wechat and intimacy

50%of Chinese market penetration

(Kuittinen, 2013)

3rdiOSAndroid

mobile application facetime in China

minutes/month

(Ng, 2013)

209

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BACKGROUND

Does mediated communication on WeChat

contribute to Intimacy in a relationship?

Perceived closeness

Interdependence

Affinity

INTIMACY:

I LOVE YOU,BABE.

I REALLY MISS YOU,BABE.

HYPOTHESIS

H: The intensity of WeChat use is positively related to intimacy perceived by individual in a romantic relationship.

METHOD： ONLINE SURVEY

www.sojump.com

SURVEY

4 17 3WeChat Use Intimacy Demographic

Intensity scale(2007)

Miller SocialIntimacy Scale（ 1982）

SexAge

Education

α＝ .897

RESULTS

101/109

92.66%

46

55

45.54% 54.46%

r = .31**Intensity of WeChat use is SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED to intimacy perceived by individuals in a romantic relationship.

THAT’S ALL

RESEARCH QUESTION

RQ: What functions in WeChat

fulfill the needs for intimacy between couples in a romantic relationship?

STEP 2 FOCUS GROUP

“I like WeChat because I can not only text my girlfriend, but also send her

voice messages, emoticons or do a video chat.”

Social presence (Berghel &Womack, 2003)

“I like WeChat because I can not only text my girlfriend, but also send her

voice messages, emoticons or do a video chat.”

Social presence (Berghel &Womack, 2003)

“I can send pictures to her and share the interesting things I

encounter any time I want . ”

Interpersonal process model of intimacy

H. T. Reis and P. Shaver‘s (1988)

“My girlfriend ‘force’ me to LIKE

every post of hers.”

“I can send pictures to her and share the interesting things I

encounter any time I want . ”

Interpersonal process model of intimacy

H. T. Reis and P. Shaver‘s (1988)

“My girlfriend ‘force’ me to LIKE

every post of hers.”

“I can select photos in which I look

gorgeous to my boyfriend in hope of compliments.”

“I can send voice messages in which my

voice sound particularly sweet to him.”

Selective self-presentation

“I can select photos in which I look

gorgeous to my boyfriend in hope of compliments.”

“I can send voice messages in which my

voice sound particularly sweet to him.”

Selective self-presentation

“I can keep track of what my bf is

doing in Moments.”

“I can see if people he interacts with in

Moments may pose a threat to me by

checking their profiles.”

Information needs uncertainty reduction

FINDINGS

Fuctions(Use) Need(Gratification)Voice message

Walkie-talkieVoice Tone

Video chat Voice, tone, facial expressions, gestures

Emoticon EntertainmentFacial expressions, gestures

PhotoSelective self-presentationSelf-disclosurePartner responsiveness

Moments Information needsUncertainty reduction

Synchronous communication

Close to realtime interaction

Asynchronous communication

No pressure to reply immediately

LIMITATION

Flaw in correlational studies

Other adoption factor

Sample size &representativeness Uneven famale to male ratio of focus group

DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Gender differences

Affection expression: text? audio? pictures? Video?

“HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOUR LOVE”

Voice:Li XiongfeiVideo Source:“惡作劇之吻”“You’ve Got Mail”“ ”回到過去“ ”那些年我們一起追過的女孩“ ”繼承者們“WeChat Ads”