“Facebook and Myspace: Complement or Substitute for Face to Face Interaction?”

“Facebook and Myspace: Complement or Substitute for Face to Face Interaction?” is a study conducted for the purposes of determining what kind of effect Facebook and Myspace are having on people’s face to face relationships. The concern is that it could possibly be replacing them, but some argue that they are doing just the opposite, by adding another avenue in order to maintain our face to face relationships.

It made sense for the researchers to concentrate on college students within their study. I think the trend of social networking started with college aged students so with them, they could possibly find more use of the networking sites themselves, in order to draw statistically significant results. College students seem to be the demographic who would actually be using the sites to their fullest extent than compared to other demographics. The users were identified by using either MySpace or Facebook, and how often, as well as comparing their online relationships with their face to face relationships. I think the methods they chose were effective in what they are trying to measure about social networking.

The article uses the term computer-mediated communication (CMC) in order to describe the act of communicating via the internet. There had been many previous studies before this one that had found that CMC has been directly related to less family communication, negative emotions such as depression, and an over all decrease in a persons normal group of interaction. However others seem to have found that CMC caused for more contact with people and in turn increased the face to face relationships of its users. Researchers have found that it boils down to the intent of the user.  CMC must not be used as a substitute for face to face relationships but when used to enhance face to face relationships, it is actually an effective tool. CMC does not just include social networking, but also communication such as email. When focusing on social networking we must consider its specific features such as personal profiles, and public associations to other people.

The results of this study make for an interesting observation. Age and class standing did not cause for significant differences in social networking patterns. However when comparing the rate at which people were maintaining friendships verses meeting new people, they found a defining line. Only 8% of the students said they used social networking in order to form new relationships, but 75% were listed as using Facebook and MySpace to maintain the relationships they already had. I think their results prove that social networking is improving face to face relationships and not replacing them. People are not trying to shut themselves off from the real world in order to be defined by their internet relationships, but are using the internet in order to enhance their relationships in the real world. When using Facebook and MySpace for this purpose, it can be measured further on how this method is effecting the relationships. Are relationships better when they have some kind of CMC involved in maintaining it. Can it be proven that social networking sites are improving the person as a result of improving the person’s relationships?

Personally I have found that social networking is definitely enhancing my face to face relationships. Even people who I know I will see at least once a week, I usually have some type of social networking relationship with them. It keeps me connected and updated on what is going on in their life through features such as photos, status updates, and events posted. I am guilty sometimes of letting social networking replace the phone communication between my family members that live far away. I think that would be an interesting study. I would like to know how communicating via social networks effects the quality of long distance relationships compared to talking on the phone. It is important I think to include all forms of communication, when it comes to relationships.

The findings of this article, compared to my own personal experiences as well as what I have learned in this JOUR289i class, are directly related in my opinion. Technology itself can be very helpful. It can make our relationships, jobs, and hobbies more effective and enjoyable if we allow it to. However, misuse of it, or even just a lack of understanding its purpose and uses can cause problems. We have to be educated and be able to determine the best way it can be applied to our individual lives; with different aspects of it, in this case, social networking, that same principle can be applied.

Kujath, Carlyne L. "Facebook and MySpace: Complement or Substitute for Face-to-Face Interaction?"     CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 00.00 (2010): 1-4. Web.