Adolescent online friendships: The poor get poorer, or the rich get richer?

This chapter is devoted to theory and research on the effects of electronic communication on the friendships and other peer relationships of adolescents, especially those who are introverted, shy, socially withdrawn and/or socially anxious. It reviews some of the mass media warnings made about the harms caused to young people via online communication, including impairment to offline interpersonal relationships. The chapter also reviews prominent work by Turkle, which is often quoted in the popular media and helps to perpetuate the notion that online communication diminishes intimacy in offline friendships. It presents two competing hypotheses in the literature–the rich-get-richer versus the compensation hypotheses–in terms of findings and quality of research, contrasting these findings with common concerns expressed in the media. The authors identify some high-quality, longitudinal research in the field, but conclude that most studies rely on self-reports and fail to convey the nature of friendships as a shared dyadic phenomenon. In line with the chapter, the authors suggest moving away from the good vs. bad dichotomy in terms of researching online communication, and instead explore how it can be used well to satisfy the need for close and rewarding interpersonal connections.