Impression management and social presence within asynchronous online discussions: A case study

Asynchronous online discussion has become a staple of many higher education courses. The current study was designed to understand more fully the student experience within online discussions, with an emphasis on the experiences of undergraduate students outside the field of education. The research described in the current paper was a case study designed to examine the experiences of five students aged 20-25 who had senior status at a four-year university in the Midwest. Specifically, the research examined students' experiences using elements of social presence and impression management techniques to develop social identities within asynchronous online discussions, knowingly or unknowingly. Analysis included an examination of whether or not social identity formation processes changed throughout students' college careers, and, if the processes did change, then changes that appeared were analyzed. Participants were interviewed and select asynchronous online discussion transcripts from previous courses were retrieved.;Findings indicate a variety of factors that influence how the participants developed their social identities using elements of social presence and facework. Some influences are instructional, stemming from the instructor, the course designer who developed online discussion prompts, and/or institutional policies. Other influences come from the students; however, it seems that instructors could affect or sometimes alter how students manage or adapt these influences. How participants develop their social identities influences their participation within the online discussions, ranging along a spectrum from avoidance to one-way participation to bi-directional interaction.;Based on the results of this study, suggestions for instructors, instructional designers/course developers, and higher education administrators regarding online discussion forums and associated policies are provided. Future research can build on the findings to investigate the overlap and distinctive qualities of social presence and facework as they relate to social identity development. Additionally, more research is needed to understand the consequences of compulsory online discussions. Moreover, I recommend that future studies further examine the discrepancies between instructor and student expectations as well as methods for effectively reducing the differences.