Yuan Song
SOC207 Social Research Method
Assignment#3
10/28/2014
Introduction
With the development of technology, people can interact with each others by means of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and so on. Based on computer-mediated communication, social media offers two unique functions: the ability to communicate with others in a text, audio or video way in real time and the ability to know who is connected to the shared space. Social media has proved to be one of the most popular online applications, resulting people willing to spend more time on the Internet and fostering a sense of online community like no other application has achieved (Alvestrand, 2002). Part of reasons for choosing using social media is because
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Previous study showed that communication technologies are not replacing face-to-face interactions (Walther, 1992), but we are interested in how they influence relationship among people. Will social media provide more opportunities for friends to stay connected? One population we need to pay more attention on as they are more easily get affected than others is college students. According to a survey released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Jones et al., 2002), college students are among the heaviest users of social media in the …show more content…
And near half of online teens believe that friendship is improved via using the Internet. “Frequent users of the Internet are more enthusiastic about the friendship-enhancing quality of the Internet – more than six in ten say that it helps ‘some’ or ‘a lot’” (Amanda, Lee & Oliver, 2001). Research by Elisheva Gross of UCLA suggests that those teens who have strong social bond are more likely to take social media or IM as a way to strengthen the pre-exiting relationship. (Elisheva, Jaana & Shelly, 2001)
In a theoretical way, the “Hyperpersonal Model of CMC” states that CMC is sometimes even more friendly and social than face-to-face communication (Walther, 1996). By using social media, users can select and present themselves in a positive way. People are able to convey their thinking and emotions through text and self-presentation which are essential for a friendly and social atmosphere. It really develops