Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Are the Qualities of Adolescents’ Offline Friendships Present in Digital Interactions?

  • Narrative Review
  • Published:
Adolescent Research Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Today’s youth often connect with friends online. Although decades of research have explored the core qualities of face-to-face friendships, less is known about how these qualities differ when friends interact via technology. Through a synthesis of research on friendship in digital spaces, we examine whether the core qualities of face-to-face friendships are evident in cyberspace. Six key components of friendships were identified from the large canon of research on friendships and studies that addressed these topics (i.e., self-disclosure, validation, companionship, instrumental support, conflict, and conflict resolution) were reviewed. The findings suggest that, while peer interactions in online spaces may be novel, the core qualities of friendships identified in research on offline spaces persist. Future research directions are identified.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Kingsbury, M., & Schneider, B. H. (2013). Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning? Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 33–39. doi:10.1016/j.chb.201.2.05.025.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barth, R. J., & Kinder, B. N. (1988). A theoretical analysis of sex differences in same-sex friendships. Sex Roles, 19(5/6), 349–363. doi:10.1007/bf00289842.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, J. B., Ellison, N. B., Schoenebeck, S. Y., & Falk, E. B. (2015). Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat. Information, Communication, & Society, 19(7), 956–977. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2015.1084349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazarova, N. N. (2012). Public intimacy: Disclosure interpretation and social judgments on Facebook. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 815–832. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01664.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J. (1985). Prosocial behavior between friends in middle childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 5(3), 307–317. doi:10.1177/0272431685053005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J. (1989). Obtaining support from friends during childhood and adolescence. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children’s social networks and social supports. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T.J., Hawkins, J.A., & Jiao, Z. (1999). Influences of friends and friendships on adjustment to junior high school. Merrill-Palmer Quaterly 45(1), 13–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23093308.

  • Bigelow, B. J., & La Gaipa, J. J. (1975). Children’s written descriptions of friendship: A multidimensional analysis. Developmental Psychology, 11(6), 857–858.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair, B. L., Fletcher, A. C., & Gaskin, E. R. (2013). Cell phone decision making: Adolescents’ perceptions of how and why they make the choice to text or call. Youth & Society, 47(3), 395–411. doi:10.1177/0044118X13499594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blight, M. G., Jagiello, K., & Ruppel, E. K. (2015). “Same stuff different day:” A mixed-method study of support seeking on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 366–373. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.029.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortree, D. S. (2005). Presentation of self on the web: An ethnographic study of teenage girls’ weblogs. Education, Communication & Information, 5(1), 25–39. doi:10.1080/14636310.

    Google Scholar 

  • boyd, d. (2008). Taken out of context: American teen sociality in networked publics. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • boyd, d. (2010). Friendship. In M. Ito, S. Baumer, M. Bittanti, d. boyd, R. Cody, B. Stephenson, H. Horst, P. Lange, D. Mahendran, K. Martínez, C.J. Pascoe, D. Perkel, L. Robinson, C. Sims, & L. Tripp (Eds.), Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media (pp. 79–115). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • boyd, d. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • boyd, d., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandes, S. B., & Levin, D. (2014). “Like My Status” Israeli teenage girls constructing their social connections on the Facebook social network. Feminist Media Studies, 14(5), 743–758. doi:10.1080/14680777.2013.833533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B.B. (2016). “Conceptualizing adolescent peer relations in the “social media” era.” Paper presentation at the Society for Research on Child Development’s Special Topics Meeting on Technology and Media in Children’s Development in Irvine, CA.

