Friending, IMing, and hanging out face-to-face: overlap in adolescents' online and offline social networks

Many new and important developmental issues are encountered during adolescence, which is also a time when Internet use becomes increasingly popular. Studies have shown that adolescents are using these online spaces to address developmental issues, especially needs for intimacy and connection to others. Online communication with its potential for interacting with unknown others, may put teens at increased risk. Two hundred and fifty-one high school students completed an in-person survey, and 126 of these completed an additional online questionnaire about how and why they use the Internet, their activities on social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace) and their reasons for participation, and how they perceive these online spaces to impact their friendships. To examine the extent of overlap between online and offline friends, participants were asked to list the names of their top interaction partners offline and online (Facebook and instant messaging). Results reveal that adolescents mainly use social networking sites to connect with others, in particular with people known from offline contexts. While adolescents report little monitoring by their parents, there was no evidence that teens are putting themselves at risk by interacting with unknown others. Instead, adolescents seem to use the Internet, especially social networking sites, to connect with known others. While the study found moderate overlap between teens' closest online and offline friends, the patterns suggest that adolescents use online contexts to strengthen offline relationships.     

Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends

The 1st goal of this study was to investigate how online communication is related to the closeness of existing friendships. Drawing from a sample of 794 preadolescents and adolescents, the authors found that online communication was positively related to the closeness of friendships. However, this effect held only for respondents who primarily communicated online with existing friends and not for those who mainly talked with strangers. The 2nd goal was to refine 2 opposing hypotheses, the rich-get-richer and the social compensation hypotheses. Consistent with the rich-get-richer hypothesis, socially anxious respondents communicated online less often than did nonsocially anxious respondents. However, socially anxious respondents perceived the Internet as more valuable for intimate self-disclosure than did nonsocially anxious respondents, and this perception in turn led to more online communication. This result is consistent with the social compensation hypothesis. Online communication and closeness to friends increased with age. There was a curvilinear relationship between age and perceived value of the Internet for intimate self-disclosure, such that 15-year-olds were at the epitome of online self-disclosure. Girls were closer to friends and more socially anxious than were boys.     

MySpace and Facebook: applying the uses and gratifications theory to exploring friend-networking sites.

The increased use of the Internet as a new tool in communication has changed the way people interact. This fact is even more evident in the recent development and use of friend-networking sites. However, no research has evaluated these sites and their impact on college students. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate: (a) why people use these friend-networking sites, (b) what the characteristics are of the typical college user, and (c) what uses and gratifications are met by using these sites. Results indicated that the vast majority of college students are using these friend-networking sites for a significant portion of their day for reasons such as making new friends and locating old friends. Additionally, both men and women of traditional college age are equally engaging in this form of online communication with this result holding true for nearly all ethnic groups. Finally, results showed that many uses and gratifications are met by users (e.g., "keeping in touch with friends"). Results are discussed in light of the impact that friend-networking sites have on communication and social needs of college students.     

中学生手机线上交流与手机成瘾的关系：社会资本和手机关系需要满足的中介作用

采用问卷对3268名中学生进行调查,以探讨手机线上交流（陌生人、熟人）、社会资本、手机关系需要满足与手机成瘾之间的关系,结果显示：（1）中学生手机线上交流（陌生人、熟人）能直接正向预测手机成瘾;（2）当对象为陌生人时,中学生手机线上交流能够通过手机关系需要满足间接预测手机成瘾;（3）中学生线上交流（陌生人、熟人）能通过社会资本经手机关系需要的多重中介作用来预测手机成瘾。（4）当对象为熟人时,线上交流通过社会资本、手机关系需要预测手机成瘾的作用更显著。这些研究结果可以为预防与干预中学生手机成瘾提供参考价值。     

Associations between online friendship and Internet addiction among adolescents and emerging adults

The past decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of youths using the Internet, especially for communicating with peers. Online activity can widen and strengthen the social networks of adolescents and emerging adults (Subrahmanyam & Smahel, 2011), but it also increases the risk of Internet addiction. Using a framework derived from Griffiths (2000a), this study examined associations between online friendship and Internet addiction in a representative sample (n = 394) of Czech youths ages 12-26 years (M = 18.58). Three different approaches to friendship were identified: exclusively offline, face-to-face oriented, Internet oriented, on the basis of the relative percentages of online and offline associates in participants' friendship networks. The rate of Internet addiction did not differ by age or gender but was associated with communication styles, hours spent online, and friendship approaches. The study revealed that effects between Internet addiction and approaches to friendship may be reciprocal: Being oriented toward having more online friends, preferring online communication, and spending more time online were related to increased risk of Internet addiction; on the other hand, there is an alternative causal explanation that Internet addiction and preference for online communication conditions young people's tendency to seek friendship from people met online.     

