Computer Mediated Communication Research

Self-disclosure is an important part of any close relationship. Without sharing our own fears and weaknesses, we can

15). This research speaks volumes to the overall effect that the spread of technology has on our addiction to social media. It shows that we now value our time and interactions that happen over the Internet more than we value the true face-to-face interactions that real relationships actually depend on. One study performed on a university campus in Turkey used a questionnaire to evaluate different factors that could have significantly positive or negative effects on a relationship. This study performed by Egeci and Gencoz found that “…those with lower communications problems…were more likely to experience relationship satisfaction” (388). The type of communication that is proven to help grow relationships occurs most effectively face-to-face, where people can read each other’s emotions in their facial expressions and non-verbal

“People can take their time when posting information about themselves, carefully selecting what aspects they would like to emphasize (Gonzales 80).” By controlling what information and self-attributes to share with the online world, an individual may present an idealized version of self that would not align with societal perceptions in the face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, Gonzales notes that recent research in computer-mediated communications suggests that online self-presentations can alter self-perceptions (80). As Orenstein says, “I tweet, therefore I am.” The online presentations of self can become the reality, or idealized reality, of the

Virtual relationships are becoming more and more popular, due to social media. Along with relationships, Lambert brought up a comparison between modern intimacy and pre-modern intimacy, which states that modern intimacy is privatization and pre-modern intimacy is obligatory relationships. Because virtual relationships are becoming more popular, these types of intimacy may not matter as much because virtual intimacy could become a social norm. Since everything is on the internet, there is no such thing as privacy. Young people are so prone to the idea of having social media that they do not think twice about posting a self-promoting status or

Within some cultures, mental health, domestic violence, any type of abuse, and addiction are shaming the family by revealing the details of a person life to another person outside the family household. Predominantly in African American and Hispanic American communities, there are significant more alcohol or drug use, which is seen as socially with other people, but not acceptable or seen as a sign of weakness when reporting information. Self-disclosure can be very problematic for some people because of their pasts of undergoing racial differences and injustice. Cultural factors can affect the types of behaviors that are thought to disregard social standards and the degree to which discrimination against a person who show nonnormative behavior is accepted (Corrigan, Druss, & Perlick, 2014).

The article Electronic Intimacy by Christine Rosen talks about the relationships people have with the online world and how it affects relationships because everything is just so fast. The purpose this article was written is to give her audience which is people who use social media to experience an actual in person relationship because the only relationship we know today lies in a direct message. Rosen poses a question to her audience that has us all thinking and also is her thesis. The question says “But does the way we communicate with each other alter that experience significantly?” (Paragraph 5). But it makes sense because in today’s world there is no such thing as personal relationships which is why Rosen states that “We are living in an

In an article written for the New York Times by Jenna Wortham called “I Had a Nice Time with You Tonight. On the App.”, Wortham discusses the pros of using social media in developing relationships. She talks of her personal accounts with dating apps to keep up with her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend and how she finds that communicating with him through video chat is pretty useful for maintaining her relationship. Wortham believes that communication through social media platforms like G-Chat (Google Chat), Skype, Facetime, etc., makes conversation feels more casual and that she feels a closer bond with the people she talks to “physically, even though it’s through a screen” (394). The audience she could be appealing to is anyone

How Therapist Self-Disclosure And Non-Disclosure Affects Clients”, stated that, “The study results suggest that therapist self‐disclosure has both positive and negative treatment implications.” It depends on how therapeutic the self-disclosure would benefit the client in that given situation, and the client’s receptiveness to what information is given to them; for example, one patient may respond positively to a therapist’s self –disclosure that reveals another safe point of view of an issue, while another patient might feel that therapist’s has over stepped their boundaries. Madill et al. stated that, “These were sometimes attributed to inexperience and sometimes the characteristics of the total situation, such as events from the therapist's personal life” (13). There are times when sharing something from the therapist can help explain an issue that is present during the time of that therapy appointment. Another problem with a therapist’s self-disclosure is that after years of treatment, the therapist can run out of examples to use to clarify a point made during the appointment. Years and years of treatment sometimes cover issues where the therapist, will add something about himself or herself. People who tend to talk for a very long time during therapy can relate on a level that is not crossing the boundaries. In addition, self –disclosure may be a major problem for therapists who live and work in rural communities, because

