Is Technology Weakening

Interpersonal Relationships?SXSWi 2010 Crowd

Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D.St. Edward’s University

Ashley BrownJones-Dilworth

Jenn Deering Davis, Ph.D.University of Texas, Austin

Matthew WeberUniversity of Southern California

Panelists:SXSWi 2010

Hashtag: #IPRpanel

How many relationshipscan we maintain successfully?

Are we networking ourselves to death?

Are we networking ourselves to death?

Are we networking ourselves to death?

Are we networking ourselves to death?

South Korean couple starved own baby to death while they were raising a virtual child online

CNN - 03/07/2010

How does technology affect?our romantic relationships

One out of every 5 new divorce cases directly cites Facebook (Keenan, 2009)

Most common complaint: “spouses having inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to”

One out of every 5One out of every 5

How does technology affect?our workplace relationships

54% of US companies prohibit the use of social networking at work (Half, 2009)

54% of US companies prohibit the use of social networking at work (Half, 2009)

57% of employees report using social network sites during work time for personal reasons (Morse, 2009)

54% of US companies prohibit the use of social networking at work (Half, 2009)

57% of employees report using social network sites during work time for personal reasons (Morse, 2009)

Social networking sites cost employers an estimated $2.25 billion dollars in 2009 (Morse, 2009)

How does technology affect?our personal identities

We are we known by the company we keep

If your profile page features pics of physically attractive friends, you’ll be perceived as more physically attractive Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman & Tong (2008 - Human Communication Research)

Your Facebook friends’ gender & sexual orientation can predict your own sexual orientationMIT, “Project Gaydar” (2009)

Can we maintain a relationship?solely via technology

Redefining the meaning of friendshipGrowing up Online - PBS/Frontline Special

Corinne Weisgerber:corinnew@stedwards.edu@corinnew

CONTACT INFO:

Ashley Brown:brown.ashley@gmail.com@ashbrown

Jenn Deering Davis:jdeeringdavis@gmail.com@jdeeringdavis

Matt Weber:matthews@usc.edu@mediareinvented