Being there with others: Copresence and technologies for informal interaction

Abstract

Informal interactions underpin basic social processes. Mobile, email and web-based communications increasingly play a role in informal interactions, but these technologies often lack the facilitating conditions typically found in face-to-face (F2F) settings. In this paper we investigate informal interactions by exploring how students 'get together' when out-of-class. We establish if and when copresence is felt in physical and technological settings and what kinds of informal interactions arise as a result. The findings reveal that copresence in technological settings is associated with temporality and 'feeling connected' through synchronous and semi-synchronous mediums. This feeling includes..