impact of digital communication on relationships

Question 1

positive impact on relatonships

Answer 1

• Granovetter
• Kraut et al
• Shaw & Gant

Question 2

Granovetter

Answer 2

• Weak ties are just as important for a persons social relationship as strong ones
• Strong ties: Time spent together, emotional intensity of relationship, level of intimacy.
  strong ties are with close friends and family and weak ties are with people who are considered more as acquaintances
• weak ties are just as important as string ties as they connect individuals with people who may not have commonalities
• if weak ties were removed it decreases social net work

Question 3

Kraut et al

Answer 3

• the internet plays a key role in helping to develop and maintain social ties with others
• the internet helps individuals stay connected

create ties but also maintains the ties

• without the internet, ties may not be created or maintained which will impact their social network and social capital and therefore globablisation has a positive impact on relationships as it encourages online connection and companionships

Question 4

shaw and gant

Answer 4

• the internet can benefit individuals mental health, preventing them from feelng lonely
  e.g. covid 19
• conducted an experiment and found that internet use positively correlates with depression etc
• showed that overtime, internet use of a chatroom increased feelings of social support and self esteem whilst decreasing feelings of anxiety and lonliness
• increased internet usage due to things like globablisation, people now have more connections, friendships and relationships improving their mental wellbeing

Question 5

negative impact on relationships

Answer 5

• turkle
• miller
• baudrillard

Question 6

turkle

Answer 6

• the inernet may make us feel connected with eachother but in reality we are isolating ourselves from eachother
• ‘alone together’
• using phones in meetings and classrooms etc which makes us deny eachothers attentions whilst sitting in the same room
• poses a risk to relationships and identities, we could lose eachother rather than connect with eachother
• the internet gives us more power as we can edit and delete our interactionn
• increased internet usage, we are losing touch with real life relationship and bonds with eachther instead of being present we are drawn to looking a our screens.

Question 7

miller

Answer 7

• the internet may break down our real life relationships
  e.g. facebook
• instrumental in breaking down relationships and marriage
• challenges people ideas of privact and creates social problems and scandals
• some people believe the truth more when they see it online than when they are told it face-to-face
• therefore, this shows that the internet provides individuals with opportunities to create new relationships whilst already involved with someome making adultry easier to commit

Question 8

baudrillard

Answer 8

• digital media has turned personal interactions into shallow, fragmented exchanges, weakening real connections
• simulacra and simulation: exposes how media and technology have replaced authentic human interactions
• media saturated society, indivuduals no longer engage with the ‘real’ world but instead interact with simultations making relationships superficial and disconnected from deeper emotional substance
• personal connections are influenced by the media