Virtual relationships in social media

Briefly evaluate absence of gating as a factor in virtual relationships.

At the end of the month, the psychologist calculated the median number of ‘social media friends’ for participants in each group. The results are shown in the following table.

Table 2 Median number of ‘social media friends’ for Group 1 and Group 2

What conclusion could the psychologist make from the results in Table 2 ? Justify your answer.

Suggest two examples of self-disclosure that might have occurred in the social media communications of the participants in the study.

Discuss self-disclosure and the absence of gating in virtual relationships.

Anji is trying Internet dating for the first time. She is considering what information about herself to put in her online profile.

Friend A tells Anji not to be shy and that she should disclose everything. Friend B warns Anji about the anonymity of the Internet and says people can be very critical so she should give out limited information at the start.

Use your knowledge of self-disclosure in virtual relationships to explain the advice given by Anji’s friends.

Discuss what psychological research has told us about virtual relationships in social media.