Virtual relationships in social media

• Walther 1996 proposed the hyper personal model and suggested virtual relationships can develop very quickly as self-disclosure happens earlier so they become more intense and intimate. They can also end quicker because the underlying trust and knowledge of the other person is lacking.
• The hyper personal model suggests that virtual relationships are more personal and have greater self-disclosure than face to face.
• Sproull and Kiesler 1986 suggests virtual relationships lack cues such as physical appearance or our emotional state which can lead to a person loosing their identity and acting in a way they wouldn’t normally. As a result, virtual relationships involve aggressive and blunt communication which leads to a reluctance in self-disclosure. This is known as de-individualism.
• Jourard 1971 claimed self-disclosure in virtual relationships involves the individual presenting an edited version of themselves to others.
• A gate is a feature that could interfere with the development of a face-to-face relationship.
• In virtual relationships, there is an absence of gates which normally limit the opportunities for the less attractive, shy or less socially skilled to form relationships in face-to-face encounters. These gates can remain hidden which allows for self-disclosure and intimacy to develop and the gate may then be revealed but because of the self-disclosure it doesn’t matter as much now.
• Yurchisin et al 2005 interviewed 11 online daters and found they tended to give accounts of both their real and better selves in dating profiles as a way of attracting potential partners.
• Research support for positive impact of virtual environments in developing romantic relationships. Rosenfeld and Thomas 2012 studied 4000 participants and found 71.8% of those who were married or had a romantic partner had internet access in contrast with 35.9% of those without internet access. This is positive as it suggests virtual environments help people establish and maintain romantic relationships.
• Supporting evidence for absence of gating. McKenna and Bargh 2000 studied online communications of shy, lonely and socially anxious people and found they were able to express their true selves more than in face-to-face situations. Also, 71% of relationships initially formed by shy people online lasted at least two years compared to 49% of relationships formed face-to-face. This suggests that shy people benefit from virtual relationships, presumably because the gating that obstructs face-to-face relationships is absent online.
• Culture bias. Research into virtual relationships is mostly based on experiences of Western couples and this cannot be applied to all countries where internet technology is not readily available. Also, attitudes to self-disclosure vary. Nakanishi 1986 found women in Japanese cultures prefer lower levels of self-disclosure. This is problematic as level of self-disclosure depends on cultural norms which may affect online communication styles, lowering research validity.
• Gender differences. McKenna et al 2002 found women tended to rate relationships formed online as more intimate and valued self-disclosure more highly than men whereas men rated online relationships as less close than face-to-face ones. This is problematic as research into virtual relationships may show alpha bias.