College Students' Computer-Mediated Communication Apprehension and Utilization of Online Communication Technologies

Online social networking is a growing trend that has been studied little. Technology is allowing for several new methods of communication, including e-mail, instant messaging and social networking. This study investigates how online communication technology is utilized by college students with varying levels of apprehension about communication via a computer. Based on previous research, two research questions were posed and one hypothesis was tested: RQ1: What online communication technologies will college students report using the most frequently? RQ2: What relationship will be found between computer-mediated communication apprehension and online social networking? H1: Participants with high levels of computer-mediated communication apprehension will utilize instant messaging and e-mail less than participants with low levels of computer-mediated communication apprehension. Results revealed that e-mail was the most frequently used communication technology and that participants with high computer-mediated communication apprehension spent more time social networking and instant messaging than participants with low computer-mediated communication apprehension.