What does psychological research have to say? Are you really my friend?

Why is psychology interested? “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context” How we make and keep friends What affects quality of friendships The effects of friendships on our mental and physical well-being Interactions between friendship and personality How friends influence us Digital aspects of friendship

Challenges of “digital” friendships? Authenticity: How do I know if you are who I think you are? Lying online Presenting the best ‘you’ Quality: Some things are missing without face-to-face ‘Paralanguage’: speed, expression, gesture, intonation Contact

Quality of friendships: Are “digital” friendships better? Worse? Early research Superficial connections with strangers Reduced time with offline contacts Contemporary research Digital tools used to connect with existing contacts Enhancement of offline relationships 11% adolescents online 93% adolescents online

Self-disclosure online “Sharing information with others which helps them understand you. Especially about the present” Disclosure is less risky Digital tools removes social status info Disclosure is risky

Does type of interaction make a difference? Devices/sites that allow IM are more likely to increase quality of friendship 78%83%49%

Does type of interaction make a difference? Close friends The ‘big stuff’ People you don’t know well

Does gender make a difference? Disclosure changes more online Social anxiety can be compensated for

Pitfalls Oversharing / information overload Being aware of exclusion Social Comparison

So what does all this mean? How friendship actually interacts with technology is complex Benefits depends on Gender What you’re ‘into’ What your friends are doing Student projects: Do people use Facebook to ‘gossip’? How do people manage identity using Instagram? Does use of social networking sites make celebrity worship worse?

What do you think?