Vitter

Peyton Vitter

Dr. Dietel-McLaughlin

WR 13300

12 November, 2011

Text Effect: The Effects of Facebook and Texting on Relationships in College

Relationships are complex situations that everyone experiences throughout their entire

life whether they are personal or intimate. Relationships can develop in a number of ways.

Interpersonal and intimate relationships have similar ways in which they develop. Without any

type of communication, relationships would not exist. Through the amount and medium of

communication are the degrees of relationships built. In the past decade, communication has

changed its media from face-to-face conversation to texting, social networks, and email. Texting

and social networks have taken over the entire industry with ambivalent effects. The emergence

of phones with easy access to the Internet has allowed people to stay on digital media at all

times, especially in college. The exponential growth of texting and Facebook has changed

communication and ultimately relationships. Because of the lack of person-to person experience

from the overuse of social media, the quality of relationships, particularly in college, whether

they are personal or intimate, has been questionable. With the ever-growing social media in a

progressing technological age, college students are given new opportunities to expand their

networks of friends; however, the increased use of social media especially text messages and

Facebook has made people translate their verbal and behavioral messages into text. The

translation of verbal and behavioral communication into text has diminished the quality of

relationships for college students.

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According to the article “The History of Cell Phones” on library.thinkquest.org, a website

that has created over eight thousand information pages, in 1865 Mahlon Loomis became the first

man to communicate wirelessly.  Little did he know what enterprise he was initiating:  cell

phones and the eventual development of wireless Internet.   Cell phones first appeared in 1977

from the Motorola Company, soon to be copied by many other companies.  In 2000, third

generation cell phones were developed with capabilities of browsing the Internet independent of

Wi-Fi, which is locally transmitted Internet.  Just in this past year, Nielsen, a dominant ratings

company since the 1920s, published in the “State of the Media:  The Social Media Report Q3

2011” that two of five people browsing social networking sites are accessing the site from their

phone.  In just over ten years, Internet access from phones has gone from zero to thirty-seven

percent of all people accessing social media. Too often can someone find each person in a large

group staring at his cell phone while at dinner.  Whether they might be texting or browsing the

Internet, cell phones and their capabilities of accessing social networking are the ultimate

distractions.  

Social networks are relatively new compared to cell phones; however, their popularity

has increased much faster than that of cell phones.  According to Facebook.com, Facebook, the

dominant social network site, developed in 2007.  Facebook allows a person to create a profile in

which he or she can upload images, post comments, and perform special functions such as

clicking the “like” button to show approval. Since Mark Zuckerberg, who was a student at

Harvard, created Facebook as a college project for college users, primarily college

undergraduates use Facebook.  Currently, there are 800 million active users, people who have

checked their profiles within the last thirty days.  Many people spend various amounts of time

editing their profile, browsing through what other people have posted, and connecting with their

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friends, but some do not have a limit on the amount of time they spend on Facebook.  According

to Nielsen in the “State of the Media:  The Social Media Report Q3 2011,” the “most active

social networkers” are females between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four.  Because “Internet

users spend more time on Facebook than any other web brand,” according to Nielsen, females

between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four spend the most time on Facebook.  Since the most

time spent on Facebook is common in the age range of undergraduate college students, they must

the ages that are affected the most.  

Texting and social networking create a barrier for college students and reduces a person's

“social capital” offline (Valenzuela, Park, and Kee 881).  The importance of social capital in

college is critical.  According to Valenzuela, Park, and Kee at the University of Texas at Austin

in the article “Is there Social Capital in a Social Network,” social capital is a combination of the

levels of “social networks, trust, civic engagement, life satisfaction and a variety of other

concepts” (876-877).  However, Valenzuela, Park, and Kee state that the center of social capital

is the connection that is gained through social experience (877).  The combination of many of the

previous concepts must all be in balance with one another.  According to Jain in "4 Ways Social

Media Is Changing Your Relationship" at socialmediaexaminer.com, “[maintaining] a balance

between your online and offline life” is vital to “[cultivating] a real-life network of contacts as

well.” The overuse of social networks can cause a decrease in the total well being of a person.

