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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
Chapter 13
Social Information Processing Theory
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
• The development of online relationships is at the heart of a theory known as Social
Information Processing (SIP). The theory, introduced by Joseph Walther (1992; 1993;
2008; 2016) long before other scholars envisioned the enormous influence of the Internet,
rests upon the interplay among technology, relationships, and self-presentations.
• For Walther and other SIP advocates, the possibility of developing and cultivating online
relationships is not only probable, it occurs with high degrees of success and relationship
satisfaction.
• Many interpersonal communication theorists prior to Walther argued that relational life is
one that is shaped and sustained by face-to-face (FtF) communication. Walther tweaked
this fundamental perspective and determined that the nonverbal cues to which people are
accustomed in their FtF relationships, although important, were not essential to having an
interpersonal relationship.
o Walther acknowledges that while both individuals in either FtF or online
relationships have the same needs for uncertainty reduction and affinity, online
interactants “adapt their linguistic and textual behaviors” to how others communicate
with them (Walther and Anderson, 1994, p. 65).
on three selves: the actual self (attributes of an individual), the ideal self (attributes an
individual ideally possesses), and the ought self (attributes an individual should possess).
II. Theoretical Turbulence: The Cues Filtered Out
• SIP was conceptualized, in part, by addressing the shortcomings of other theories that
addressed communication mediums.
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
o These theories are termed cues filtered-out theories (Culnan and Markus, 1987;
Walther and Parks, 2007), meaning that because of a devoid of nonverbal cues,
online relational development has little integrity.
communication, online environments, the self, and relationships.
• Social Presence Theory (Short,Williams, and Christie, 1976) relates to the extent that
individuals are aware of each other via various communication media, that is, the
awareness of individuals during an interaction—their characteristics, qualities,
physicalities, and so forth.
o According to the theory, some mediums have a higher degree of social presence
(e.g., video) and others possess lower degrees of social presence (e.g., audio and text-
based).
o High-degree mediums are viewed as opportunistic for relational growth and lower-
which messages are sent and received by others in the mediated environment.
• Media Richness Theory (Daft and Lengel, 1986) also functions in the evolution of Social
Information Processing Theory. The theory, first explored in the organizational context,
suggests that while communicating online, the medium is too narrow to allow for
relationship development.
o Individuals experience uncertainty and equivocality in their communication with
others.
o In the theory, “richness” is evaluated in several ways, including the medium’s
capacity for immediate feedback, the number of cues and channels used, and the
extent to which a message is personalized (Gu, Higa, and Moodie, 2011).
o According to the theory, “richest” media are FtF communications, which prompt
individuals to communicate faster; rich media are used for more complex
conversations and tasks. The “leanest” media are telephones, memos, and letters,
which frequently prompt others to avoid communicating in more complex ways.
• Walther (2011) believes that while both theories have important theoretical notions, the
online world is much more complex than what is inferred by Social Presence and Media
Richness.
o For example, text-based communication between online participants—despite the
absence of nonverbal cues—has relational value.
o Walther argues that if interactants communicate enough times and with sufficient
breadth and depth, nonverbal communication does not remain paramount in
relationship development.
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
III. Assumptions of Social Information Processing Theory
• Social Information Processing researchers like Joseph Walther are intrigued by how
identities are managed online and how relationships are able to move from one of
o Online interpersonal relationships require extended time and more accumulated
messages to develop equivalent levels of intimacy seen in FtF interpersonal
relationships.
• Those studying the nexus between human communication and technology embrace
computer-mediated communication, which is a process in which people perceive,
interpret, and exchange information via large networked telecommunications systems.
o These CMC systems are vast, almost always text based, and include, among
others, Instant Messaging and email. CMC has been identified as “an organic
setting” (Tong and Walther, 2013, p. 3) and it can be both synchronous and
asynchronous. Synchronous communication occurs when both sender and
receiver are online simultaneously. Asynchronous communication exists when
time constraints influence the sending and receiving of various messages and
responses.
o The relationship between CMC and relational development is underscored by
Walther (2011): “[C]omputer-mediated communication (CMC) systems, in a
development over the Internet. Much of Joseph Walther’s research (e.g.,
DeAndrea and Walther, 2011a; Walther, 2011) undercuts this latter perception. He
first argues that people will communicate personal information online and in
many cases, people will disclose more online than they will in person. In fact,
research shows that people will reciprocate high levels of intimate information
while online (Kalbfleisch, 2016).
o CMC is clearly different than face-to-face communication, but it offers an
unparalleled opportunity to meet someone whom you would never meet FtF.
