Relationships in the Digital Age: Self-disclosure and Communication in Social Networking Sites

Abstract

With the development of new technologies and rise of social media, the desire to communicate and share information is seen as a primary driver of social networking sites, where the aspect of self-disclosure becomes one of the key characteristics for interpersonal attraction. The aim of the research is to examine how people communicate, self-disclose and maintain relationships on social networking sites and to find out how the use of computer-mediated communication relates to relational development and maintenance. MTurk tool and social media posts were utilized to gather information.  Statistical data analysis program SPSS was employed: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and scale analysis and construction were performed. The investigation revealed significant differences between males and females self-disclosure practices on social networking site Facebook with outstanding differences depending upon the country of living, relationship status, perceived positive and negative rewards, benefits and satisfaction. The results of the study open path for future research within the framework of communication privacy management theory in line with the social penetration theory with an aim to analyse how self-disclosure inter-correlates with privacy concerns. Keywords: relationship; computer-mediated communication; social network sites; penetration; self-disclosure.