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Online Interpersonal Relationships

Decent Essays

Main Statement: “The Internet has become a source that facilitates comfort and conflict resolution in building and maintaining online interpersonal relationships.”
Argument I – Reinforcement and Support of Existing Relationships
The Internet takes a role of the mediator of interpersonal relationships by reinforcing existing offline to online friendships and relationships in terms of evident support and feeling of commitment. Subrahmanyam and Greenfield (2008) report the results of a 2001 Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, where 48 percent of the teen interviewees using online communication tools strongly believe that the Internet had a major positive impact on their existing relationships, which was demonstrating a positive trend in the larger amount of Internet usage. A more recent report of the PEW Internet Research Center indicates that 40 percent of young adults between 18 to 29 years old, report to feel closer and more committed to their partners, because of online text/instant – messaging …show more content…

In the Pew Internet Research Center report on Couples, the Internet and Social Media – a quarter of participating young adults between 18 to 29 years old, admit to have solved conflicts and arguments with their partners online, when they could not confront them in person (Lenhart & Duggan, 2014). Carnevale and Probst (1997) report that text-based online communication helps to eliminate para-verbal and non-verbal messages that tend to escalade the development of conflict in real-life setting. Thus the Internet is used as a tool for actual solution of interpersonal conflicts, rather than arguing and proving own point in a conflict setting. As one will only judge the textual message implication, without the interpretation of gestures, voice tones and behaviours changing the context of the interaction (Carnevale & Probst,

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