Synchronicity Matters! Development of Task and Social Cohesion in FtF and Text Based CMC Groups

Abstract

This paper studied the development of social and task cohesion in FtF, CMC synchronous and CMC asynchronous groups. Social information processing theory and media synchronicity theory were discussed to examine the differential effects of time pressure and synchronicity on group processes. Results of this study supported both theories. FtF groups reported the highest level of task and social cohesion at Time 1, these differences diminished over time for CMC synchronous groups but not asynchronous groups. Time pressure accounted for the differences between FtF and CMC synchronous groups, while synchronicity accounted for the differences between FtF and CMC asynchronous groups. This paper also investigated the exact difference in rate of communication between FtF and text based CMC groups both in terms of words communicated per minute and units communicated per minute. It was found that synchronous text-based CMC groups required thrice the amount of time to communicate the same number of messages as FtF groups