Young Adults' Online and Offline Interpersonal Relationships

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Sociology - Children and Youth, grade: 4.0, Smith College, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: How do young adults who are avid social networking site (SNS) users build and maintain interpersonal relationships? I became curious about young adults' perceptions of the ways in which social networking sites play a role in their ability to build and maintain interpersonal relationships. As young adults continue to increase the amount of time they spend on social media websites, it is important to explore their types of involvement in social media and their ability to create meaningful online or offline relationships. A national poll conducted by the Common Sense Media found that young adults log on to their favorite social media sites more than ten times per day. This gives evidence that a large part of social and emotional development is occurring on the Internet. This study offers a deeper understanding of the experiences of young adults' SNS usage and their ability to initiate and maintain interpersonal relationships. As young adults continue to increase the amount of time spent on SNS they are affected either positively or negatively, which may have some effect on their ability to create meaningful relationships.