• Online participants are motivated to present themselves in strategic ways.
o Researchers have found that social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook are
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
filled with people who wish to provide a number of different self-presentations to
others (Bryant, Marmo, and Ramirez, 2011).
o In terms of romantic relationships, if someone is either single or partnered, a
number of options are available to communicators that would communicate their
relational image to others: (1) display relationship status (e.g., single, married,
divorced, etc.); (2) utilize a picture that displays a partner; (3) provide dialogue
about the user’s partner; (4) dialogue in chat rooms aimed at a person’s relational
• Walther contends that online relationships have the same capacity to become intimate as
those that are established face to face.
o Chronemic cues, or those cues related to how people perceive, use, or respond to
time, and the accrual of messages are two notions that are interrelated.
o Walther’s research supports the claim that if messages are delivered over a period
of time and these “verbal messages” are adapted and transferred into nonverbal
codes, an online relationship can become quite intimate (Walther, 2012).
o Social Information Processing Theory suggests that although the messages are
verbal, communicators “adapt” to the restrictions of online medium, look for cues
in the messages from others, and modify their language to the extent that the
2010).
o Further, these messages “build up” over time and provide online participants
sufficient information from which to begin and develop interpersonal
relationships. All of the aforementioned allows for a relationship that is of high
intimate value.
IV. Hyperpersonal Perspective: “I Like What I Read and I Want More”
• Walther conducted research that showed, among other things, that communication between
online participants was viewed as more powerful than those undertaken face to face.
• Walther (1996, 2011) argues that the impressions people cultivate via CMC systems and
those relationships they develop and maintain “exceed the desirability and intimacy that
occur in parallel off-line interactions” (2011, p. 460).
o Individuals online can take their time thinking about responses and can choose to do
it in a synchronous manner (e.g., Instant Messaging) or without the online partner
around (asynchronous).
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
o Senders and receivers have the opportunity to “think before they speak.” All of this,
Walther advances, tends to lead to friendlier online relational environments. He
terms this the hyperpersonal perspective (Walther has also called this the
hyperpersonal effect (Walther, 1996) and hyperpersonal model (2011).
• Walther believes that online participant/users “exploit” the technological aspects of the
medium to manage their impressions and to help their relationships. Consequently, those
relationships people establish online are often more intimate than those they establish FtF.
o The hyperpersonal perspective entails a number of different areas related to CMC
and interpersonal relationships, including message tone, message complexity,
personal language, editing behaviors, composing time, among others (Walther,
2007).
• In other words, online communicators can be selective in how they present themselves and
how they respond to another individual and an inordinary depth of intimacy can take place
within online relationships.
• The hyperpersonal perspective is more than saying that an online relationship is intimate.
Walther, in a number of different scholarly venues, articulated its complexity and four
components he studied are elucidated here: (1) senders, (2) receivers, (3) channel, and (4)
feedback.
A. Sender: Selective Self-Presentation
• According to Walther (1996; Walther & Tong, 2015), senders have the ability to present
themselves in highly strategic and highly positive ways.
o This self-presentation is controlled and it serves as a foundation for how CMC
users get to know one another.
o The fundamental underpinning of this component of the hyperpersonal
perspective is affinity seeking. That is, senders provide information online that
prompts affinity in others.
• Senders may provide personal disclosures may represent an “idealized self.”
B. Receiver: Idealization of the Sender
• Attributions are those evaluations and judgments people make based on the actions or
behaviors of others.
• Walther (2011) believes that receivers tend to “fill in the blanks” on perceptions that are
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
o A receiver, for instance, is likely to think that a sender has more similarities than
differences.
o A receiver may tend to compare the sender to someone else he or she knows,
employing some sort of “perceptual personality” framework (“You sound like my
cousin Barry. He’s my favorite relative”).
o Finally, a receiver may experience an overreliance on the minimal cues available
online and forget that the relationship he or she has with a sender is based on
words—the misspellings, typographical errors, use of punctuation, and so forth
(Lea and Spears, 1992; Walther, 1996).
C. Channel Management
• CMC does not require both sender and receiver to be online at the same time.
• The asynchronous nature of CMC allows online participants to reflect upon, edit, and
review their comments before hitting the “Send” button.
