This was an interesting article to read sitting here in 2011, chuckling at how the 'online relationships' in question were restricted to only listservs and email. It would be a much more interesting article now with Facebook in existence. And Match.com, eHarmony and the like. Not to mention Skype, which would gray the lines of the studies as it could be counted almost simultaneously as electronic, computer mediated and sort of 'telephone', too. Plus with ten plus more years growing up with Internet know-how under their belts, the kids today have a much greater chance to achieve 'quality relationships' than ever before.
I'm not so sure I really 'learned' anything in this article, just reinforced some hunches, I think. This study was done long enough ago that I'm 'from' that era...the late 90's and early 2000's when the Internet and email were new technologies. We weren't as used to them in our everyday lives as f2f or telephone 'communication episodes', so I have always felt that the quality of the relationships you build with faceless strangers pales in comparison to 'real life' interpersonal interactions. I'm still getting used to Fb for crying out loud! I'm an open book kind of guy in 'real life', often times getting looks from my wife as she utters "TMI, honey," and I still find myself feeling uneasy putting stuff up on the Internet for the world to see. So of course when they studied my generation eleven years ago they found those results. So there it is, that's what I learned...we need to 'redo' this study and include the kids of today who've grown up with Fb and Match.com and Skype and see what they say now!
I found it interesting that the one part of the study, I think it was fig. 2 on page 8 or 9, reinforced what I previously thought about the usefulness of email to share info or get work done. People are chatty :-) and that 'wastes' time (in regards to work or sharing info, not relationship building) so when you really need to bear down and accomplish tasks, email is the way to go.
Lastly I wanted to touch on the 'adding to' versus 'substituting for' f2f interaction thing. I agree with the article, it makes sense, that when you replace traditional interpersonal (f2f or phone) interaction with too much Internet, your relationship 'quality' will take a huge hit. And adding to f2f relationships with MORE interaction possibilities will strengthen the quality of the given relationship...most times. However, I've (and I'm sure most of you ;-) ran into plenty of 'different' enough people in my day that I bet a select group of people experience the reverse. You all know who I'm talking about...the people that don't do well with other people. They don't take or give normal social cues in normal ways. They genuinely hate public situations, and usually don't get along that well with anyone face to face. If they're replacing their 'bad' f2f experiences with Internet relationships, where they can hide, or perhaps simply navigate through, some of their social 'differences', I bet the findings would reveal an increase in relationship quality. Just my thoughts, signing off until tomorrow, Sharxjay.
I agree with you that the article would be interesting if they would reflect on the impact of Skype and Facebook and how it affected the workplace and the relationships outside the workplace. I believe that the information is still pretty relevant since they mention that electronic mails have been used since 1960 and they are reflecting on a great time period which I thought was interesting. I believe there is a difference between electronic mail and social networking sites since electronic mails are more trustworthy when exchanging business idea though people tend trust electronic mails less and prefer to use face to face interactions.
ReplyDeleteHello! I always enjoy reading your blogs, you are hilarious! A point that stuck out to me of your blogs was from the last paragraph. I was totally thinking the same think about the people who just feel socially awkward in public situations. I agree that for the people who do not already have a strong personal social network, online networking is there only choice. Online social networking could actually help them build relationships. I watched a documentary about a person with a disfigured face who had been afraid of going in public his whole life because of fear of being ostracized. He created a website to tell his story and developed a strong fan base and support system. This gave him the strength and courage to go out in public and meet people. He found another person like him and actually traveled to meet him and keep in touch through the site. In cases such as these, the internet actually creates and strengthens relationships.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your humor! :)