Editing Internet relationship (section)

== Effects on face-to-face interactions ==
Since the creation of the [[Internet]], [[communication]] has become one of its prime uses. It has become a ubiquitous force in people's everyday lives due to the increase in the regularity and quality of [[Social interaction|interaction]]. The internet has also created a new approach to [[human]] [[Interpersonal relationship|relationships]], and it has changed the way people connect to one another in their [[social world]]s. Online relationships have also changed which effective strategies we use to perform maintenance on our relationships, depending on the exclusivity of the internet the relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wright|first=Kevin B.|year=2004|title=On-line Relational Maintenance Strategies and Perceptions of Partners Within Exclusively Internet Based and Primarily Internet Based Relationships|journal=Communication Studies|volume=55|issue=2|pages=239–253|doi=10.1080/10510970409388617|s2cid=145505879}}</ref> In the past, [[Mail|postal services]] made communication possible without the necessity of physical presence, and the invention of the [[telephone]] allowed [[synchronous communication]] between people across long distances. The internet combined the advantages of both mail and telephone, unifying the speed of the telephone with the written character of the mail service. The evolution of communication within the Internet has arguably changed the nature of individuals' relationships with one another.<ref name="Joinson, A.2" />

Some see a major negative impact resulting in an increased use of internet communication is of its diversion of true community<ref name="Brooks2" /> because online interaction via computers is often regarded as a more impersonal communication medium than face-to-face communication.<ref name="Comp Face to Face2">{{cite journal|last=Lebie|first=Linda|date=31 October 1995|title=Interaction Process in Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Groups|journal=Computer Supported Cooperative Work|volume=4|issue=2–3|pages=127–152|doi=10.1007/BF00749744|author2=Jonathan A. Rhoades|author3=Joseph E. Mcgrath|s2cid=22587513}}</ref> Others consider the incorporation of the internet allowing online activities to be "viewed as an extension of offline activities".<ref name="Wellman2" />  The multiple techniques that humans use to communicate, such as taking turns or nodding in agreement, are absent in these settings.<ref name="Joinson, A.2" /> Without the [[body language]] cues present in a face-to-face conversation, such as pauses or gestures, participants in instant messaging may type over one another's messages without necessarily waiting for a cue to talk. Also, with or without the correct grammar, tone and context can be misunderstood. Recently people who already adapted internet-based communication have missed face-to-face interactions because this traditional way of communication is able to offer advancement in our relationships.

=== Early positive view ===
In 1991, Stone argued that when [[virtual communities]] began forming, this process generated a new type of social space where people could still apparently meet [[Face-to-face (philosophy)|face-to-face]], but this required a redefinition of the terms "meet" and "face-to-face." These virtual communities allowed people to effortlessly access others, and in many ways to feel better connected, feel that they receive greater support from others, and to obtain emotional satisfaction from their [[families]], [[communities]] and [[society]]. However, it does have several obvious problems for people to communicate with others. The representative limitation of this way of communications is that it cannot contain people's diverse emotions completely, so it can cause diverse misunderstanding between people.<ref name="Stone, A. R.2">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=114785|title=Cyberspace: first steps|last=Stone|first=Allucquere Rosanne|publisher=MIT Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-262-02327-6|edition=4th print.|location=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=81–118|chapter=Will the real body please stand up?: boundary stories about virtual cultures|editor=Benedikt, Michael}}</ref>

=== Pseudocommunity theory ===
In 1987, this understanding of social spaces was challenged by scholars such as [[James R. Beniger]]. Beniger questioned whether these virtual communities were "real" or were pseudo communities,<ref name="Beniger, J.2">{{cite journal|year=1987|title=Personalization of the mass media and the growth of pseudo-community|journal=Communication Research|volume=14|issue=3|pages=352–371|doi=10.1177/009365087014003005|last1=Beniger|first1=J.|s2cid=146768217|author-link=James R. Beniger}}</ref> "a pattern relating that, while looking highly [[interpersonal]] interaction, is essentially impersonal."<ref name="Joinson, A.2" /> He put forward the idea that in a society within the virtual world, participants lack the necessary honesty it would take to create a "real" virtual community.<ref name="Beniger, J.2" />

