Relationships and digital communication

Question 1

Granovetter:

Answer 1

• Relationships consist of social tie which are connection between individuals that link them together

The strength of ties can be measured by:
- Amount of time spent together
- Emotional intensity of the relationship
- Level of intimacy
- Degree of reciprocity

• Argues that ties can be split into two main categories: Weak and strong ties
• Weak ties are more important than strong ties because they create connections in networks
• The removal of weak ties can do more damage to the persons social network than the removal of strong ties

Question 2

Zhao:

Answer 2

• Activities that connect individuals to each other (e.g. emails, chat rooms) have a positive correlation to social ties
• Activities that are solitary has negative correlation to social ties (e.g. surfing the internet)

Question 3

Feld:

Answer 3

• People use social networks to evaluate themselves and others
• An individuals identity is determined by their network of friends they maintain
• Social network is therefore directly linked to the number of strong and weak ties a person can maintain

Question 4

Positive effects of digital communication on relationships:

Answer 4

• Opportunity to meet new people
• Immediacy: People can be contacted instantly
• Opportunity to meet new people you wouldn’t normally connect with
• Way of overcoming traditional barriers such as disability, shyness and proximity

Question 5

Negative effects of digital communication on relationships:

Answer 5

• A lack of privacy
• Hard to switch off
• Come into contact with people that they don’t want to
• People’s offline relationships suffer as a result if time spent with online relationships

Question 6

Miller:

Answer 6

• Facebook has seen a large increase in usage from older people
• Facebook can become the means by which people find and cultivate relationships but can also break up relationships
• Facebook can bring back the lives of people isolated and excluded
• Can challenge people’s ideas about privacy and create social problems
• People believe that the truth lies in what you see online rather than face-to-face
• Facebook has expanded our global social relationships

Question 7

The twitter effect:

Answer 7

• Twitter related conflict can lead to negative relationship outcomes (Break-up’s and divorce)
• Clayton = Spoke to 581 Twitter users and found that the more active an individual was on twitter the more likely they were to experience twitter-related conflict

Question 8

Shaw and Grant:

Answer 8

• Looked at the positive effects of the internet
• As more people connect to the internet, their usage can be beneficial
• Participants engaged in five chat sessions with anonymous partners
• They were administered scales which measures depression, loneliness and self-esteem
  Internet usage was found to decrease loneliness and depression whilst self-esteem increased