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Vitter 1 Peyton Vitter Dr.

Dietel-McLaughlin WR 13300 12 November, 2011 Text Effect Relationships are complex situations that everyone experiences throughout their entire life whether they are personal or intimate. Relationships can develop in a number of ways. Interpersonal and intimate relationships have similar ways in which they develop. Without any type of communication, relationships would not exist. Through the amount and medium of communication are the degrees of relationships built. In the past decade, communication has changed its media from face-to-face conversation to texting, social networks, and email. Texting and social networks have taken over the entire industry with ambivalent effects. The emergence of phones with easy access to the Internet has allowed people to stay on digital media at all times, especially in college. The exponential growth of texting and Facebook has changed communication and ultimately relationships. Because of the lack of person-to person experience from the overuse of social media, the quality of relationships, particularly in college, whether they are personal or intimate, has been questionable. With the ever-growing social media in a progressing technological age, college students are given new opportunities to expand their networks of friends; however, the increased use of social media especially text messages and Facebook has made people translate their verbal and behavioral messages into text. The translation of verbal and behavioral communication into text has diminished the quality of relationships for college students.

Vitter 2 According to the article The History of Cell Phones on library.thinkquest.org, a website that has created over eight thousand information pages, in 1865 Mahlon Loomis became the first man to communicate wirelessly. Little did he know what enterprise he was initiating: cell phones and the eventual development of wireless Internet. Cell phones first appeared in 1977 from the Motorola Company, soon to be copied by many other companies. In 2000, third generation cell phones were developed with capabilities of browsing the Internet independent of Wi-Fi, which is locally transmitted Internet. Just in this past year, Nielsen, a dominant ratings company since the 1920s, published in the State of the Media: The Social Media Report Q3 2011 that two of five people browsing social networking sites are accessing the site from their phone. In just over ten years, Internet access from phones has gone from zero to thirty-seven percent of all people accessing social media. Too often can someone find each person in a large group staring at his cell phone while at dinner. Whether they might be texting or browsing the Internet, cell phones and their capabilities of accessing social networking are the ultimate distractions. Social networks are relatively new compared to cell phones; however, their popularity has increased much faster than that of cell phones. According to Facebook.com, Facebook, the dominant social network site, developed in 2007. Facebook allows a person to create a profile in which he or she can upload images, post comments, and perform special functions such as clicking the like button to show approval. Since Mark Zuckerberg, who was a student at Harvard, created Facebook as a college project for college users, primarily college undergraduates use Facebook. Currently, there are 800 million active users, people who have checked their profiles within the last thirty days. Many people spend various amounts of time editing their profile, browsing through what other people have posted, and connecting with their

Vitter 3 friends, but some do not have a limit on the amount of time they spend on Facebook. According to Nielsen in the State of the Media: The Social Media Report Q3 2011, the most active social networkers are females between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four. Because Internet users spend more time on Facebook than any other web brand, according to Nielsen, females between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four spend the most time on Facebook. Since the most time spent on Facebook is common in the age range of undergraduate college students, they must the ages that are affected the most. Texting and social networking create a barrier for college students and reduces a person's social capital offline (Valenzuela, Park, and Kee 881). The importance of social capital in college is critical. According to Valenzuela, Park, and Kee at the University of Texas at Austin in the article Is there Social Capital in a Social Network, social capital is a combination of the levels of social networks, trust, civic engagement, life satisfaction and a variety of other concepts (876-877). However, Valenzuela, Park, and Kee state that the center of social capital is the connection that is gained through social experience (877). The combination of many of the previous concepts must all be in balance with one another. According to Jain in "4 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Relationship" at socialmediaexaminer.com, [maintaining] a balance between your online and offline life is vital to [cultivating] a real-life network of contacts as well. The overuse of social networks can cause a decrease in the total well being of a person. With the abundance of social networking through Facebook, college students tend to become addicted to browsing the site. This creates an imbalance in social capital and decreases the well being of a student. It is vitally important to create a balance of texting, social networking, and face-to-face interaction to develop a well-rounded individual capable of speaking confidently in public while being savvy online.

Vitter 4 With the emergence of texting, students rely on texting as a way of having their conversations instead of calling their friends that at least has some connection of human contact through hearing their voices. Just like on any college campus, many other students of equivalent ages surround a student. Focusing on texting and social networking takes away the face-to-face opportunities that one may experience if a student would minimize the use of these two types of social media. Texting and social networks deny people who experience much anxiety the opportunity to communicate with a person physically. Given the informal nature of social media, a person is able to introduce himself more easily and fluidly (Jain) because there is less stress and anxiety in using social media to communicate informally than there is in confronting someone physically. As children, people are often afraid of approaching an adult or even a friend. If a child is introduced to these types of media, the use of texting and social networks such as Facebook could deny a child the proper amount of human contact in his early years. Facebook and texting could possibly restrict his development in offline social activities that are essential in college and in business. Because social networks such as Facebook allow a person to communicate only through text, relationships are not well rounded from this type of media. The overuse of Facebook produces weak-tie relationships that Valenzuela, Park, and Kee discuss that are developed through only the text on Facebook (881). Immersed in a sea of students, a typical student on a college campus has countless opportunities to make friends offline through simple, friendly gestures in public. Patti M. Valkenburg and Jochen Peter at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research at the University of Amsterdam in the article Online Communication and Adolescent Well-Being argue that expanding social networking sites and the increasing ease of texting offered by new high-tech phones have taken the place of developing social relationships offline