With the abundance of social networking through Facebook, college students tend to become

addicted to browsing the site.  This creates an imbalance in social capital and decreases the well

being of a student.  It is vitally important to create a balance of texting, social networking, and

face-to-face interaction to develop a well-rounded individual capable of speaking confidently in

public while being savvy online.  

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With the emergence of texting, students rely on texting as a way of having their

conversations instead of calling their friends that at least has some connection of human contact

through hearing their voices.  Just like on any college campus, many other students of equivalent

ages surround a student.  Focusing on texting and social networking takes away the face-to-face

opportunities that one may experience if a student would minimize the use of these two types of

social media.  Texting and social networks deny people who experience much anxiety the

opportunity to communicate with a person physically. “Given the informal nature of social

media,” a person is able to introduce himself “more easily and fluidly” (Jain) because there is

less stress and anxiety in using social media to communicate informally than there is in

confronting someone physically. As children, people are often afraid of approaching an adult or

even a friend.  If a child is introduced to these types of media, the use of texting and social

networks such as Facebook could deny a child the proper amount of human contact in his early

years. Facebook and texting could possibly restrict his development in offline social activities

that are essential in college and in business. Because social networks such as Facebook allow a

person to communicate only through text, relationships are not well rounded from this type of

media.  The overuse of Facebook produces “weak-tie relationships” that Valenzuela, Park, and

Kee discuss that are developed through only the text on Facebook (881).  Immersed in a sea of

students, a typical student on a college campus has countless opportunities to make friends

offline through simple, friendly gestures in public.  

Patti M. Valkenburg and Jochen Peter at the Amsterdam School of Communications

Research at the University of Amsterdam in the article “Online Communication and Adolescent

Well-Being” argue that expanding social networking sites and the increasing ease of texting

offered by new high-tech phones have taken the place of developing social relationships offline

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in public (1-2).  The time at college is incredibly valuable for developing real life relationships,

broadening a person’s horizons, and enhancing a person's ability to communicate on a personal

level.  In any job, a person must be able to communicate efficiently and confidently with words

in order to receive a position in a company.  Often employers hire the applicants that exhibit

great communicative skills along with the necessary trait that the job demands.  Jain states, “I,

for instance, have set times in the day to update my status and take part in the conversation.

Then I close the browser and do other things.” Without the proper balance of texting, social

networking, and offline experiences in childhood, a person may struggle not only in college but

also in the business industry in the future. Conversational skills can be developed through face-

to-face interaction to assist the quality of the conversation and break the barrier that texting and

Facebook create.

Texting and Facebook diminish the quality of a conversation through the medium in

which the conversation is held. According to Thomas Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar, members of

the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, in the

article “Use of Social Network Sites and Instant Messaging,” the quality of a relationship

depends on the quality of the communication that occurs within it (253).  The Merriam-Webster

dictionary defines “quality” as a “peculiar and essential character.”  The quality of relationships

originates in face-to-face communication where the first communication developed long ago.

Face-to-face conversation is considered to be the most beneficial and constructive in establishing

a quality relationship.  Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar state, “the quality of communication over

social media, compared with face-to-face communication or talking over the phone, has been

highlighted as a potential limiting factor in using these social media to build strong, emotionally

intense relationships” (253-254).  These types of media do not allow the two people in the

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relationship to attain the quality of conversation that develops a strong bond.  Because talking on

the phone still allows a person to hear someone’s voice, this type of communication does not

lose nearly as much quality of the conversation as one-dimensional text that is only offered in

texting and Facebook.  According to Valenzuela, Park, and Kee, “a person’s weak ties may

increase because the technology is suited to maintaining these links cheaply and easily” (881). A

person may gain more friends but the quality of the relationships will be very stunted from the

use of texting technology. The replacement of human contact with texting and Facebook is not

comparable.  Unfortunately, many students often use Facebook and texting as their primary

mode of communication, diminishing the quality of their relationships.  

