Virtual relationship in social media

• Self-disclosure


  The act of revealing personal information about oneself to others
• Broadcasting self-disclosure


  The difference between disclosure to a romantic partner and the sharing of personal information in a public situation
• Self-disclosure in the public domain


  1. Individuals present an edited version of the self to others

  2. People feel more secure about disclosing intimate and sensitive information in private

  3. When sharing self-disclosures in more visible ways with a wider audience, people are more selective over the content, revealing information that is less private and less intimate
• Anonymity


  Individuals do not usually engage in self-disclosure with one another until they are confident that what they disclose remains confidential, and would not be leaked to mutual acquaintances
• The dangers of self-disclosure in face-to-face interactions are that confidentiality might be violated or the information could be leaked to mutual acquaintances
• Most explanations for the relatively high levels of self-disclosure in Internet relationships compared to face-to-face relationships have focused on the psychological effects of anonymity
• Virtual relationships have thrived in recent years
• People interact with each other more on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram than in interpersonal relationships
• Research shows differences in the way that people form and maintain relationships and self-disclose in virtual relationships compared to offline relationships
• People feel more secure about disclosing intimate and sensitive information in private (including private messaging) because of the increased control over disclosure to a selected individual
• People may compensate for the lack of control over the target audience (ie. who has access to the information) by exercising increased control over what information this audience has access to
• Self-disclosure


  Presenting an edited version of the self to others in the public domain
• Self-disclosure on social networks

  • Individuals exercise different levels of self-disclosure depending on whether they are presenting information publicly or privately
  • People feel more secure about disclosing intimate and sensitive information in private (including private messaging) because of the increased control over disclosure to a selected individual
  • When sharing self-disclosures in more visible ways with a wider audience (e.g. on a Facebook wall), people are more selective over the content, revealing information that is less private and less intimate
• Anonymity in Internet interactions

  Greatly reduces the risks of self-disclosure because people can share their inner thoughts and feelings with much less fear of disapproval and sanction from the other person
• Self-disclosure with online acquaintances


  Similar to the 'strangers on a train phenomenon' where people are more likely to disclose personal information to people they don't know and probably will never see again
• Absence of gating in virtual relationships, unlike face-to-face relationships where personal factors such as physical appearance and mannerisms tend to determine whom we approach and develop relationships with
• Consequences of absence of gating in virtual relationships

  • A person's true self is more likely to be active in internet relationships than in face-to-face interactions
  • Enables gated individuals to present the identities they hope to establish but are unable to in face-to-face situations
  • Enables people to stretch the truth a bit in their efforts to project a self that is more socially desirable than their real offline identity
• Most online identities are still close to a person's true identity in order to avoid unpleasant surprises in a possible real-life encounter
• Self-disclosure


  Associated with reward in the brain's reward system, suggesting the human tendency to share personal experiences over social media may be driven by the rewarding nature of self-disclosure
• Facebook helps shy people overcome the barriers they face in forming relationships in the offline world
• Virtual relationships are not completely separate from people's offline lives
• The main consequence of virtual relationships is the impact on the individual's overall self-concept and identity in the offline world