D. Feedback
• Walther interprets feedback as behavioral confirmation, which is a “reciprocal
influence that partners exert” (Walther, 1996, p. 27).
• Because cues in an online environment are limited, the feedback that does occur is often
exaggerated or magnified.
• A hyperpersonal experience is not one that occurs immediately for everyone.
E. Warranting: Gaining Confidence Online
• Individuals online may simply present themselves in less than truthful ways.
• To ameliorate distorted and deceptive online presentations, Joseph Walther and his
colleague Malcolm Parks (2002) articulated the need for “warranting” behavior by
communicators.
• Warranting is defined as “the perceived legitimacy and validity of information about
another person that one may receive or observe online” (Walther, 2011, p. 466).
• In order for CMC users to feel more confident about online assertions, a warranting
“value of information” will frequently take place that allows for more truthfulness and
accuracy in presentations.
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
• Many online partners ensure that warranting exists in order to reduce uncertainty, to
engender more confidence about the veracity of comments and self-presentations, and
ultimately, to grow their relationship.
• Warranting usually takes the form of a sender connecting the receiver with the sender’s
off-line network.
• Walther and his research team (2009) assert that efforts at corroborating information
and visual cues will enhance the online relationship efficacy between people.
V. Integration, Critique, and Closing
• Walther clearly identified other theoretical frameworks in the conceptualization of SIP, his
theory, nonetheless, centers on communication and human relationships.
o Further, the theory clearly has evolved from quantitative investigation, making it
positivistic in nature.
• With his infusion of CMC, the theory is a unique and important development in
communication theory.
A. Scope
• Any theory dealing with computer-mediated communication will inevitably be
criticized for its expansiveness and lack of nuance.
o Walther spent several years ensuring that the “cumbersome” area known as CMC
does not result in research that is too broad.
• SIP has moved from a generalized thinking of online relationships to more specific
discussions, including those that relate to chronemics, such as physical attraction,
among other areas that have captured much research attention over the years.
B. Utility
• The usefulness of SIP is apparent. Walther (2011) best summarizes the usefulness of his
theory: “Newer theories have also arisen, some barely tested, the ultimate utility of
which remains to be seen” (p. 444).
C. Testability
• One area of SIP that has received some criticism relates to its testability.Walther has
been a self-reflective critic of his own theory.
o He acknowledged that SIP did not fully clarify the role of the issue of time in
CMC relationships (Walther, 2011).
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Chapter 13: Social Information Processing
o In discussing the hyperpersonal perspective, Walther admits that not all of the
theoretical components of his hyperpersonal approach have been researched
sufficiently.
o He and his research colleagues (2011) relate that “despite its importance, feedback
has received the least direct attention in research on the hyperpersonal model of
CMC” (p. 5).
• Jiang, Bazarova, and Hancock (2011) assert that the receiver’s perceptions help
contribute to online intimacy.
• In examining the warranting hypothesis, Walther, Brandon Van Der Heide, Lauren
Hamel, and Hillary Shulman (2009) accept the fact that high warranting value may exist
on those matters that have strong social desirability.
o For instance, physical attractiveness is a highly desirable trait in the United States,
making it socially desirable. Whether or not other less socially desirable qualities
are prone to warranting overtures is not fully explained.
Classroom Activities
1. Let’s Face(book) the Class!
Objective: The objective is to gain a better understanding of classmates’ views and
perceptions using the Facebook Polling app (“Questions”).
Materials: Student access to (their) Facebook profiles and classroom computers or laptops
Directions:
1. Divide students into groups.
2. Students should access the polling app on Facebook and create a poll on a topic of
their choice (Note: Any topic, from same-sex marriage to online relationships, can be
used for this activity).
3. Each group should create questions and multiple-choice responses to the questions.
The instructor may provide one example question for each group. The questions
5. Classroom discussion should center on the strengths and weaknesses of the language
of the polling questions as well as the question responses themselves.
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
2. Online Perfection
Objective: The objective is to develop an online dating site.
Materials: Student access to computers or laptops
Directions:
1. In teams, the students should first spend several minutes researching social
2. Next, divide the students into larger groups and instruct them to develop a dating
3. Discussion should first center upon the differences in the current dating sites. Next,
4. After each presentation, the class should critique the site, focusing on the realistic
potential for the site to be utilized by college students.