Vitter 5 in public (1-2). The time at college is incredibly valuable for developing real life relationships, broadening a persons horizons, and enhancing a person's ability to communicate on a personal level. In any job, a person must be able to communicate efficiently and confidently with words in order to receive a position in a company. Often employers hire the applicants that exhibit great communicative skills along with the necessary trait that the job demands. Jain states, I, for instance, have set times in the day to update my status and take part in the conversation. Then I close the browser and do other things. Without the proper balance of texting, social networking, and offline experiences in childhood, a person may struggle not only in college but also in the business industry in the future. Conversational skills can be developed through faceto-face interaction to assist the quality of the conversation and break the barrier that texting and Facebook create. Texting and Facebook diminish the quality of a conversation through the medium in which the conversation is held. According to Thomas Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar, members of the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, in the article Use of Social Network Sites and Instant Messaging, the quality of a relationship depends on the quality of the communication that occurs within it (253). The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines quality as a peculiar and essential character. The quality of relationships originates in face-to-face communication where the first communication developed long ago. Face-to-face conversation is considered to be the most beneficial and constructive in establishing a quality relationship. Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar state, the quality of communication over social media, compared with face-to-face communication or talking over the phone, has been highlighted as a potential limiting factor in using these social media to build strong, emotionally intense relationships (253-254). These types of media do not allow the two

Vitter 6 people in the relationship to attain the quality of conversation that develops a strong bond. Because talking on the phone still allows a person to hear someones voice, this type of communication does not lose nearly as much quality of the conversation as one-dimensional text that is only offered in texting and Facebook. According to Valenzuela, Park, and Kee, a persons weak ties may increase because the technology is suited to maintaining these links cheaply and easily (881). A person may gain more friends but the quality of the relationships will be very stunted from the use of texting technology. The replacement of human contact with texting and Facebook is not comparable. Unfortunately, many students often use Facebook and texting as their primary mode of communication, diminishing the quality of their relationships. Because texting and Facebook are incredibly informal with text as the only way of communicating, saying meaningful words to a person has become almost effortless. Jain states, normal courtesy and politeness--aspects we would utilize in our face-to-face interactions--are sometimes reduced (or missing altogether) in the online space (3). Not only does the quality of media decrease in texting or on Facebook but also cordiality is reduced because of the dissociation of the person from the text. Texting is similar to a cop out because it allows the person to say something that can be interpreted very gravely without attaching themselves to what they are saying. For example, often a person will text a friend when they are unable to make a party or special occasion because it is far easier to approach the situation using a text than it is to call someone and verbally explain an excuse. This also plays into the college scene in hookups. Hookups can be described as ephemeral, superficial relationships. With thousands of guys and girls of the same ages crowded together and encouraged to socialize, intimate relationships are bound to form.

Vitter 7 However, the intimate relationships do not develop in the most appropriate ways. According to Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar, [Computer-mediated communication] actually allows for greater self-disclosure and this for communication to become unusually intimate and hyperpersonal (257). According to Bargh and McKenna at New York University in the article The Internet and Social Life, because self-disclosure contributes to a sense of intimacy, making selfdisclosure easier should facilitate relationship formation (582). Hyperpersonal messages through texting and Facebook are inflated expressions that give a false sense of a persons thoughts and feelings. Texting and Facebook ease the awkwardness that comes with meeting a new friend of the opposite sex. Through texting, more meaningful things can be said more easily. This allows a guy or girl to say something that might be exaggerated; however, exaggeration will help create a hookup in the near future. Because of a hookups nature, texting and Facebook prove to be perfect means of developing shallow relationships. Too often text is used for more than trivial matters like college student short-lived sexual relationships. In important matters such as a work or family, texting brings a dull tone to the situation. In the time of a death of a family member or someone close to you, texting your regrets is extremely informal and inappropriate. The action is informal and inappropriate because it shows the lack of effort. By not putting forth much effort, a person shows the lack of care and concern that he might have for another. People often confuse digital intimacy for true intimacy (Jain 2). Therefore, by saying some of the most meaningful things through a text or a message on Facebook, college students can develop a bad reputation and establish only superficial relationships with people who deserve a much deeper relationship founded upon human contact. Miller, Parsons, and Lifer, workers at Business Information Systems at Central Michigan University, in the article Students and Social Networking Sites: the posting paradox

