The Role of Social Presence in Interactive Learning with Social Software Masanori Yamada* 1 and Satoshi Kitamura* 2 Kanazawa University* 1 The University of Tokyo* 2 Abstract This chapter presents the effect of social presence in learning with social media. It is divided into four parts: introduction, theoretical background, effect of social presence in learning, and conclusion. The introductory section provides the historical background to CMC research in educational technology with special attention to the concept of social presence. The second section reviews previous research on social presence from the viewpoints of social psychology and educational technology. The third section presents the effects of social presence within social media as described in previous research, particularly Yamada (2009). Social presence appears to have an effect on motivation and other aspects of the affective side of learning. Avenues for future research are considered. 1. Introduction: Computer-Mediated Communication in Educational Settings As information and communication technology advances, universities and other educational organizations throughout the world have shown increased interest in using computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), to facilitate active interaction among learners. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools such as asynchronous CMC (e.g., email, Bulletin Board System) and synchronous CMC (e.g., text-chat, videoconferencing) are often used in CSCL. Recently, social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter, also known as “social media,” have been the focus of attention not only in social psychology (e.g., Walther et al., 2008) but also in educational settings. Learning activities in social media are based on interpersonal interactions and (computer) mediated-communication. Most interactions in social media are multi- party interactions, and understanding of these interactions is supported by theories of dyadic interactions, which are interactions between two persons. Although many