Because texting and Facebook are incredibly informal with text as the only way of

communicating, saying meaningful words to a person has become almost effortless. Jain states,

“normal courtesy and politeness--aspects we would utilize in our face-to-face interactions--are

sometimes reduced (or missing altogether) in the online space” (3).  Not only does the quality of

media decrease in texting or on Facebook but also cordiality is reduced because of the

dissociation of the person from the text.  Texting is similar to a “cop out” because it allows the

person to say something that can be interpreted very gravely without attaching themselves to

what they are saying.  For example, often a person will text a friend when they are unable to

make a party or special occasion because it is far easier to approach the situation using a text

than it is to call someone and verbally explain an excuse.  This also plays into the college scene

in hookups.  Hookups can be described as ephemeral, superficial relationships. With thousands

of guys and girls of the same ages crowded together and encouraged to socialize, intimate

relationships are bound to form.  

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However, the intimate relationships do not develop in the most appropriate ways. According to

Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar, “[Computer-mediated communication] actually allows for greater

self-disclosure and this for communication to become unusually intimate and ‘hyperpersonal’”

(257). According to Bargh and McKenna at New York University in the article “The Internet

and Social Life,” “because self-disclosure contributes to a sense of intimacy, making self-

disclosure easier should facilitate relationship formation” (582). “Hyperpersonal” messages

through texting and Facebook are inflated expressions that give a false sense of a person’s

thoughts and feelings. Texting and Facebook ease the awkwardness that comes with meeting a

new friend of the opposite sex. Through texting, more meaningful things can be said more

easily. This allows a guy or girl to say something that might be exaggerated; however,

exaggeration will help create a hookup in the near future.   Because of a hookup’s nature, texting

and Facebook prove to be perfect means of developing shallow relationships.

Too often text is used for more than trivial matters like college student short-lived sexual

relationships.  In important matters such as a work or family, texting brings a dull tone to the

situation.  In the time of a death of a family member or someone close to you, texting your

regrets is extremely informal and inappropriate.  The action is informal and inappropriate

because it shows the lack of effort.  By not putting forth much effort, a person shows the lack of

care and concern that he might have for another. People often “confuse digital intimacy for true

intimacy” (Jain 2). Therefore, by saying some of the most meaningful things through a text or a

message on Facebook, college students can develop a bad reputation and establish only

superficial relationships with people who deserve a much deeper relationship founded upon

human contact. Miller, Parsons, and Lifer, workers at Business Information Systems at Central

Michigan University, in the article “Students and Social Networking Sites: the posting paradox”

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conducted a study in which students were asked about the “appropriateness of their profile given

a variety of potential audiences” (379) that shows how the various ways college students

communicate are not always appropriate for all audiences. Often college students on Facebook

are not wary in their postings; however, many postings are public and available to anyone.

College students must learn to use texting and Facebook in fashions that are appropriate to more

than only their friends.

Not all people view texting and social networks as having very many negative effects to a

relationship. Some believe that they can only create positive effects for people. Many believe

that social networks increase the amount of friends you have offline. Because social networks

allow you to neatly organize your friends and easily give you the ability to contact multiple

friends at once, this increases your capability to create more friends offline. Also, especially in

college, people move far from home, leaving most of their friends behind. Social networks allow

you to keep in contact with friends back home. However, social networks may create more

friends online and possibly over one thousands Facebook friends, but in the real world, the size

of your offline friends does not increase. Pollet, Roberts, and Dunbar explain that there is “no

relationship between time spend using ...SNS (social networking sites) and the size of ... the

offline network” (256).  Therefore, the use of social networks may be helpful in keeping a

catalog of your friends but not in establishing or building a social network offline and in the real

world. Even though the proper use of social networks may not negatively affect offline social

networks, the overuse and addiction to social networks is the main threat that will occupy a

person’s time. Authors of many articles in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

and in the Journal of Health Psychology, Kim and Lee state in the article “The Facebook Paths

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to Happiness,” “It takes much time and effort to build and maintain mutual companionship with

friends” (360). A person is only capable of establishing a certain amount of close friends.

When traveling to college and establishing a set of relationships, friends back home are

put in the background because they are not able to spend time with you on a daily basis. Close

friends are established with human contact and not through exaggerated texts or social networks.

