Social Penetration Theory : Research, Media And A Personal Example

The Social Penetration Theory is an explanation by two communication theorists, Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor. This theory attempts to explain how relational closeness develops. Since we all have hundreds of different relationships, with thousands of different people during our lifetime, it is an important theory to study and understand.

As we all know, before friendships, romantic relationships, and other relationships develop and progress, communicators start off as strangers. It is then that intentional, yet gradual reciprocity of information continually takes place, until he or she feels comfortable disclosing information without it being reciprocated. According to Altman et al., “relationship development is characterized by incremental reciprocal increases in “breadth and depth” of self-disclosure and, therefore, penetration into each person’s personality.” B. By applying the Social Penetration theory, I will provide an explanation as to why Lucas and Peyton’s relationship undergoes such turbulence. For example, as Peyton’s car gets stuck, Lucas (who works at an auto body shop) picks her up and starts disclosing personal information to her.

Most people are uptight about the likes and comments they receive on social media websites, Carr formally proclaims. All of the popular websites use this method to receive more people active on them. Doing this urges people to share personal details about their life. “...people share four times as much information about themselves when they converse through computers as when they talk in person” (Carr 3). It is not necessary for people to share an extreme amount of details about their lives, but they still do.

In the world of instant messaging, text messages, tweets, and status updates, it is easy to get caught up in the idea that people are divulging more about themselves than they ever had. Indeed, sociologists such as Ben Agger would argue that we as a people are oversharing; a term he uses throughout his book of the same name. Agger references Emily Gould (2015) who defines oversharing as sharing an abundance of one’s life; perhaps too much (p.2). This essay will explore the idea of oversharing across the lifespan; arguing against many of the negative themes presented by Agger.

The group that I have chosen to observe, are the rising stars of the modern era, simply known as, Youtube celebrities. Through a symbolic interactionist perspective, we can understand these groups of people by observing their ways of interaction to the social world. These groups use their camera and some other form of electronic tool (Computer, tablets, etc.), in order to interact with others to form their own kind of reality. These individuals use staging so that the viewers can have a sense of how “amazing” they are on camera, but in real life they may not be the same person whom they portray. As we discussed in our lecture, (2/03), social interaction has to do with often taking the role of the other, which in this case the

The study is underwritten by Facebook Inc. to understand the influences of social media where the Transpersonal self is concerned. The progam is every other Saturday thru July in Atlanta, GA. The exact location will be forwarded to selected participants. The project is tenatively schedule to begin on March 5th 2016. It is not necessary to attend every session. This is an invitation-only event. Results from the project will be used to understand the influences of social technologies and communication on the transpersonal self in an effort to improve the platform. Lab tracts and feedback sessions will begin on Saturday morning at 9:30 and continue

To begin with, the twenty first century has focused more on social network than ever before, and has made it possible for people all around the world to share their conceptions, that focus more on information with a personal point of view. Blogging, for example has made things available for people with common interests to connect with one another Google blog is one of them; it gives people an opportunity to link an idea together and share it among their friends. However, texting while driving is now the leading cause of death among youth in america (Noder, 2009). After reading a blog, people view things differently and start communicating with their peers about certain objects that they want to buy or become involved in a certain movement that

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.

As social networking evolves, different aspects of communication suffer. Such as the social penetration theory, which

Living in the 21st century requires one to stay current with latest technological advancements. Ever since the development of social networking sites, people are now able to create a carefully-crafted identity for themselves. This has led psychologists to question how well these online personalities match the person in front of the computer. The innovative branch of media psychology looks into how social networking portrays individuals and initiates human interactions within a society.

Relationships are like onions, they take time to open up and you have to peel layer by layer to get to the center. Life happens, people come and go and the relationships that are made happen over time. A relationship is built over prolonged exposure to someone and they do not happen over night. When you first meet a person most judge, they look at a person’s appearance, their behavior, and their overall attitude. But as time goes on and you get to know someone on a more personal level you learn whom he or she really is. This idea is called the social penetration theory. Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor established the social penetration theory in 1973. They created this theory to have a better understanding of intimate relationships between two people. The social penetration theory is important to the communication process because it looks at how relationships develop and how over time relationships evolve from where they stared by self-disclosure. With the social penetration theory as the main focus and with the support from communication studies, this paper is assessing the formation of new relationships.

For people who utilizes social media, they have adopted social media as their lone way of communication and have even became terrified of talking in person. People have become more conceited and self-conscious because of online judgement and instantaneous popularity. A portion have even felt unwanted because their profile picture didn’t obtain that desirable 50 “likes”, but people do use, for example, Facebook for productivities things such as group arrangement or event hosting. Even when one individual doesn’t notice that one notification out of their numerous social media account, people will feel offended. Today’s social media have manufactured a volatile society of emotions and friendships. The integration of social media into daily life will deteriorate one’s true self-worth and relationships as of result of the constant need for approval from others and the reliance on social media for

In this research, Yea- Wen and Masato Nakazawa (2012) measured how the types of friendship, friendship levels and cultural backgrounds influences the amplitude of self-disclosure between intercultural and intracultural friendships. The objective of this study was to analyze how Self-disclosure role varies and plays an important part in the development of a relationship. The study deals with the Social Penetration theory which helps us to understand the type of emotional relationship in which individuals move from superficial communication to a more intimate communication. Self – disclosure plays a prominent role to develop any kind of relationship. In this case, it will help to reduce the uncertainty of an intercultural relationship.

Now we must ask a question as to how much one should disclose to people? The breadth and depth of self-disclosure is determined by the degree of intimacy a person wants to achieve, with another. This theory claims that peripheral (public) items are exchanged more frequently and sooner than private information. This usually happens in the beginning of a relationship when it is still on a more impersonal and superficial level. According to one study, only about 2 percent of people disclosed intimate details about themselves during this level of the relationship, the majority of talk between two individuals on this level was about public items, or worldly experiences they both knew about. Self-disclosure is reciprocal during the beginning stages of developing a relationship. New acquaintances generally achieve equal levels of openness, perhaps due to the vulnerability of both people knowing nothing about the other. Instant intimacy usually does not happen with people, it is something that both parties must strive for in order to attain. At the beginning of a relationship penetration is usually fast, but as the layers of personality are revealed, it slows

While parents venting about their children or experiences was the second theme with 31% of the 30 blogs analysed. Thus leaving only 14% of the 30 blogs to be seeking parenting advice. These results were tested over irregular amount of mother to father blogs.