  • Bryant, E. M., & Marmo, J. (2012). The rules of Facebook friendship: A two-stage examination of interaction rules in close, casual, and acquaintance friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. doi:10.1177/0265407512443616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhrmester, D. (1996). Need fulfillment, interpersonal competence, and the developmental contexts of early adolescent friendships. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep (158–185). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhrmester, D., & Prager, K. (1995). Patterns and functions of self-disclosure during childhood and adolescence. In K. J. Rotenberg (Ed.), Disclosure processes in children and adolescents (10–56). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bukowski, W. M., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1991). Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence: The development and psychometric properties of the friendship quality scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11(3), 471–484. doi:10.1177/0265407594113011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bukowski, W. M., Motzoi, C., & Meyer, F. (2009). Friendship as process, function, and outcome. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (217–231). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burhmester, D., & Chow, C. M. (2009). Friendships in adolescence. In H. T. Reis & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Human Relationships (Vol. 3, pp. 718–722). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, A., & Poulin, F. (2007). Monthly changes in the composition of friendship networks in early adolescence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53(4), 578–602. doi:10.1353/mpq.2008.0000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. S. (2005). The constant contact generation: Exploring teen friendship networks online. In S. R. Mazzarella (Ed.), Girl wide web: Girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity (203–222). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Mermelstein, R., Kamarck, T., & Hoberman, H. M. (1985). Measuring the functional components of social support. In I. G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds.), Social support: Theory, research, and applications (pp 73–94). Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Common Sense Media (2015). The Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_researchreport.pdf. Retrieved November 2016.

  • Crockett, L., Losoff, M., & Peterson, A. C. (1984). Perceptions of the peer group and friendship in early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 4(2), 155–181. doi:10.1177/0272431684042004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (2012). Friendship 2.0: Adolescents’ experiences of belonging and self-disclosure online. Journal of Adolescence, 35(6), 1527–1536. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.02.013.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Ridder, S., & Van Bauwel, S. (2013). Commenting on pictures: Teens negotiating gender and sexualities on social networking sites. Sexualities, 16(5/6), 565–586. doi:10.1177/1363460713487369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derks, D., Bos, A.E.R., & von Grumbkow, J. (2008). Emoticons and online message interpretation. Social Science Computer Review, 26(3), 379–388. doi:10.1177/0894439307311611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desjarlais, M., & Willoughby, T. (2010). A longitudinal study of the relation between adolescent boys and girls’ computer use with friends and friendship quality: Support for the social compensation or the rich-get-richer hypothesis? Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 896–905. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.02.004.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSmet, A., Veldeman, C., Poels, K., Bastiaensens, S., Van Cleemput, K., Vandebosch, H., & De Bourdeaudhuji, I. (2014). Determinants of self-reported bystander behavior in cyberbullying incidents among adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(4), 207–215. doi:10.1089/cyber.2013.0027.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolev-Cohen, M., & Barak, A. (2013). Adolescents’ use of Instant Messaging as a means of emotional relief. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(1), 58–63. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douvan, E., & Adelson, J. (1966). The adolescent experience. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eder, D. (1985). The cycle of popularity: Interpersonal relations among female adolescents. Sociology of Education, 58(3), 154–165. doi:10.2307/2112416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Facebook (2016a). Control who can see what you share. https://www.facebook.com/help/1297502253597210/?helpref=hc_fnav. Retrieved February 2017.

  • Facebook (2016b). Liking and reacting. https://www.facebook.com/help/452446998120360/. Retrieved February 2017.

  • Fehr, B. (1996). Friendship processes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felmlee, D., Sweet, E., & Sinclair, H. C. (2012). Gender rules: Same-and cross-gender friendships norms. Sex Roles, 66(7–8), 518–529. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0109-z.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. J., & Olson, C. K. (2013). Friends, fun, frustration and fantasy: Child motivations for video game play. Motivation and Emotion, 37(1), 154–164. doi:10.1007/s11031-012-9284-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forest, A. L., & Wood, J. V. (2012). When social networking is not working: Individuals with low self-esteem recognize but do not reap the benefits of self-disclosure on Facebook. Psychological Science, 23(3), 295–302. doi:10.1177/0956797611429709.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, W., & Collins, W. A. (2009). Adolescent romantic relationships and experiences. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (341–360). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauze, C., Bukowski, W. M., Aquan-Assee, J., & Sippola, L. K. (1996). Interactions between family environment and friendship and associations with self-perceived well-being during early adolescence. Child Development, 67(5), 2201–2216. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01852.x.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlitz, C., & Helmond, A. (2013). The like economy: Social buttons and the data-intensive web. New Media & Society, 15(8), 1348–1365. doi:10.1177/1461444812472322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gifford-Smith, M. E., & Brownell, C. A. (2003). Childhood peer relationships: Social acceptance, friendships, and peer networks. Journal of School Psychology, 41(4), 235–284. doi:10.1016/S0022-4405(03)00048-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giordano, P. C. (1995). The wider circle of friends in adolescence. American Journal of Sociology, 101(3), 661–697. doi:10.1086/230756.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grinter, R. E., & Palen, L. (2002). Instant messaging in teen life. In: CSCW’02 Proceedings of the 2002 ACM conference on computer supported cooperative work (pp. 21–30). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/587078.587082.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartup, W. W. (1993). Adolescents and their friends. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 60, 3–22. doi:10.1002/cd.23219936003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartup, W. W., & Stevens, N. (1997). Friendships and adaptation in the life course. Psychological Bulletin, 121(3), 355–370. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, E.V.E., Malone, M. J., & Perry, D. G. (1997). Individual risk and social risk as interacting determinants of victimization in the peer group. Developmental Psychology, 33(6), 1032–1039. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.33.6.1032.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, C., Chen, Z., & Li, C. (2017). “Liking” and being “liked”: How are personality traits and demographics associated with giving and receiving “likes” on Facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 292–299. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.048.

