Social issues and internet relationships

Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 58, No. 1, 2002, pp. 9--31

Relationship Formation on the Internet: What’s the Big Attraction?
Katelyn Y. A. McKenna,∗ Amie S. Green, and Marci E. J. Gleason
New York University

We hypothesized that people who can better disclose their “true” or inner self to others on the Internet than in face-to-face settings will be more likely to form close relationships on-line and will tend to bring those virtual relationships into their
“real” lives. Study 1, a survey of randomly selected Internet newsgroup posters, showed that those who better express their true self over the Internet were more likely than others to have formed close on-line relationships and moved these friendships to a face-to-face basis. Study 2 revealed that the majority of these close Internet relationships were still intact 2 years later. Finally, a laboratory experiment found that undergraduates liked each other more following an Internet compared to a face-to-face initial meeting.
The Internet has become a prime venue for social interaction (D’Amico, 1998).
Through e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, newsgroups, and other means, people are sharing aspects of their daily lives, talking about interests with likeminded others, and keeping in touch with family and friends. Social interaction has become the primary use of home computers (e.g., Moore, 2000). In the midst of all this social activity, people are forming relationships with those whom they meet on the Internet—especially those with whom they interact on a regular basis.
In many if not most ways, social interaction on the Internet resembles that in traditional, face-to-face venues (see Tyler, this issue). However, we will argue that there are some important differences. For example, there are qualities of
Internet communication and interaction, such as its greater anonymity, that are known to produce greater intimacy and closeness. There are aspects of the Internet
∗ Correspondence

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