Online Flirting

A gentle touch . . . eyes that find yours across the room . . . a lowering of the voice.  These are physical signs that can be taken as flirting in a face-to-face situation.

Now try doing that in computer-mediated communication.  In other words how does flirting translate to instant messaging, e-mail and social networks?  What takes the place of those visual cues in the virtual world?

In the second part of Friday's program, we talk with Jeff Hall from the University of Kansas to figure it out.  Learn why people flirt (hint: it's not all about attraction), the different flirting styles employed, and how, just like when two people are standing in the same room, on-line signals are often misinterpreted.

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Credit University of Kansas

Jeffrey A. Hall, Ph.D.

Jeffrey A. Hall, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas.  His research focuses on the influence of gender on personal relationships in several contexts, including friendship, homophobia, courtship and flirting, and romantic couples' use of humor. Dr. Hall teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in interpersonal and nonverbal communication as well as quantitative research methods.  His articles have appeared in Human Communication Research, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Sex Roles, and New Media and Society.