    Google Scholar 

  • Instagram (2016a). Controlling your visibility. https://help.instagram.com/243810329323104/?helpref=hc_fnav. Retrieved February 2017.

  • Instagram (2016b). How do I like a photo or video? https://help.instagram.com/459307087443937. Retrieved February 2017.

  • Jones, M. G., Schieffelin, B. B., & Smith, R. E. (2011). When friends who talk together stalk together: Online gossip as metacommunication. In C. Thurlow & K. Mroczek (Eds.), Digital discourse: Language in the new media (pp 26–47). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Khan, M. L., Wohn, D. Y., & Ellison, N. B. (2014). Actual friends matter: An internet skills perspective on teens’ informal academic collaboration on Facebook. Computers & Education, 79, 138–147. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krappmann, L. (1996). Amicitia, drujba, shin-yu, philia, freundschaft, friendship: On the cultural diversity of a human relationship. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep (19–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladd, G. W., & Kochenderfer, B. J. (1996). Linkages between friendship and adjustment during early school transitions. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep (322–345). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laursen, B. (1993). The perceived impact of conflict on adolescent relationships. Merrill-Palmer, 42, 148–164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23087248.

  • Laursen, B. (1995). Conflict and social interaction in adolescent relationships. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 5(1), 55–70. doi:10.1207/s15327795jra0501_3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laursen, B. (1996). Closeness and conflict in adolescent peer relationships: Interdependence with friends and romantic partners. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep (186–210). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenhart, A. (2015a). Teens, social media, & technology overview 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/.

  • Lenhart, A. (2015b). Teens, technology, and friendships. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/.

  • Leung, L. (2007). Stressful life events, motives for internet use, and social support among digital kids. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 10(2), 204–214. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9967.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J., & West, A. (2009). ‘Friending’: London-based undergraduates’ experience of Facebook. New Media & Society, 11(7), 1209–1229. doi:10.1177/1461444809342058.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindqvist, J., Cranshaw, J., Wiese, J., Hong, J., & Zimmerman, J. (2011). I’m the mayor of my house: Examining why people use foursquare- a social-driven location sharing application. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 2409–2418). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1978942.1979295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(3), 393–411. doi:10.1177/1461444808089415.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacEvoy, J. P., & Asher, S. R. (2012). When friends disappoint: Boys’ and girls’ responses to transgressions of friendship expectations. Child Development, 83(1), 104–119. doi:10.1111/j.146.7-8624.2011.01685.x.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macháčková, H., Dedkova, L., Sevcikova, A., & Cerna, A. (2013). Bystanders’ support of cyberbullied schoolmates. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 23, 25–36. doi:10.1002/casp.2135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2013). Teens, social media, and privacy. http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-privacy/.

  • Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., & Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 446–458. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manago, A. M., Taylor, T., & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The anatomy of college students’ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369–380. doi:10.1037/a0026338.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazur, E., & Kozarian, L. (2010). Self-presentation and interaction in blogs of adolescents and young emerging adults. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(1), 124–144. doi:10.1177/0743558409350498.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, G. J. (1988). The organizational life cycle of relationships. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (467–484). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDougall, P. & Hymel, S. (2007). Same-gender versus cross-gender friendship conceptions: Similar or different? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53(3), 347–380. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23096125.pdf.