Adolescents on the net: Internet use and well-being

With the growing popularity of Internet communication applications among adolescents, the Internet has become an important social context for their development. This paper examined the relationship between adolescent online activity and well-being. Participants included 156 adolescents between 15 to 18.4 years of age who were surveyed about their access to and use of the Internet. Participants also completed measures of loneliness and perceived social support. An ANOVA suggested that loneliness was not related to the total time spent online, nor to the time spent on e-mail, but was related to participants' gender. Regression analyses suggested that gender and participants' perceptions regarding their online relationships were the only variables that predicted loneliness. Adolescents who felt that their relationship with online partners was one that they could turn to in times of need were more lonely. However, perceived support from significant others was not related to time spent online, time on e-mail, participants' relationships with online partners, and to their perceptions about these relationships. The implications of our results for researchers, parents, and other lay persons are discussed.     

Gender-related processes and drug use: self-expression with parents, peer group selection, and achievement motivation

This investigation examined gender differences in communication with parents, peer group selection, and academic motivation as related to drug use among adolescents (290 girls, 237 boys; age range = 12-19 years). For girls, increased self-expression with parents was associated with greater academic motivation, more academically motivated friends, fewer drug-using friends, and less overall drug use. For boys, self-expression was positively related to academic motivation. For both boys and girls, having drug-using friends predicted increased drug use, while having academically motivated friends predicted decreased drug use. For girls only, age and academic motivation predicted drug use as well. These findings indicate that peer group selection and academic motivation may mediate the relationship between drug use and parent-adolescent communication for girls only.     

Adolescent Internet use: What we expect, what teens report

As adolescent Internet use grew exponentially in the last decade, with it emerged a number of correspondent expectations. Among them were the following: (1) that gender predicts usage, i.e., that boys spend more time online, surfing the web and playing violent games, while girls chat or shop online; (2) that Internet use causes social isolation and depression, especially for teens; and (3) that adolescents use the Internet for anonymous identity experimentation. These expectations were based on research with earlier technologies when the Internet was less diffused in the adolescent population. By means of highly detailed daily reports of adolescents' home Internet usage and peer-related adjustment, the present research sought to compare these expectations with the actual experiences of early and mid-adolescents in 2000 and 2001. Participants were 261 7th and 10th graders from suburban California public schools who completed four consecutive end-of-day reports on their school-based adjustment and Internet activity (including detailed logs of instant messages). Results challenge prevailing expectations regarding gender, well-being, and identity play. For the most part, adolescent boys' and girls' online activities have become more similar than different. On average, boys and girls alike described their online social interaction as (1) occurring in private settings such as e-mail and instant messages, (2) with friends who are also part of their daily, offline lives, and (3) devoted to fairly ordinary yet intimate topics (e.g., friends, gossip). No associations were found between Internet usage and well-being. Online pretending was reported to be motivated by a desire to play a joke on friends more often than to explore a desired or future identity, but participants reported a range of pretending content, contexts, and motives.     

Gender, Internet identification, and Internet anxiety: correlates of Internet use.

This paper reports a study that investigated the effects of gender, Internet anxiety, and Internet identification on use of the Internet. The study involved 608 undergraduate students (490 females and 118 males). We surveyed the students' experience with the Internet, as well as their levels of Internet anxiety and Internet identification. We found a number of gender differences in participants' use of the Internet. Males were proportionally more likely to have their own web page than were females. They used the Internet more than females; in particular, they were more likely to use game websites, to use other specialist websites, and to download material from the Internet. However, females did not use the Internet for communication more than males. There was a significant positive relationship between Internet identification and total use of the Internet, and a significant negative relationship between Internet anxiety and total use of the Internet. Controlling for Internet identification and Internet anxiety, we found a significant and negative correlation between gender and use of the Internet. In total, all three of our predictors accounted for 40% of the variance in general Internet use: with Internet identification accounting for 26%, Internet anxiety accounting for 11%, and gender accounting for 3%.     

