Online Communication And Online Relationships

With new inventions and the advancement of technology, as well as the increased popularity of having online relations on social networking websites, online communication has become a common occurrence for people all over the world. Due to this sudden advancement, there has been a debate regarding the use of online social networking over face-to-face communications and relationships. Due to people’s ability to express their true self on computer mediated conversations, along with the formation of secure online romantic relationships and positive friendships, this paper will argue that online relations are just as good, if not better, than face-to-face interactions.

To begin, ones true self is whom a person actually is whether they choose to

This was evident in a study conducted at New York University (Bargh et al., 2002). In this study, participants were asked to sort a series of self-descriptive adjectives as they related to them; categorizing them as either “me” or “not me”. Following that activity, participants were randomly assigned to a face-to-face condition group or an online condition group where they were matched with partners and instructed to begin interacting. This study found that participants in the Internet condition group were faster to respond to their actual self traits, whereas those in the in-person interaction conditions were not able to sort the aforementioned adjectives at the same rate. This supports the claim that an online interaction leads to the activation of ones true self qualities. Therefore, the Internet gives people the confidence and means to express their true self and behave in positive ways that they normally would not if placed in a face-to-face interaction

It was suspected that the increase in liking through online relationships as opposed to face-to-face interactions could result from others online pretending to be someone who they are not. However, this is not the case. As previously stated, in online social networking interactions, people are more inclined to express their true selves, which leads to the formation of a close, secure relationship with people met online (Marriott & Buchanan, 2014). A person 's true self is mentally, implicitly and explicitly, more accessible during Internet connections rather than in a face-to-face communication setting. Due to the absence of fear of judgment from an individual’s peer group, a person is more motivated to be their true self. It is an automatic response due to the anonymity online social networks delivers (Bargh et al.,