Most people like to believe that their relationships with their friends back home will not change

after they go to college; however, they are sadly mistaken. Friends who are separated for

extended periods of time need to have human contact so that they can “catch up.” The fact that

friends need a time to “catch up” establishes that something between them has changed. A

person cannot gain close friends from Facebook. No matter how long or how much a person

would use texting and Facebook, it had no effect on a larger offline network (Pollet, Roberts, and

Dunbar 256). Therefore, because the amount of close friends cannot change for a person and

depends on human contact in order to be established, social networks are not capable of creating

more friends offline by making more friends online. “It is not surprising that Facebook users

maintain close connections with less than 3% of their Facebook friends” (Kim and Lee 360).

Some people believe that texting and social networks can allow someone to become

closer with their friends. They claim that social networks enable them to contact their friends

more frequently because they are incredibly easy to use; therefore, they develop deeper and

closer relationships. They also claim because someone can exaggerate their messages through

text on Facebook by being “hyperpersonal,” relationships prosper more easily (Pollet, Roberts,

Dunbar 256). Not only can they develop relationships that are more intimate and personal but

also they can develop them faster. However, this is not true according to the study of Pollet,

Roberts, and Dunbar. In their experiment, their results showed that “emotion closeness” was

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equivalent between those who used social networks and those who did not (256). According to

Sproull and Kiesler, creators of the “filter model of CMC “(computer-mediated communication),

which analyzes computer based communication, CMC is regarded “to be an impoverished

communication experience, with the reduction of available social cues resulting in a greater

sense or feeling of anonymity” (Bargh and McKenna 577-578). Without the face-to-face

communication, a conversation lacks signals from facial expressions and ownership of words

stated that give the “richer face-to-face situations” more emotional conversations. However

much contact is made through social networks and texting must be verified through human

contact.

Through analyzing how Facebook and texting create a barrier for establishing offline

relationships, allow more meaningful words to be said with less effort, and diminish the quality

of conversation, one can see how relationships are affected in the translation of verbal and

behavioral communication into text. A new type of relationship has been defined. Relationships

have become something developed through the most current types of media. Because the media

has become instantaneous and allows people communicate easier with less effort with text,

relationships have become based upon less effort as well. Hopefully, with the development of

more types of media such as video chats, communication will become more personal; and

relationships spouted from these types of media will have a better quality.

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Works Cited Page

Anonymous. Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/>.

Anonymous. "History of Cell Phones." Library.thinkquest.org. Oracle. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.

Anonymous. Home - Facebook Developers. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.

<http://developers.facebook.com/>.

Bargh, John A., and Katelyn Y. McKenna. "Annual Review of Psychology." Rev. of Internet

and Interpersonal Interaction. The Internet and Social Life 2004: 573-90. Print.

Jain, Rachna. "4 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Relationship."

Socialmediaexaminer.com. 30 June 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

Kim, Junghyun, Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee. "The Facebook Paths to Happiness: Effects of the

Number of Facebook Friends and Self-Presentation on Subjective Well-Being."

CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 14.6 (2011): 359-

64. Print.

Miller, Robert, Kristine Parsons, and David Lifer. "Students and Social Networking Sites: the

Posting Paradox." Behavior & Information Technology 29.4 (2010): 377-82. Print.

Nielsen, and NM Incite. State of the Media: The Social Media Report. Rep. no. Q3. Nielsen,

2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.

Pollet, Ph.D., Thomas V., Sam G.B. Roberts, Ph.D., and Robin I.M. Dunbar, Ph.D. "Use of

Social Network Sites and Instant Messaging Does Not Lead to Increased Offline Social

Network Size, or to Emotionally Closer Relationships with Offline Network

Members." CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 14.4

(2011): 253-58. Ebscohost. 1 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

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Valenzuela, Sebastián, Namsu Park, and Kerk F. Kee. "Is There Social Capital in a Social

Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and

Participation." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14.4 (2009): 875-901.

Print.

Valkenburg, Patti M., and Jochen Peter. "Online Communication and Adolescent Well-Being:

Testing the Stimulation Versus the Displacement Hypothesis." Journal of Computer-

Mediated Communication 12.4 (2007). Print.

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