What influences children's and adolescents' understanding of the complexity of the Internet?

This study aimed at analyzing complex relationships among Internet use, Internet users, and conceptual understanding of the Internet. It used path models to examine factors related to Internet use (duration of Internet use, frequency of Internet use, and informal Internet classes) and Internet users (age and gender) in affecting understanding of the technical and social complexity of the Internet for 322 elementary and middle school students. The findings of the study indicate that (a) age of young Internet users had predominant effects on both the technical and social understanding of the Internet; (b) frequency of Internet use and informal Internet classes had small but significant effects on social understanding, but no effect on technical understanding; and (c) technical understanding had a unidirectional effect on social understanding. The implications of these findings for the implementation of the Children's Internet Protection Act are discussed.     

College dating and social anxiety: using the Internet as a means of connecting to others.

With the advent and widespread use of the Internet, various online media are being used to connect and maintain social relationships in individuals of all ages. Social relationships are vital to healthy development, and individuals with social and/or dating anxiety may have marked difficulty in establishing appropriate, supportive relationships because of fear of negative evaluation by others. For these individuals, the Internet may open avenues of communication and provide an outlet through which relationships can be formed and preserved. This study investigated the characteristics of computer and Internet use in young adults to determine whether individuals who were high in social/dating anxiety symptoms were more likely to make and maintain social relationships online. To further understand the patterns of these behaviors, several measures of social and dating anxiety were collected and analyzed along with demographic, computer use, and relationship characteristics. Results indicated differences between high and low social/dating anxiety with respect to media use and relationship formation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

大学生网络同一性实验与自我同一性的关系:网络社交倾向和强迫性网络使用的作用

从网络同一性实验与自我同一性间关系的分歧出发,提出相应的理论模型,考察网络社交倾向的调节作用及强迫性网络使用的中介作用。本研究采用网络同一性实验量表、自我同一性实验问卷以及强迫性网络使用量表对275名大学生进行了测量,结果表明:(1)网络社交倾向对网络同一性实验与自我同一性的关系具有调节作用。对于线下社交倾向的大学生,网络同一性实验对自我同一性有消极预测作用;但对于线上社交倾向的大学生,中等程度的网络同一性实验会积极预测自我同一性的发展;(2)强迫性网络使用在网络同一性实验与自我同一性的关系中起完全中介作用。总之,网络同一性实验整体上不利于大学生自我同一性的发展,但若把握好"度"也可以发挥其积极作用。     

Adolescent Internet usage in Taiwan: exploring gender differences

The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in adolescent Internet accessibility, motives for use, and online activities in Taiwan; 629 5th and 6th graders were surveyed. Findings revealed that the gap in gender differences with regard to Internet use has decreased in this generation. Even though the Internet is the most recent form of major media in the world, it has become the second most important medium as perceived by boys and girls. No gender difference was found in adolescents' motives for using the Internet.The ranking of relative importance of motives for adolescents going online was searching for information, followed by socializing, and boredom avoidance for both boys and girls. However, a gender difference in online activities seems to persist. Searching for homework information and playing games were the most popular online activities for all adolescents. However, while girls tended to view the Internet more as a means of searching for information and e-mailing friends, boys tended to use it more for playing games and down-loading software.     

网络亲子沟通与青少年抑郁的关系:线上社会资本的中介作用及其年龄差异

采用问卷法对武汉市两所中学549名青少年早期和中期的中学生进行调查,探讨网络亲子沟通对青少年抑郁的影响,同时考察线上社会资本在二者之间的中介作用,以及该中介效应的前半路径是否受年龄的调节。结果表明：（1）在控制性别、年龄和线下亲子沟通的条件下,网络亲子沟通负向预测青少年抑郁;（2）线上社会资本在网络亲子沟通与青少年抑郁之间起完全中介作用;（3）线上社会资本的中介作用受到青少年年龄的调节,相比青少年早期阶段,该中介作用在青少年中期阶段更显著。这些结果对于综合解释网络亲子沟通对青少年抑郁的作用路径与机制具有重要意义。     

