Notification pending: Online social support from close and nonclose relational ties via Facebook

Previous research has often assumed social support as a unique affordance of close relationships. Computer-mediated communication alters the availability of relationally nonclose others, and may to enable additional sources or social support through venues like social networking sites. Eighty-eight college students completed a questionnaire based on their most recent Facebook status updates and the comments those updates generated. Items queried participants' perception of each response as well as the participants' relationship closeness with the responder. Individuals perceived as relationally close provide significant social support via Facebook; however, individuals perceived to be relationally nonclose provided equal social support online. While SNSs has not eroded the importance of close relationships, results demonstrate the social media tools may allow for social support to be obtained from nonclose as well as close relationships, with access to a significant proportion of nonclose relationships.

[1]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  The Benefits of Facebook "Friends: " Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[2]  S. Metts,et al.  Social Support Structures and Predictors of Depression in Persons Who Are Seropositive , 1996, Journal of health psychology.

[3]  Paul W. Ballantine,et al.  Help me, I'm fat! Social support in online weight loss networks , 2011 .

[4]  WohnDonghee Yvette,et al.  Facebook as a toolkit , 2011 .

[5]  Sonia Livingstone,et al.  Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression , 2008, New Media Soc..

[6]  Manuel Barrera,et al.  Preliminary development of a scale of social support: Studies on college students , 1981 .

[7]  S. Cobb.  Presidential Address-1976. Social support as a moderator of life stress. , 1976, Psychosomatic medicine.

[8]  H. Tabak,et al.  The role of the family. , 1978, Journal - American Health Care Association.

[9]  J. Serovich,et al.  The role of family and friend social support in reducing emotional distress among HIV-positive women , 2001, AIDS care.

[10]  Stephen A. Rains,et al.  The Social Dimension of Blogging about Health: Health Blogging, Social Support, and Well-being , 2011 .

[11]  Kevin B. Wright,et al.  Health-related Support Groups on the Internet: Linking Empirical Findings to Social Support and Computer-mediated Communication Theory , 2003, Journal of health psychology.

[12]  Caroline Haythornthwaite,et al.  Social networks and Internet connectivity effects , 2005 .

[13]  Stephen A. Rains,et al.  Weak-Tie Support Network Preference and Perceived Life Stress Among Participants in Health-Related, Computer-Mediated Support Groups , 2010, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[14]  Stephanie M. Reich,et al.  Online and Offline Social Networks: Use of Social Networking Sites by Emerging Adults , 2008 .

[15]  Jonathon N. Cummings,et al.  Beyond hearing: Where the real-world and online support meet. , 2002 .

[16]  Amy Janan Johnson.  Examining the maintenance of friendships: Are there differences between geographically close and long‐distance friends? , 2001 .

[17]  Mark S. Granovetter.  The Strength of Weak Ties , 1973, American Journal of Sociology.

[18]  Erika Lawrence,et al.  Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual risk factors for overprovision of partner support in marriage. , 2014, Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

[19]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices , 2011, New Media Soc..

[20]  Jonathon N. Cummings,et al.  The quality of online social relationships , 2002, CACM.

[21]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Getting acquainted through social network sites: Testing a model of online uncertainty reduction and social attraction , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[22]  B. Gottlieb,et al.  Social support concepts and measures. , 2010, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[23]  Caroline Haythornthwaite,et al.  Studying Online Social Networks , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[24]  Kenneth S. Shultz,et al.  The Influence of Facebook Usage on Perceptions of Social Support, Personal Efficacy, and Life Satisfaction , 2012 .

[25]  N. Ellison,et al.  Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis , 2008 .

[26]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  Facebook as a toolkit: A uses and gratification approach to unbundling feature use , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[27]  Jennifer A. H. Becker,et al.  Changes in Friendship Commitment: Comparing Geographically Close and Long-Distance Young-Adult Friendships , 2009 .

[28]  Vincent R. Waldron,et al.  Communication of social support in computer-mediated groups for people with disabilities. , 1999, Health communication.

[29]  Brandon Van Der Heide,et al.  Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook , 2008, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[30]  D. Goldsmith,et al.  Social Support and the Management of Uncertainty for People Living With HIV or AIDS , 2004, Health communication.

