Competence, Presence, Trust, and Hyperpersonal-ness

Abstract

As the U.S. population has increasingly withdrawn into itself, Competence, Presence, Trust, and Hyperpersonal-ness considers the importance of communication technology for helping citizens become socially proficient in ways that transcend digital and physical environments. Experiencing computer-based social platforms as realistic and intimate allows networked social competence to add to interpersonal competence, Bouchillon argues. Trust is shown to benefit, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he demonstrates that socially distanced individuals replicated their interpersonal lives using technology, and increased their social competence by doing so. Results suggest that society has reached the moment of hyperpersonal-ness, with computer-based social capabilities and feelings of presence being used to develop interpersonal competence and social capital, even in seclusion.