=== Weakening of social ties ===
In many cases the introduction of the Internet as a social instigator may cause a repercussion leading to a weakening of social ties. In a study conducted in 1998, Robert Kraut et al. discovered that Internet users were becoming less socially involved. They linked this to an increase in [[loneliness]] and [[Depression (mood)|depression]] in relation to use of the Internet.<ref name="Kraut, R. E., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukhopadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W.2">{{cite journal|last=Kraut|first=R|date=September 1998|title=Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?|journal=The American Psychologist|volume=53|issue=9|pages=1017–31|doi=10.1037/0003-066X.53.9.1017|pmid=9841579|author2=Patterson, M|author3=Lundmark, V|author4=Kiesler, S|author5=Mukopadhyay, T|author6=Scherlis, W|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kiesler/publications/1998pdfs/1998Kraut-InternetParadox.pdf|citeseerx=10.1.1.352.2919|s2cid=513632}}</ref> Though these findings may have been sound, in a later study, Kraut et al.<ref name="kraut022">{{cite journal|last=Kraut|first=Robert|date=1 January 2002|title=Internet Paradox Revisited|journal=Journal of Social Issues|volume=58|issue=1|pages=49–74|doi=10.1111/1540-4560.00248|author2=Kiesler, Sara|author3=Boneva, Bonka|author4=Cummings, Jonathon|author5=Helgeson, Vicki|author6=Crawford, Anne|s2cid=144328559 |url=http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1100&context=hcii}}</ref> revisited his original study with the idea of expanding his current initial sample and correlating it with new subsequently collected [[longitudinal data]]. This synthesis produced a different outcome than the one that Kraut had originally presented.<ref name="kraut022" /> The studies like Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity report (2000) indicate that people who are constantly practicing virtual sexual stimulation losing the social stigma and approval that they experience problems <ref>{{cite news|last=Brody|first=Jane|date=16 May 2000|title=Cybersex Gives Birth to a Psychological Disorder| newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/051600hth-behavior-cybersex.html}}</ref>

In this newer paper, Kraut stated that there were fewer negative affects than he had originally found, and in some cases the negative effect had vanished. In the second study he saw that small positive effects began to appear in [[social involvement]] and psychological well-being. Assessing the effect of the Internet over a period of time, he saw people's use of the Internet increase in sophistication.<ref name="kraut022" />

During the Kraut et al. study, the researchers asked reclusive people if they use the Internet to counteract the loss of social skills that are needed in face-to-face encounters.<ref name="kraut022" /> They also asked people with strong [[social skills]] whether they use the Internet to amplify their [[Aptitude|abilities]] to [[Social network|network]] amongst people. The study discovered that these people who already possessed strong social skills were the ones who received the most beneficial outcome to using the Internet. The concluding [[analysis]] was, that rather than helping to decrease the difference between those who already had social skills compared with those lacking in social skills, internet use had actually exacerbated the differences in the skill level needed for social interaction.<ref name="kraut022" />

=== Assisting reclusive people ===
This theory was later challenged in a study, by McKenna et al.,<ref name="McKenna, K. Y. A., & Bargh, J. A.2">{{cite journal|last2=Bargh|first2=J. A.|year=1998|title=Coming out in the age of the Internet: Identity "demarginalization" through virtual group participation|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=75|issue=3|pages=681–694|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.75.3.681|last1=McKenna|first1=K. Y. A.}}</ref> that indicated that people who are more [[socially inept]] use the internet to create an initial contact which allows them to explore their "true self" within these interactions. These social interactions within [[cyberspace]] tend to lead to closer and high quality relationships which influence face-to-face encounters. In essence, these findings meant that although it is not clear whether the internet helps reclusive people develop better social skills, it does allow reclusive people to form relationships that may not have existed otherwise because of their lack of comfort with interpersonal situations in general. When these relationships emerge into face-to-face relationships it is hard to distinguish these relationships from those that started as face-to-face interactions. Future studies on this topic may allow scholars to define whether or not society is becoming too dependent on the Internet as a social tool.<ref name="McKenna, K. Y. A., & Bargh, J. A.2" /> Those relationships are also found for people suffering from [[Depression (mood)|depression]], [[suicidal ideation]] and other [[mental health]] problems.<ref>{{cite journal|last2=McLean|first2=J. P.|last3=Sheffield|first3=J.|year=2009|title=Examining suicide-risk individuals who go online for suicide-related purposes|journal=Archives of Suicide Research|volume=13|issue=3|pages=264–276|doi=10.1080/13811110903044419|pmid=19591000|last1=Harris|first1=K. M.|s2cid=205804938}}</ref> For example, suicidal people were more likely to go online in search of new interpersonal relationships and to seek interpersonal help. Similar findings were found for suicidal [[LGBT]].<ref>{{cite journal|year=2013|title=Sexuality and suicidality: Matched-pairs analyses reveal unique characteristics in non-heterosexual suicidal behaviors|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=42|issue=5|pages=729–737|doi=10.1007/s10508-013-0112-2|last1=Harris|first1=K. M.|pmid=23657812|s2cid=11639529}}</ref> These studies show that people who have trouble meeting similar others, not only the 'socially inept', are using the internet to create stronger and more extensive interpersonal relationships.