[31]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[32]  Mark S. Granovetter.  T H E S T R E N G T H O F WEAK TIES: A NETWORK THEORY REVISITED , 1983 .

[33]  Dimitrina S. Dimitrova,et al.  Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and Virtual Community , 1996 .

[34]  R. Putnam.  Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital , 1995, The City Reader.

[35]  Scott A. Reid,et al.  A Latent Variable Analysis of Couple Closeness, Attributions, and Relational Satisfaction , 2008 .

[36]  James Griffith,et al.  Social Support Providers: Who Are They? Where Are They Met? and the Relationship of Network Characteristics to Psychological Distress , 1985 .

[37]  B. Burleson,et al.  Communication of social support: Messages, interactions, relationships, and community. , 1997 .

[38]  Judith Donath,et al.  Public Displays of Connection , 2004 .

[39]  Danah Boyd,et al.  I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience , 2011, New Media Soc..

[40]  Jennifer A. H. Becker,et al.  College Students' Use of Relational Management Strategies in Email in Long-Distance and Geographically Close Relationships , 2008, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[41]  J. Suhr,et al.  Controllability of Stressful Events and Satisfaction With Spouse Support Behaviors , 1992 .

[42]  Benjamin H. Gottlieb,et al.  Social support measurement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists. , 2000 .

[43]  N. Lin,et al.  Social Resources and Strength of Ties: Structural Factors in Occupational Status Attainment , 1981, Social Capital, Social Support and Stratification.

[44]  Andrew M. Ledbetter.  Media use and relational closeness in long-term friendships: interpreting patterns of multimodality , 2008, New Media Soc..

[45]  J. Walther,et al.  Interaction of Interpersonal, Peer, and Media Influence Sources Online: A Research Agenda for Technology Convergence , 2010 .

[46]  Terrance L. Albrecht,et al.  Social Support, Social Networks, and Health , 2011 .

[47]  Harmeet Sawhney,et al.  Strategies for Increasing the Conceptual Yield of New Technologies Research , 2007 .

[48]  Caroline Haythornthwaite,et al.  Strong, Weak, and Latent Ties and the Impact of New Media , 2002, Inf. Soc..

[49]  Craig Ross,et al.  Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[50]  T. Thompson.  Handbook of health communication , 2008 .

[51]  Danah Boyd,et al.  Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[52]  A. Aron,et al.  Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness , 1992 .

[53]  Penelope R. Williamson ScD,et al.  Support Groups , 2019, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders.

[54]  Robin I. M. Dunbar.  Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language , 1996 .

[55]  Felipe Korzenny,et al.  A Theory of Electronic Propinquity , 1978 .

[56]  A. Vaux.  Social Support: Theory, Research, and Intervention , 1988 .

[57]  Karen E. Campbell,et al.  SOCIAL RESOURCES AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS , 1986 .

[58]  Keith N. Hampton,et al.  Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? , 2001 .

[59]  Jan Marco Leimeister,et al.  Social Connectedness on Facebook – an Explorative Study on Status Message Usage , 2022 .

[60]  Claude H. Miller,et al.  A Measure of Weak-Tie/Strong-Tie Support Network Preference , 2010 .

[61]  P. Greenfield,et al.  Me and my 400 friends: the anatomy of college students' Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. , 2012, Developmental psychology.

[62]  Vernon D. Miller,et al.  Reconsidering the Organizational Identification Questionnaire , 2000 .

[63]  G. Moore.  Structural Determinants of Men's and Women's Personal Networks , 1990 .

[64]  Kerk F. Kee,et al.  Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students’ Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation 1 , 2009 .

[65]  B. Wellman.  An electronic group is virtually a social network. , 1997 .

[66]  Michael Stefanone,et al.  Exploring the relationship between perceptions of social capital and enacted support online , 2012, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[67]  B. Wellman,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships: Personal Relationships: On and Off the Internet , 2006 .

[68]  Elizabeth A. Craig,et al.  Role strain and online social support for childless stepmothers , 2011 .

[69]  B. Wellman,et al.  Different Strokes from Different Folks: Community Ties and Social Support , 1990, American Journal of Sociology.

[70]  I. Altman,et al.  Social penetration: The development of interpersonal relationships , 1973 .