The Self

Becoming acquainted with classmates during the first few weeks of school is always a delicate and interesting process. It is truly a game of unknowns and possibilities, filled with personal musings over how much and what information to share. As such, when interacting in a regular class it is not only the verbal information being exchanged that one must analyze, but also the subtle non-verbal cues. It is these different elements of communication that Erving Goffman, a doctor of social science, explores in “The Presentation of the Self.” As Dr. Goffman explains in his book, "The expressiveness of the individual (and therefore his capacity to give impressions) appears to involve two radically different kinds of sign activity: the expressions that he gives, and the expression that he gives off” (Goffman 43). Thus, the expressions the one gives would be the actual spoken messages that they are transmitting to others while the expressions that a person gives off would be nonverbal cues.

Furthermore, it has often been said that when a person’s words and non-verbal cues differ, the listener automatically assumes that the speaker’s true message is contained in their unvoiced actions. This again is supported by Dr. Goffman when he provides an example of multifaceted communication when he writes, "For example, in Shetland Isle on crofter’s wife, in serving native dishes to a visitor from the mainland of Britain, would listen with a polite smile to his polite claims of liking what he was eating; at the same time she would take note of the rapidity with which the visitor lifted his for or spoon to his mouth, the eagerness with which he passed food into his mouth, and the gusto expressed in chewing the food” (Goffman 46). Thus, an online class presents a unique environment in which students are theoretically blind. There are no gestures from which to glean information, any and all facts that one gathers from an online course is purely word-based. Clearly, communication is a combination of both verbal and non-verbal components. Thus, an online class presents a unique and somewhat unchartered territory as it theoretically puts blinders on conversations. That is that without unvoiced cues, like those expressed in Dr. Goffman’s example, students must rely solely on the actual words of our classmates. This purely verbal communication allows each individual to be far more guarded and selective about what they share with others.

Since the normal conversation equation has been severed due to the absence of non-verbal signs, the question now becomes: Can we really get to know one another if we have never met in person, or are we primarily strangers? Based on Dr. Goffman’s statements about the importance of actual interaction in speech, I believe that while we will certainly not be strangers we will get to know only a specific version of each person. That is, since we will be able to control the information that others are able to glean about us, we can paint a specific image of ourselves. I certainly do not mean to imply that people will create a disingenuous self-image; merely that given our limited interactions we will only be able to know each other on a very limited level. Thus, while the means of becoming acquainted are certainly different in an online class than in a regular course, the desire to get to know one another remains constant and unchanged.