Vitter 8 conducted a study in which students were asked about the appropriateness of their profile given a variety of potential audiences (379) that shows how the various ways college students communicate are not always appropriate for all audiences. Often college students on Facebook are not wary in their postings; however, many postings are public and available to anyone. College students must learn to use texting and Facebook in fashions that are appropriate to more than only their friends. Not all people view texting and social networks as having very many negative effects to a relationship. Some believe that they can only create positive effects for people. Many believe that social networks increase the amount of friends you have offline. Because social networks allow you to neatly organize your friends and easily give you the ability to contact multiple friends at once, this increases your capability to create more friends offline. Also, especially in college, people move far from home, leaving most of their friends behind. Social networks allow you to keep in contact with friends back home. However, social networks may create more friends online and possibly over one thousands Facebook friends, but in the real world, the size of your offline friends does not increase. Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar explain that there is no relationship between time spend using ...SNS (social networking sites) and the size of ... the offline network (256). Therefore, the use of social networks may be helpful in keeping a catalog of your friends but not in establishing or building a social network offline and in the real world. Even though the proper use of social networks may not negatively affect offline social networks, the overuse and addiction to social networks is the main threat that will occupy a persons time. Authors of many articles in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking and in the Journal of Health Psychology, Kim and Lee state in the article The Facebook Paths

Vitter 9 to Happiness, It takes much time and effort to build and maintain mutual companionship with friends (360). A person is only capable of establishing a certain amount of close friends. When traveling to college and establishing a set of relationships, friends back home are put in the background because they are not able to spend time with you on a daily basis. Close friends are established with human contact and not through exaggerated texts or social networks. Most people like to believe that their relationships with their friends back home will not change after they go to college; however, they are sadly mistaken. Friends who are separated for extended periods of time need to have human contact so that they can catch up. The fact that friends need a time to catch up establishes that something between them has changed. A person cannot gain close friends from Facebook. No matter how long or how much a person would use texting and Facebook, it had no effect on a larger offline network (Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar 256). Therefore, because the amount of close friends cannot change for a person and depends on human contact in order to be established, social networks are not capable of creating more friends offline by making more friends online. It is not surprising that Facebook users maintain close connections with less than 3% of their Facebook friends (Kim and Lee 360). Some people believe that texting and social networks can allow someone to become closer with their friends. They claim that social networks enable them to contact their friends more frequently because they are incredibly easy to use; therefore, they develop deeper and closer relationships. They also claim because someone can exaggerate their messages through text on Facebook by being hyperpersonal, relationships prosper more easily (Pollet, Roberts, Dunbar 256). Not only can they develop relationships that are more intimate and personal but also they can develop them faster. However, this is not true according to the study of Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar. In their experiment, their results showed that emotion closeness was

Vitter 10 equivalent between those who used social networks and those who did not (256). According to Sproull and Kiesler, creators of the filter model of CMC (computer-mediated communication), which analyzes computer based communication, CMC is regarded to be an impoverished communication experience, with the reduction of available social cues resulting in a greater sense or feeling of anonymity (Bargh and McKenna 577-578). Without the face-to-face communication, a conversation lacks signals from facial expressions and ownership of words stated that give the richer face-to-face situations more emotional conversations. However much contact is made through social networks and texting must be verified through human contact. Through analyzing how Facebook and texting create a barrier for establishing offline relationships, allow more meaningful words to be said with less effort, and diminish the quality of conversation, one can see how relationships are affected in the translation of verbal and behavioral communication into text. A new type of relationship has been defined. Relationships have become something developed through the most current types of media. Because the media has become instantaneous and allows people communicate easier with less effort with text, relationships have become based upon less effort as well. Hopefully, with the development of more types of media such as video chats, communication will become more personal; and relationships spouted from these types of media will have a better quality.

Vitter 11 Works Cited Page Anonymous. Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/>. Anonymous. "History of Cell Phones." Library.thinkquest.org. Oracle. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. Anonymous. Home - Facebook Developers. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://developers.facebook.com/>. Bargh, John A., and Katelyn Y. McKenna. "Annual Review of Psychology." Rev. of Internet and Interpersonal Interaction. The Internet and Social Life 2004: 573-90. Print. Jain, Rachna. "4 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Relationship." Socialmediaexaminer.com. 30 June 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Kim, Junghyun, Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee. "The Facebook Paths to Happiness: Effects of the Number of Facebook Friends and Self-Presentation on Subjective Well-Being."

CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 14.6 (2011): 35964. Print. Miller, Robert, Kristine Parsons, and David Lifer. "Students and Social Networking Sites: the Posting Paradox." Behavior & Information Technology 29.4 (2010): 377-82. Print. Nielsen, and NM Incite. State of the Media: The Social Media Report. Rep. no. Q3. Nielsen, 2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. Pollet, Ph.D., Thomas V., Sam G.B. Roberts, Ph.D., and Robin I.M. Dunbar, Ph.D. "Use of Social Network Sites and Instant Messaging Does Not Lead to Increased Offline Social Network Size, or to Emotionally Closer Relationships with Offline Network Members." CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 14.4 (2011): 253-58. Ebscohost. 1 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

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Valenzuela, Sebastin, Namsu Park, and Kerk F. Kee. "Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14.4 (2009): 875-901. Print. Valkenburg, Patti M., and Jochen Peter. "Online Communication and Adolescent Well-Being: Testing the Stimulation Versus the Displacement Hypothesis." Journal of ComputerMediated Communication 12.4 (2007). Print.

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