The Influences of Facebook on Romantic Relationship Development: Facebook Activities and Perception of the Person of interest

Abstract

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become a significant medium for communicating with others interpersonally and socially. Facebook usage has grown rapidly worldwide with estimated 1,679 million users (Internet World Stats, 2016). An extensive use of Facebook plays a crucial role in daily interactions between people globally and, definitely, in relationship enactment and development. Previous studies indicated a significant impact of Facebook on romantic relationships, both in positive and negative ways. Facebook usage fosters jealousy and suspicion (Fox, Osborn, & Warber, 2014; Ruedar, Lindsay, & Williams, 2015) and is a threat to romantic relationships (Cohen, Bowman, & Borchert, 2014). However, some reported that Facebook increases partners’ self-expansion (Carpenter & Spottswood, 2013) and level of commitment through Facebook Official (FBO) (Fox, Warber, & Makstaller, 2013). The main purposes of this study were to investigate (1) how people used Facebook to access information of and learned about the person of interest, and (2) how this information affected perception of the person they were dating during relationship enactment. Participants were 154 undergraduate students who completed a selfadministered questionnaire. The results showed that people were more likely to use passive activities to learn more about the person of interest. Passive activities were the strongest predictors of relationship development. However, Facebook use did not predict trust in the person. Thematic analysis also revealed Facebook activities of the person of interest that made the other feel good and worst. Feeling-good activities were responsiveness and positive self-expression; feeling-worst activities were unresponsiveness and negative self-expression.