The Road to Personal Intimacy:Self-Disclosure within Online Relationships

Electronic social networking has been a pivotal tool for different forms of personal intimacy. It has been found that users of social media platforms often have a higher level of self-disclosure. This means that more often by utilizing social media, people are more willing to share deep levels of personal information to individuals they’ve met using an online platform at a rapid rate. More often than not, personal and intimate relationships are formed quicker online than in person. There are many interesting studies done on this topic. Being a communication major, I have spent a lot of time analyzing data that displays personal and intimate relationships formed online and how the level of self-disclosure expands exponentially faster than relationships formed face to face. I think this is most interesting because most individuals who form relationships are perceived as being more stable and reliable. In reality this is not always the case. There is an awful stigma attached to couples and relationships that were formed using social media. This is a common misperception within intimate relationships. Intimate relationships are often gauged around their levels of intimacy and self-disclosure. Based upon several years of research, it has been found that self-disclosure can make or break a relationship. It is very important to know things about your significant other whether it be a face to face relationship or an online relationship. There is a certain comfort in being able to share things with other individuals online without being able to see their nonverbal communication and then feeling odd about sharing some things. Overall, online relationships tend to develop at a more rapid rate than those that are formed face to face due to an increased level of self-disclosure.