Taking the world by storm as a form of communication is the intimate but distant voice note. Instagram, Facebook, Signal, IM and Whatsapp, and more, all have the feature. Simply hold the microphone button on your phone and start speaking to send a voice message to your friend, colleague or family member or partner. Maybe your friend wants to hear how a job interview went or wants the gossip on your love life. It’s much easier to send them a text, “I’ll voice note you later!” - and in due course when you have a spare moment, you send them a voice note with what’s been going on in your life.

This asynchronous form of communication is great for people who can’t commit to a phone call or video call, for friends or family who might live in a different time zone, or for people who simply can’t find the right time to speak due to a clash of schedules. Throughout the pandemic voice noting seems to be on the rise as it is an efficient way to communicate, and socially distant. It can be quite personable in comparison to text-based communication, hearing loved one’s voices can be comforting in times like this. Overall, in my opinion, it’s an efficient, personable way to stay in touch - a tool for the modern-day pen-pal.

Even though voice noting might be a preferable way to communicate as it conveys more richness than texting, it ultimately lacks body language, cues and subtle micro-expressions we might pick up in face to face communication. Can the lack of interruptions and visual cues cause the sender to self-disclose more about themselves?

Hyperpersonal Model of Communication

The hyperpersonal model of communication (Walther, 1996) allows for users to engage in selective self-presentation when using CMC (computer-mediated communication), carefully curating their messages to show or censor certain aspects of themselves. Originally theorized in the ’90s before voice messages were popular. The basis of the model is still usable. The model is divided into four parts - senders, receivers, channel & feedback.

Senders:

Senders curate their messages and use selective self-presentation to show or hide certain aspects of who they are. While curating text-based messages can hinder spontaneous speech or thoughts. This can occur using voice notes, carefully selecting what you would like to say before sending, and if it doesn’t sound great? Delete it and start again.

Receivers:

Receivers of messages sometimes idealize the senders message, or “fill in the gaps” when there are minimal cues. Receivers can also over-interpret messages and attribute greater personal interest to the sender online than offline. Does this aspect occur over voice note communication? Because it is not text-based, it’s possible to gain a perspective of tone and context from one's voice, there’s little room for minimal cues, apart from visual ones.

Channel:

This is the management of the communication, allowing for users to think about how to construct their messages before sending them, rather than focusing on non-verbal behaviour. This aspect plays a big role within voice-noting as the receiver has to imagine the non-verbal behaviour through their imagination and using the voice as a guide, I can imagine the receiver would listen to the message and think about how they will respond afterwards.

Feedback:

Known as behavioural confirmation, feedback is when the receiver responds to the senders’ message, creating an idealized perception, and in turn, responding to that - encouraging and repeating the cycle. This occurs in all types of CMC including voice notes.

Senders, soliloquies & self-disclosure

Countless times throughout the pandemic, I’ve heard myself or my friends say on a voice message; “I’m rambling on now, I should go now...” or “Jesus! This voice note is six minutes long!”. We usually know when to stop in conversation and where the boundaries lie in FtF communication. We know we don’t want to bore our friends to death with a monologue. So why do we keep speaking?

This year our voice notes are more rambling and long, explaining our thoughts, ideas, fears and solutions on a variety of topics. It’s incredible to be able to communicate this way, but if it were in person - it would be different. In a real-world conversation, my monologue would be interrupted by an external factor, maybe a slight shift in my partner's body language, or an abrupt verbal interruption, or even a slight microexpression on their face, a quiver of their lip or an eyebrow raise. This could stop me in my tracks. These interruptions don’t occur throughout voice notes, because the receiver's body language is not available for interpretation. So, where is the line drawn between filling your friend in on your news and using the phone as a tool for sound boarding verbally? Does this voice note communication cause us to disclose more information without us realizing it? Although there has been little research on self-disclosure and voice messages, there have been multiple studies that both agree AND disagree that self-disclosure is higher in CMC than face to face (Nguyen, Bin & Campbell, 2012; Tidwell & Walther, 2002).

Surely, our soliloquies to our nearest and dearest abroad and down the road might enrich and nurture our friendships, feeling like we know them on an even deeper level. But would we have spoken those words in person? Would we have shared certain thoughts? Because when we voice note, in reality, we only speak to ourselves. It almost becomes an extension of ourselves, similar to a diary entry. What does that mean about the state of our friendships? Does it help or hinder the connection when we’re apart? I think there can be fatigue, potentially hindering connection, from a receivers perspective. A 5-minute long voice note can be exhausting. Remembering all the information to gather and respond to. This can cause some cognitive overload - similar to the trending Zoom fatigue all WFH workers are experiencing. Although in some cases it can help connection. In my opinion, receiving a lengthy “mini-podcast episode” from a friend as a voice message where they disclose everything about their life is an absolute treat, and it is something I truly cherish.

References

Ngyuen, M., Bin, Y. S., & Campbell, A. (2012). Comparing online and offline self-disclosure: A systematic review. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 15, 103-111. http://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0277

Tidwell, L. C., & Walther, J. B. (2002). Computer-mediated communication effects on disclosure, impressions, and interpersonal evaluations: Getting to know one another a bit at a time. Human Communication Research, 28, 317–348. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00811.x

Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(1), 3–43.. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365096023001001

Walther, J. B., & Whitty, M. T. (2021). Language, Psychology, and New New Media: The Hyperpersonal Model of Mediated Communication at Twenty-Five Years. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 40(1), 120-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20967703