Virtual Relationships in Social Media

• What is a crucial feature of face-to-face relationships?

  Self-disclosure
• What has recent research focused on regarding self-disclosure?

  The role in social media-based relationships
• What does CMC stand for?

  Computer Mediated Communication
• What are the two major theories regarding self-disclosure in virtual relationships?

  • Reduced Cues Theory (Sproull and Kiesler, 1986)
  • Hyperpersonal Model (Walther, 2011)
• What does Reduced Cues Theory suggest about virtual relationships?

  They lack nonverbal cues affecting identity
• How does de-individuation affect virtual relationships according to Reduced Cues Theory?

  It leads to disinhibition in self-disclosure
• According to Walther (2011), how do virtual relationships compare to face-to-face ones?

  They can be more personal and intense
• What are the two key features of hyperpersonal self-disclosure?

  1. Sender has control over disclosure (selective self-presentation)
  2. Receiver gains a positive impression of the sender
• What effect does anonymity have on self-disclosure in virtual relationships?

  It reduces accountability for behavior
• What is the 'strangers on a train' effect?

  Feeling less accountable due to anonymity
• What is a 'gate' in the context of relationships?

  An obstacle to forming a relationship
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the absence of gates in virtual relationships?

  Benefits:

  • Relationships are easier to form
  • Deeper self-disclosures

  
  

  Drawbacks:

  • Potential for untrue identities
  • Deception about personal traits
• What did McKenna and Bargh (2000) find about online communication?

  Shy people benefit from absence of gating
• What was the survival rate of romantic relationships formed online according to McKenna and Bargh?

  71% survived more than 2 years
• What is a weakness of the Reduced Cues Theory?

  Online cues are different, not absent
• How do acronyms and emojis function in online communication?

  As substitutes for nonverbal cues
• What is a weakness of the Hyperpersonal Model?

  Lack of research support for the model
• What is the definition of a virtual relationship?

  Conducted online rather than face-to-face