  • McLaughlin, C., & Vitak, J. (2011). Norm evolution and violation on Facebook. New Media & Society, 14(2), 299–315. doi:10.1177/1461444811412712.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNelles, L. R., & Connolly, J. A. (1999). Intimacy between adolescent friends: Age and gender differences in intimate affect and intimate behaviors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9(2), 143–159. doi:10.1207/s15327795jra0902_2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menon, M. (2011). Does felt gender compatibility mediate influences of self-perceived gender nonconformity on early adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment? Child Development, 82(4), 1152–1162. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01601.x.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niland, P., Lyons, A. C., Goodwin, I., & Hutton, F. (2015). Friendship work on Facebook: Young adults’ understandings and practices of friendship. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 25(2), 123–137. doi:10.1002/casp.2201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papini, D.R., Farmer, F.F., Clark, S.M., Micka, J.C., & Barnett, J.K. (1990). Early adolescent age and gender differences in patterns of emotional self-disclosure to parents and friends. Adolescence, 25(100), 959–976. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1295875463?accountid=14509.

  • Paquette, J.A. & Underwood, M.K. (1999). Gender differences in young adolescents’ experiences of peer victimization: Social and physical aggression. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45(2), 242–266. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23093677.

  • Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611–621. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piwek, L., & Joinson, A. (2016). “What do they snapchat about?” Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 358–367. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.026.

    Google Scholar 

  • Planalp, S., & Benson, A. (1992). Friends’ and acquaintances’ conversations: Perceived differences. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9(4), 483–506. doi:10.1177/0265407592094002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., Borelli, J. L., Cheah, C.S.L., & Simon, V. A. (2005). Adolescent girls’ interpersonal vulnerability to depressive symptoms: A longitudinal examination of reassurance-seeking and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114(4), 676–688. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.114.4.676.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radmacher, K., & Azmitia, M. (2006). Are there gendered pathways to intimacy in early adolescents’ and emerging adults’ friendships? Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(4), 415–448. doi:10.1177/0743558406287402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich, S. M. (2010). Adolescents’ sense of community on Myspace and Facebook: A mixed-methods approach. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(6), 688–705. doi:10.1002/jcop.20389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich, S. M., Black, R. W., & Korobkova, K. (2014). Connections and communities in virtual worlds designed for children. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(3), 255–267. doi:10.1002/jcop.21608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich, S. M., Subrahmanyam, K., & Espinoza, G. (2012). Friending, IMing, and hanging out face-to-face: overlap in adolescents’ online and offline social networks. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 356–368. doi:10.1037/a0026980.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, S. M. (2016). Connecting offline social competence to online peer interactions. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. doi:10.1037/ppm0000111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K., Bukowski, W. M., & Parker, J. G. (2006). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In W. Damon, R. M. Lerner & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed,. Vol. 3, 571–645). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rueda, H. A., Lindsay, M., & Williams, L. R. (2015). “She posted it on Facebook”: Mexican American adolescents’ experiences with technology and romantic relationship conflict. Journal of Adolescent Research, 30(4), 419–445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samter, W. (2003). Friendship interaction skills across the life-span. In J. O. Greene & B. R. Burleson (Eds.), Handbook of communication and social interaction skills (637–684). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scissors, L., Burke, M., & Wengrovitz, S. (2016). What’s in a Like? Attitudes and behaviors around receiving Likes on Facebook. In CSCW’16 Proceedings of the 19th ACM conference on computer-supported cooperative work & social computing (pp. 1501–1510). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/2818048.2820066.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seydlitz, R. (1991). The effects of age and gender on parental control and delinquency. Youth & Society, 23(2), 175–201. doi:10.1177/0044118x91023002002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharabany, R., Gershoni, R., & Hofman, J. E. (1981). Girlfriend, boyfriend: Age and sex differences in intimate friendship. Developmental Psychology, 17(6), 800–808. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.17.6.800.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, L. E., Michikyan, M., & Greenfield, P.M. (2013). The effects of text, audio, video, and in-person communication on bonding between friends. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. doi:10.5817/CP2013-2-3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrum, W., & Cheek, N. H. (1987). Social structure during the school years: Onset of the degrouping progress. American Sociological Review, 52(2), 218–223. doi:10.2307/2095450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, S., & Laursen, B. (2002). Adolescent Perceptions of conflict in interdependent and disengaged friendships. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12(3), 353–372. doi:10.1111/1532-7795.00037.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Smahel, D., Brown, B. B., & Blinka, L. (2012). Associations between online friendship and Internet addiction among adolescents and emerging adults. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 381–388. doi:10.1037/a0027025.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G., & Villalobos, M. (2009). Social cognitive development in adolescence. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 1, 10–56). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S. M., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008). Online and offline social networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 420–433. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York, NY: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tong, S. T., Van Der Heide, B., Langwell, L., & Walther, J. B. (2008). Too much of a good thing? The relationship between number of friends and interpersonal impressions on Facebook. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(3), 531–549. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2008.00409.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Twitter (2016). What are replies and mentions?. https://support.twitter.com/articles/14023. Retrieved August 2016.

