Social Relationships 3 making connections with ­people. From a psychological perspective, much of ado- lescent activity is driven by the need to establish an identity in the world, to figure out who one is, and how one wants to be portrayed to every­one ­ else. Social needs are paramount. Text­ing is one of the most recent phenomena. Text­ing is king among adolescents right now they prefer to use it, and do use it, as a primary communi- cation channel. ­There may be several good reasons for ­ doing so, which is supported by research. CMC has provided comfortable alternatives to talking face-­to-­face for fulfilling ­ those social needs. Five ­ factors have been proposed for why text­ ing is so popu­lar among teens. ­These are cost, privacy, ease, disinhibition, and language play. (Note that ­ these ­ factors make text­ ing appealing to ­ people of other ages, too.) Regard- ing cost, many cell phone plans in the United States and other Western countries include ­free, unlimited text messages. Regarding privacy, messages are usually sent to one individual and, since they are not spoken aloud as in face-­to-­face commu- nication, it is pos­si­ble to keep their contents private even when other ­ people are around. When it comes to ease, text messages are fast to type in fact, many teens have learned to type them without even looking at their phones. Disinhibition means that a person can feel comfortable expressing their true opinion through a text ­ because he or she cannot see the potentially negative nonverbal reactions of the person receiving the message. Fi­nally, language play involves the fun of creating new expressions and using text enhancements like emojis. As early as 2010, it was established through surveys that U.S. teen­agers preferred and used text messaging over all other communication channels, including face-­to-­face communication. The five ­ factors driving the popularity of text­ ing have been found to influence teens’ adoption of text messaging as a key form of communication around the world, although not ­every ­factor is equally impor­tant in all countries. In Kuwait, for instance, very few teen­agers mention wordplay as an impor­tant reason to use text messaging. The differences between the use of text­ing in dif­fer­ent countries may be due to differences in cultures, which may affect the manner in which ­ people use text messaging. TALKING FACE-­TO-­FACE AND FRIENDSHIPS ­ People choose communication channels to suit their purposes and motivations, and they actively switch between channels. It is preferable for some types of inter- actions to be done online. Within communication channels, ­people may use dif­ fer­ ent tools for dif­ fer ­ ent communication purposes. Researchers in the field of Communications have refined an approach to understanding why ­ people choose certain communication channels. The approach is called uses and gratifications it aims to connect ­people’s self-­reported motives for using technology to their ­actual technology choices. Research has uncovered multiple dif­fer­ent motivations that shape how ­ people connect to ­ others. ­ These include social coordination (planning to get together), impression management (wanting to look good in the eyes of ­ others), regulating closeness and distance (how deep of a relationship you want), and managing arousal and anxiety (for example, avoiding ­ others to reduce negative thoughts). When ­ people want to have communications that involve a more per- sonal focus, provide immediate feedback, have complete information about
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