Effects Of Digital Communication On Relationships

Question 1

Granovetter-positive

Answer 1

states that the strength of ties between two people can be judged by looking at the amount of time spent together, the emotional intensity of the relationship, the level of intimacy and the degree of reciprocity. Argues weak ties are just as important as strong ties as they can lead to connections and social networks which may lead to getting work experience. If weak ties are removed a person may face more damage than if they lost strong ties

Question 2

Zhao-positive

Answer 2

the use of internet activities that involve helping people connect like email and social media have positive effects on social ties which can strengthen relationships. Individual activity like surfing the internet can have a more negative impact on relationships

Question 3

Kraut et al-positive

Answer 3

critiques research in the 90s which suggested the internet was having a negative impact on people’s relationships as they found that the internet played a key role in helping maintain and develop social ties with others. They did find that social ties were weaker than those offline

Question 4

Positive and negative-Miller

Answer 4

did a cross cultural study on media use and found they can make or break relationships. Discovery 4 shows case study where a male heard from his friends offline that an ex who cheated on him had been looking at his page to see if he had a girlfriend. He posted a meme which shows they can be used to make fun of issues that would otherwise be too serious. Says Facebook can remove privacy and create riffs in relationships/track spouse online friends and conversation/checking phones

Question 5

Positive and negative-Shaw and gant

Answer 5

were positive about the impacts of digital communication and tracked data over time and found internet use helped decrease loneliness and depression significantly. Example: internet helped older people to stay connected during the pandemic as FaceTime is easy to use. But did cite previous research which suggested social media can have an impact on relationships and that overuse of social media has a correlation with the development with depression and loneliness although their evidence critiqued this view

Question 6

Negative-Turkle

Answer 6

Some behavior seen as normal now would not be considered normal years ago such as texting in meetings, using phones at family meal times or using phones at funerals. This is bad because people are becoming ‘alone together’ meaning they are with people in reality but not connecting as they are online. People want to connect but control when they are where and for how long. The Goldilocks effect: want to be not too close to people but not too far away