Perceived Intimacy Differences of Daily Online and Offline Interactions in People’s Social Network

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    Abstract

    This study examined which media people use on a day-to-day basis to communicate and whether tie strength influenced this media use. Furthermore, we analyzed whether online and offline interactions differ in perceived intimacy and whether tie strength impacts perceived interaction intimacy: 347 real interactions of 9 participants (3 male, 6 female) were analyzed; 172 online (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email, SMS interactions) and 175 offline (recorded phone and face-to-face conversations). The results revealed that the participants communicated most frequently face-to-face or via WhatsApp, especially with strong ties. Furthermore, participants rated their interactions with strong ties as more intimate compared to weak-tie interactions. Our findings have implications for Social Information Processing theory, as our findings show that people are equally able to communicate intimate messages online and offline.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-12
    Number of pages12
    JournalSocieties
    Volume11
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Keywords

    • Computer-mediated communication;
    • Intimacy
    • Tie strength

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