impact of DFC on relationships

• Relationships consist of social ties. Granovetter - the strength of social ties can be measured as:

  1. time spent together
  2. emotional intensity of the relationship
  3. level of intimacy
  4. degree of reciprocity
• Granovetter - weak ties and strong ties

  Weak ties are more important than strong ties. This is because weak ties create connections between members of the network. The removal of a weak tie would do more damage to ones social network than the removal of a strong tie
• Zhao - activities that connect individuals directly to eachother tend to have positive correlations to social ties, so they strengthen relationships, while activities that are more solitary (surfing the internet) have negative correlations to social ties.

  • However, this was disproven by Kraut et al, who argued that individuals used the internet for social purposes and maintained their offline relationships
• Kraut also argued that social ties tend to be weaker than relationships formed and maintained offline
• Feld - people use social networks to evaluate themselves and others. So, an individuals identity is determined by the network of friends they maintain
• Positive effects of DFC on relationships

  • opportunity to meet people
  • immediacy
  • way of overcoming traditional barriers of meeting people
• Negative effects of DFC on relationships:

  • Lack of privacy
  • Hard to switch off
  • Having to come into contact with people that the person may not want to
  • people's offline relationships suffer as a result of time spent with online relationships
• Key study: Tales from facebook: Miller

  • Facebook can be the means to which people find relationships, but can also break up relationships
  • facebook can bring back the lives of people isolated at home, but also challenge ideas about privacy, and create social problems
  • Facebook has become a vehicle for business, the church, sex, and remembering those who have passed
  • Facebook has hugely expanded our social relationships in a global context
• Key study: Positive effects of the internet, Shaw and Gant

  • Studies used to say that internet use is correlated with depression, loneliness, and stress.
  • Shaw and Gant argue that internet use decreased loneliness and depression, and social support and self esteem increased significantly