The 5 main factors for communication boundary are culture, personality, the relationship, biological sex, and motivations. These 5 factors shape when, where, and whom we disclose information to. All the factors set a different tone of how people choose to disclose information. For example “culture have a relatively loose rules regarding privacy and self-disclosure” (p.141). You should know what topics are appropriate to discuss with a person. For myself if I’m given a secret about someone else life or situation, I have to understand the value of the information. As the person being told a secret we must be able to maintain privacy by managing information. To manger someone secrets we can use topic avoidance and secret keeping. Topic avoidance is when someone intentionally avoids talking about a particular topic. For example, people in relationships will avoid topics that they both are aware of. Secret keeping is intentional efforts to keep information from others. This deals with self disclosing to each other that no one else know.

Individuals have different levels of disclosure and when combined with another individual’s disclosure level can have positive or negative outcomes. The decision to communicate can also cause uncertainty within relationships. Prior research was conducted to try and measure what exactly causes the uncertainty and negative results to show up in a relationship. Intimacy, security, problematic events, and irritations are all different elements that can be stronger or weaker in the relationship based on the disclosure (Theiss and Solomon 2006).

In recent years, social penetration theory has been the focus of many online studies,and has been applied to, or adapted, in the context of online relationship studies, such as sexual self-disclosure, online friendships, and online social networks. (Tang & Wang, 2012) The social penetration theory as Joseph DeVito writes in The Interpersonal Communication Book is a theory not of why relationships develop but of what happens when they do develop (DeVito, 2016, p. 237). While there are a few concepts that are encompassed in the definition of social penetration theory, there are two prominent parts and they are, breadth and depth. The breadth of a relationship refers to the amount of topics you and your partner talk about, and depth refers to the degree to which you penetrate the inner personality—the core—of the other individual (DeVito, 2016). In simpler terms, “how do you let people in,” and “how much and how in depth do you go into a topic?” Let it be known, however, that there is such thing as a withdrawal between the amount of breadth and depth communicated between individuals in a relationship. Such a concept is known as depenetration. While there will be a fairly low amount of attention paid to this concept, it’s important to understand that this contrast of social penetration exists.

The layers of self-disclosure can be identified as layers of an onion. Self-disclosure can be referred to as layers of an onion because in the relationship you peel back a layer at a time. The outer layer of the onion is only superficial communication that is not as intimate and can be seen by any of the public. This communication can include height, weight, where someone works or goes to school, etc. The inner layer of the onion includes more personal communication that is not always seen by the public. This inner layer can include communication that involves a persons goals, values, and beliefs. In a study done in 2012, bloggers tended to stick to the outer layers of the onion when discussing topics in their blogs (Tang). The social penetration theory and social media’s impact on the theory will be expanded upon more later on in the paper.

According to psychologist John Suler and his idea of “The Online Disinhibition Effect”, some people, while online, self-disclose or act differently than they would

Self-disclosure is the voluntary sharing of personal history, preferences, attitudes, feelings, values, secrets, etc. with another person (Griffin, p. 97). As stated in the introduction Altman and Taylor look at relationships as an “onions.” The different layers are representative of different feelings of a person. When

Social sites are a beneficial way to communicate, however, it affects a person’s ability to communicate face to face with others. Many people spend much of their leisure time online rather than connecting with the offline world. In a specific article, a participant spends several hours each day updating her profile instead of talking face to face with others (Livingstone 399). Being online more than offline, decreases people’s abilities to interact with others who are disconnected. Furthermore, by communicating online also contributes to misrepresentation, which leads to misreading a text, leading to mixed emotions of a person who wrote the message. Therefore, social networking reduces an emotional aspect between people as it is hard to tell what a person is feeling through text. In addition, people lack confidence talking to an individual physically rather than virtually. In an