Internet Helps Teens Bond With Real-Life Pals
|
Hours spent in front of the computer might not be the worst thing for teens after all--especially when it comes to their social lives.
While findings from the early days of the Internet showed that teens mainly communicated online primarily with strangers with unfortunate results for their daily social lives (not to mention safety), new research on adolescent online social habits says things have changed. Kids today (almost all of whom are online in this country) are using instant messaging, email and social networking to stay in touch with everyday friends as online contacts have come to overlap almost completely with offline contacts. What's more, they're using the Internet to form stronger friendships and increase their social circles. Studying almost 800 teens, researchers found a direct correlation between online communication and the closeness of "real life" friendships. It seems the Internet's lack of social feedback--potential smirks, raised eyebrows, and countless subtle cues--leaves teens feeling less inhibited about expressing their inner feelings, allowing them to better engage in the sort of self-disclosure that builds the bonds of friendship. Surprisingly, it's not the socially awkward nerd who's finding solace in online communications however, but adolescents with already strong social connections, who are more likely to use online communications than lonely or socially anxious teens in what researchers label "the rich get richer" hypothesis. Socially anxious teens aren't losing out completely though, as they did report placing a higher premium on the ability to better express their feelings online, suggesting that the social lives of beauties and geeks alike all benefit from this medium in one way or another. FULL-TEXT: Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental Psychology. ABSTRACT: Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Related News: How Teens Use Social Networking Sites SHARE:
Posted In: Adolescent Psychology | Tags: Teens | Internet | Teenagers | Social | Friendships | Posted by FindCounseling.com Staff on March 23, 2007 at 05:57 AM | Permalink |
AboutThis page contains a single entry from Psychology Briefs, the FindCounseling.com Blog. The previous post was Scriptural Violence Prompts Aggression in Readers. The next post is Counseling By Phone Found Effective. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the Psychology Research Archives. Subscribe              ATOM RSS |
