 'Sharing the Work, Saving the Planet'"
  by Guy Redden

"Skin Deep: Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts"
  by Melissa Western

"Rock'n'Roll Circus Discovers Exquisite Danger"
  by Christopher Totten


           These -- and more -- are available in M/C Reviews at
                  http://www.api-network.com/mc/reviews/

                - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About the Australian Public Intellectual Network:

The API Network links Australian Public Intellectuals across the nation. It
is dedicated to public intellectual debate in Australia and incorporates
online resources with serial and book publications, journals and
supplements. See the Website at <http://www.api-network.com/>.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M/C issue four, vol. three is now online: <http://www.api-network.com/mc/>.
Previous issues of M/C on various topics are also still available online.
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M/C Reviews is now available at <http://www.api-network.com/mc/reviews/>.
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All M/C contributors are available for media contacts: mc@mailbox.uq.edu.au
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end

                                                     Axel Bruns

--
 M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture               mc@mailbox.uq.edu.au
 The University of Queensland             http://www.api-network.com/mc/




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