Virtual Relationships

• Deindividuation

  Loss of individual identity - can cause loss of of autonomy
• social penetration theory

  gradually revealing information about ourselves (onion metaphor)
• what does the virtual relationships section compare?

  computer mediated communication (CMC) with face to face interactions (F2F)
• Rosenfeld & Thomas (2012)

  examined the importance of the internet in the formation of relationships

  studied 4000 US adults and found that 72% of people with internet access were in a relationships, and 36% without internet access were in a relationship

  conclusion: use of the internet is becoming more common for forming relationships
• reasons for more self disclosure in online relationships

  anonymity

  don’t have to see reaction

  time to think about what to say
• reasons for less self disclosure in online relationships

  info could be shared with others

  worry of blackmailing/catfishing
• Hyper personal model

  Proposed by Walther, Suggested that self disclosure happens more in online relationships

  however these relationships tend to end more quickly - Cooper & Sportolari’s boom & bust concept
• hyperpersonal - selective self presentation

  self disclosure can be manipulated more easily online and we have time to present ourselves in a more favourable way
• Reduced cues and deindividuation

  Sproull and Kiesler suggested that we self disclose less in online relationships - we don’t have the cues such as facial expressions that we do in face to face relationships
• how does reduction in cues produce deindividuation?

  it reduces people’s feelings of individual identity
• Hollenbaugh & Everett (2013)

  aimed to investigate virtual relationships in social media - did a content analysis on 5 blogs with 154 ppts

  found that younger bloggers engaged in deeper and more revealing self disclosure, and female bloggers were found to self disclose more
• the absence of gating

  In virtual relationships, gates / barriers such as age and appearance
• the absence of gating means that less attractive people have more opportunities to develop romantic relationships
• Baker & Oswald (2010)

  investigated the absence of gating in virtual relationships - 207 ppts completed a questionnaire on shyness and perception of friendship quality

  they found that people who were more shy perceived their friendship quality as better, showing that online communication helps people to overcome their shyness
• negative evaluations of virtual relationships

  • self disclosure online varies depending on the type of CMC being used e.g. it will be higher on tinder than Minecraft
  • most F2F relationships have an online element - there is less of a distinction between them
  • temporal validity - fast paced society so research is at risk of being out of date by the time it is published
  • cultural differences - research is based on Western, technologically developed countries so cannot be applied to all countries