Online Social Networking's Effect on Adolescent ... - Eckerd College

<strong>Online</strong> <strong>Social</strong> Networking’s <strong>Effect</strong> on Adolescent <strong>Social</strong> Development
with the frequency of face‐to‐face communication with facebook friends and if
communicating on facebook is positively correlated with personal interactions with
facebook friends. There were 325 facebook users who participated in this study. They were
surveyed on their attitude towards online communication and then asked questions about
a randomly selected facebook friend. These questions included where the friend lived,
amount of facebook communication with this friend, non‐Internet communication with this
friend, and how close they were to this friend. After analysis, the results showed that OSC
has a positive relationship with communication via facebook when online self­disclosure is
low. They also found that personal interaction with a friend made it very probable for
facebook communication to occur. Evidence for the rich get richer hypothesis is shown in
this study.
As previously discussed, current research is beginning to show support for the rich
get richer hypothesis. However, because online social networking is such a young field
further research is still needed in order to fully confirm this hypothesis. If young people
who already have solid social communities and skills are more likely to employ online
social networking, it raises the question, can traditional adolescent relationship patterns be
applied to online social networking? This question and others will be addressed in the
following section.
Relationships
In the discussion of online social networking’s effects on teen relationships many
questions arise. What kind of relationships are adolescents forming online? Does Internet
communication strengthen bonds or weaken relationships because there is less face‐to‐
face interaction? Do adolescent relationships and interactions on social networking sites
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