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11 - Romantic Relationships and Social Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

By
Bree McEwan  and
Leah E. LeFebvre
Edited by
Brian G. Ogolsky
Brian G. Ogolsky
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Summary

Many mediated channels are available for relational partners to use for relational partners. At times these channels are facilitating long-standing relational processes such as relational maintenance, whereas at other times the channels provide new mechanisms for relational tasks such as gathering information about potential and new romantic partners or presenting the relationship to the couple’s broader social network. This chapter reviews relational processes through the lens of social media. The chapter overviews how romantic couples use social media in the initial stages of relationships to find potential romantic partners and seek information about potential and new partners, to communicate maintenance behaviors throughout the relationship, and the impact of social media during the dissolution phases. Both positively valenced behaviors (e.g., comanaging relational impressions and using social media to create electronic tie-signs) and negatively valenced behaviors (e.g., ghosting and cyberstalking) are discussed.

Keywords

communicationsocial networkFacebooksocial mediaphoneonline
Type
Chapter
Information
The Sociocultural Context of Romantic Relationships , pp. 201 - 225
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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