Gender-linked Differences in the Toys, Television Shows, Computer Games, and Outdoor Activities of 5- to 13-year-old Children

This study was designed to compare how 5- to 13-year-old children's leisure activity preferences differ with age and gender. Responses from 60 boys and 60 girls about their favorite toys, television shows, computer games, and outdoor activities were compared across leisure categories. The results showed that gender was a significant factor. Overall, boys spent more time in these leisure activities than girls did. They spent the most time engaged in sports, watching television, and playing computer games, whereas girls spent the most time watching television. Results from a gender index for all activities indicated that boys' leisure preferences became slightly more masculine with age. For girls, preferences for television shows became more feminine with age, but preferences for toys, computer games, and sports became less feminine. These self-chosen preferences may provide differential opportunities for the development of visual-spatial skills, achievement, initiative, self-regulation, and social skills.     

大学生网络使用与网络利他行为:网络使用自我效能和性别的作用

以湖北省武汉市两所大学的562名大学生为被试,采用网络利他行为问卷、网络自我效能感问卷和网络使用行为问卷对其进行问卷调查。考察网络使用自我效能在网络使用和网络利他行为之间的中介作用及该中介作用是否受到性别的调节。结果发现:(1)男生在网络利他行为和网络使用自我效能上均显著高于女生;男生在网络游戏、网络信息的使用上显著高于女生,男女生在网络社交上不存在显著差异;(2)网络使用(网络社交、网络信息、网络游戏)与网络使用自我效能、网络利他行为均呈显著正相关,网络使用自我效能与网络利他行为呈显著正相关;(3)网络使用自我效能在网络使用和网络利他行为的关系中具有中介作用,性别在网络使用与网络使用自我效能之间具有调节作用,相对于女生,网络使用自我效能的中介效应在男生群体中更为显著。     

Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use.

The model of problematic Internet use advanced and tested in the current study proposes that individuals' psychosocial well-being, along with their beliefs about interpersonal communication (both face-to-face and online) are important cognitive predictors of negative outcomes arising from Internet use. The study examined the extent to which social anxiety explains results previously attributed to loneliness as a predictor of preference for online social interaction and problematic Internet use. The results support the hypothesis that the relationship between loneliness and preference for online social interaction is spurious, and that social anxiety is the confounding variable.     

Children's Internet use in a family context: influence on family relationships and parental mediation.

We conducted a survey of 222 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade Korean children to examine (a) whether children's Internet use influences declines in family time and family communication and (b) how parental mediation techniques are related to children's online activities. According to the findings, total time using the Internet was related to perceived declines in family time but not related to family communication. The influence of the Internet on family time and family communication differed by the type of children's online activities. The analysis of the relationship between parental mediation techniques and children's online activities indicated that parents' recommendation of useful Web sites and co-using were positively related to frequency of children's educational online activities. However, parental restrictions on time and Web sites did not alter children's actual Internet usage.     

Close online relationships in a national sample of adolescents

This paper uses data from a national survey of adolescent Internet users (N = 1,501) to describe online relationships. Fourteen percent of the youths interviewed reported close online friendships during the past year, 7% reported face-to-face meetings with online friends, and 2% reported online romances. Two hundred forty-six youths provided details about one close online relationship. Most of these relationships were with same-age peers (70%) and crossed gender lines (71%). Many intersected with face-to-face social networks because they were initiated by introductions from friends or family (32%), involved people who lived in the vicinity (26%), were known to parents (74%), included offline contact by mail or telephone (70%), or involved face-to-face meetings (41%). Few youths reported bad experiences with online friends.     

Daily patterns of communication and contact between Italian early adolescents and their friends

The goal of the present study was to explore patterns of communication between adolescents and their friends across both "online" and "in-person" contexts. The participants were adolescents (n?=?727) aged 11-16 years attending middle schools in urban and rural areas of Italy. Participants completed daily logs of their in-person and online contacts with friends for 20 consecutive school days. Girls reported more total contacts with their friends than did boys as well as friendships that were closer and more intimate. However, boys indicated more contact than girls via electronic communication and online. Contacts with peers in general were less frequent among the older participants, perhaps because of increasing academic demands. Participants who complemented in-person contact with friends with electronic contact were less lonely than their counterparts who were less versatile in accessing different modalities of making contact with friends.