virtual relatonships in social media Flashcards
self disclosure in virtual relationships
self disclosure is a crucial features of face to face relationships
reduced cues theory
sproull and kiesler
virtual relationships are less effective than ftf ones becuase they lack many of the cues we normally depend on in ftf interactions
include nonverbal cues such as physical appearance and emotional state
reduces a persons sense of indivual identity in virtual realtionships (de-individuating)
in turn leads to disinhibition
many people feel freer to communicate in blount and even aggressive was
people are unlikely to want to express their real thoughts and feelings to someone who is so impersonal
the hyper personal model
Walther
argues that virtual relationships can be more pernal andf involved greater self disclosure than ftf ones
virtual relationships can develop very quickly as self disclosure happens earlier
two key features
- sender of the message has greater control over what to disclose and the cues they send than they would in a ftf situation
selective self-presentation
the sender manipulates their self image to present themselves in an idealised way
to achieve this self disclosure can be both intensely truthful (hyper honest) and or intensely false (hyper dishonest)
- the receiver gains a positive impression of the sender
may give feedback that reinforces the senders selective self- presentation
another factors that promotes online self disclosure and makes virtual relationship hyper personal is anonymity
Barth point out that the outcome of this is like the strangers on a train effect in ftf realtionships
when youre aware that other people do not know your identity you feel less accountable for your behaviour
may disclose more about yourself to a stranger than your most intimate partner
effects of absence of gating in virtual relationships
what is a gate
Mckenna and bargh
a gate is any obstacle to forming a relationship
ftf interaction is gated in that it involves many features that can interfere with the early development of a relationship
examples include physical attractiveness social anxiety
benefits and drawbacks
key feature of a virtual relationship is that mist of these gates are absent
means virtual realtionships can develop to the point where self disclosure becomes more frequent and deeper
therefore the relationship can get off the ground in a way that is less likely to happen face to face
a sense of gating works by refocusing attention on self disclosure and away from distracting features
benefit of gates being absent is that the indivual is freed to be ,ore like their true selves
on the other hand there is a scope for people to create untrue identities and deceive people
can change their gender age etc
limitation
lack of support for reduced cues
reduced cues theory is that online nonverbal cues are different rather than absent
walther and tidwell
people in online interactions use other cues such as style and timing of messages
taking time to reply to a social media status update may be a more intimate act than an immediate response
so there are nuances in virtual realtionships that are just as subtle as in ftf relationships
acronyms and emojis can all be used as effective substitutes for facial expressions and tone of voice
hard for the rescued cues theory to explain becuase it means virtual realtionships can be just as perosnal as ftf ones
limitation
lack of support for the hyper perosnal model
hyper perosnal model is challenged by the findings of meta analysis
ruppel et al
carrie doubt a met-analysis of 25 studies that compared self disclosures in ftf and virtual interactions
found that self report studies showed that the frequency breadth and depth of self disclosures were all greater in ftf relationships
on the other hand experimental studies showered no significant differences between ftf and virtual relationship in terms of self disclosures
contradicts the hyper perosnal models view that the greater intimacy of virtual relationships should lead to more and deeper self disclosure than in ftf realtionships
strength
support for absence of gating
shy lonely and socially anxious people find virtual relationships especially valuable
Mckenna and bargh
looked at online communication by shy and lonely and socially anxious people
found that these people were able to express their true selves more than in ftf situations
of the romantic relationships that initially formed by shy people online 71% survived at least two years
compares well with the relationmshops for shy people formed in the offline world 49%
suggest that shy people do benefit online resumable becuase the gating that obstruct ftf relaiotmships is absent online
