Alesya Brutskaya Spring 2012 Coms 190 Diego Bonilla

Research Questions Research Question 1: Interpersonal CMC How have social networking sites, such as Facebook, changed relationships? I find this research question interesting because, with today’s innovative technology, I amazed at how many doors have opened to give us new means of communication. With these new possibilities, our relationships have and are bound to change even further. As we move into this digital age, I find myself both excited and curious, and yet a little skeptical about all of the modernizations. Therefore, I would like to learn about how these unavoidable changes will affect the way we create and maintain relationships with those around us. Will our relationships grow stronger or will they fall apart as we embark on our virtual ongoing journey? I would like to learn new concepts and ideas of how we will be able to draw the line between online and face-to-face relationships so that we can blend the two worlds and create an equal balance within our communication. Research Question 2: Interpersonal CMC Are social networking sites a gateway for cheating? While researching the effects of social networking sites I have come across so many articles on the topic of social networking sites and infidelity that it really caught my attending and led me to have a growing interest in the topic. What really grabbed my attention was that, according to divorce lawyers, 80 percent of divorces have mentioned Facebook in one way or another. This leads me to wonder if social networking sites are really to blame. Are the sites really giving individual the means to cheat or is just the way our society is today. Or maybe it is both. Either way, I would like learn what it is about online websites that is making cheating so appealing. For example, is it the ease of meeting and getting in touch with the other person? Is it the comfort of creating an emotional connection with someone without the need of actually meeting them in person? Do the cheaters think it is harmless or maybe don’t consider it cheating at all? I would like to learn new concepts and ideas on if and how social networking sites are possibly indirectly creating gateway for individuals to cheat on their partners and spouses.

Research Question 1: Interpersonal CMC How have social networking sites, such as Facebook, changed relationships? Academic Literature: The first article I found is called Me and My 400 Friends: The Anatomy of College Students’ Facebook Networks, Their Communication Patterns, and Well-Being written by Mango, Taylor, and Greenfield (2012). This article suggests the importance of social networks such as Facebook for satisfying ones physiological needs. It gives evidence that such sites give young adults emotional satisfaction and help them find the support that they need from those around them through communication on the web. However, the article, Use of Social Network Sites and Instant Messaging Does Not Lead To Increased Offline Social Network Size, Or To Emotionally Closer Relationships With Offline Network Members by Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar (2011), contradicts this by concluding that the time that individuals spend with their “friends” on social network sites is not associated with growth in emotional closeness with those “friends” offline. This article also examines what the use of social media means for our social relationships and how it impacts us. Non-Academic Literature: The article, Is Social Media Killing Personal Relationships? by Mattern (2012), suggests that social media actually inhibits growth in personal relationships and improves them. Is talks about the opportunities that this type of communications offers and why it enables us to communicate more and create greater bonds. The article, Social Networking: Revolution or Evolution by Preston (2011) really goes in debt about the changes that that social media brings and how it redefines us. I found this article to be refreshing because it really talks about both the pros and cons of social media and its effect on out interpersonal communication. The Last article, Social Networking Sites and Our Lives by Rainie is really great because it offers surveys and statistics that give you a greater sense of understanding on what exactly is impacting our communication, how, and how much. It really gives you a clear picture on the use of social media and the changes to interpersonal communication that it brings with it.

Media I have found two YouTube videos that address that topic of how social networking affects our interpersonal communication. The first video is called Technologies Effect Our Interpersonal Relationships and it talks about the need to balance our virtual and face-to-face communication in order to continue having great face-to-face relationship while still benefiting from new technologies. The second video is called Family Circle-How Technology Our Children on NBC Today and it is NBC news reporting on the changes that social networking had on the dynamic of relationships and how the new generation is spending more and more time communicating online and less time having face-to-face communication. It also discusses the problems that this is causing and how parents should monitor their children in order to teach them how to balance the two and have the best of both worlds. Technologies Effect Our Interpersonal RelationshipsFamily Circle-How Technology Our Children on NBC Today

Research Question 2: Interpersonal CMC Are social networking sites a gateway for cheating? I could not open the articles due to the CSUS Library being down in order to document the article titles and authors and cite the. However, below are the links to the articles that I have found in on the topic of infidelity that occurs on social networking cites. All of the articles are great sources of studies that have been done that discuss why this type of behavior tends to occur on such sites &resultSet=088857&startRecord= &resultSet=088857&startRecord= &resultSet=088857&startRecord= &resultSet=088857&startRecord=18

Media I found three media sources that are YouTube video of news stations reporting on the problems that Facebook is causing in relationships and marriages. The first video called Facebook Cheaters Having Affairs Using Facebook reports that 1 in 5 divorces have had Facebook involved in some way and actually has a victim tell his story. The second video, Facebook Ruins Marriages & Miller Won't Give Up, reports on a story about a New Jersey pastor that actually told church leaders to forbid the use of Facebook due to the problems that is causes in marriages. Lastly the video called Relationship Expert on Role Social Networking Plays in Divorces, has a relationship expert discuss how Facebook can cause problems in marriages and why this type of communication can lead to emotional bonding with the person on the other end of the conversation.Cheaters Having Affairs Using FacebookFacebook Ruins Marriages & Miller Won't Give UpRelationship Expert on Role Social Networking Plays in Divorces