Post on 01-Dec-2014
Vitter
Peyton Vitter
Dr. Dietel-McLaughlin
WR 13300
12 November, 2011
Text Effect: The Effects of Facebook and Texting on Relationships in College
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.
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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
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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.
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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
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in public (1-2). The time at college is incredibly valuable for developing real life relationships,
broadening a person’s 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 face-
to-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 people in the
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relationship to attain the quality of conversation that develops a strong bond. Because talking on
the phone still allows a person to hear someone’s 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 person’s 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.
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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 self-
disclosure easier should facilitate relationship formation” (582). “Hyperpersonal” messages
through texting and Facebook are inflated expressions that give a false sense of a person’s
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 hookup’s 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”
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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
person’s 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
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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
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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.
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Works Cited Page
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<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): 359-
64. Print.
Miller, Robert, Kristine Parsons, and David Lifer. "Students and Social Networking Sites: the
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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, Sebastián, 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.
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Valkenburg, Patti M., and Jochen Peter. "Online Communication and Adolescent Well-Being:
Testing the Stimulation Versus the Displacement Hypothesis." Journal of Computer-
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