  • Underwood, M. K., Ehrenreich, S. E., More, D., Solis, J. S., & Brinkley, D. Y. (2015). The BlackBerry project: The hidden world of adolescents’ text messaging and relations with internalizing symptoms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25(1), 101–117. doi:10.1111/jora.12101.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, M. K., Rosen, L. H., More, D., Ehrenreich, S. E., & Gentsch, J. K. (2012). The BlackBerry project: Capturing the content of adolescents’ text messaging. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 295–302. doi:10.1037/a0025914.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Preadolescents’ and adolescents’ online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 267–277. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.267.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Ouytsel, J., Van Gool, E., Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., & Peeters, E. (2016). Exploring the role of social networking sites within adolescent romantic relationships and dating experiences. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 76–86. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.042.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vickery, J. R. (2010). Blogrings as virtual communities for adolescent girls. In S. Mazzarella (Ed.), Girl wide web 2.0: Revising girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity (pp. 183–202). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Salisch, M., & Vogelgesang, J. (2005). Anger regulation among friends: Assessment and development from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22(6), 837–855. doi:10.1177/0265407505058702.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walther, J. B., Van Der Heide, B., Kim, S. Y., Westerman, D., & Tong, S. T. (2008). The role of friends’ appearance and behavior on evaluations of individuals on Facebook: Are we known by the company we keep? Human Communication Research, 34(1), 28–49. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00312.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C.-C., & Wang, C.-H. (2008). Helping others in online games: Prosocial behavior in cyberspace. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(3), 344–346. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.0045.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S. S., & Stefanone, M. A. (2013). Showing off? Human mobility and the interplay of traits, self-disclosure, and Facebook check-ins. Social Science Computer Review, 31(4), 437–457. doi:10.1177/0894439313481424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, E. C., & Selman, R. L. (2016). Digital stress: Adolescents’ personal accounts. New Media & Society, 18(3), 391–409. doi:10.1177/1461444814543989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, C. C., Brown, B. B., & Braun, M. T. (2013). From Facebook to cell calls: Layers of electronic intimacy in college students’ interpersonal relationships. New Media & Society, 16(1), 5–23. doi:10.1177/1461444812472486.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yau, J.C. & Reich, S.M. (2016). “Adolescent friendships on Instagram and Snapchat”. Paper presentation at the 2016 American Psychological Association Convention.

  • Yau, J. C., & Reich, S. M. (under review a). Audiences and allies: Adolescents' self-presentation norms and practices on Facebook and Instagram.

  • Yau, J. C., & Reich, S. M. (under review b). Getting the message: The association of network size and friend contact on Facebook.

  • Youniss, J., & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, S., Grasmuck, S., & Martin, J. (2008). Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 1816–1836. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2008.02.012.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported, in part, by a Grant from the National Science Foundation to Stephanie M. Reich (1218705). The authors would also like to thank the Development in Social Context Lab at the University of California, Irvine for their feedback.

Author Contributions

JCY conceptualized the study, conducted the literature search, analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. SMR conceptualized the study and helped analyze and interpret the data and draft the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of California, 3200 Education, Irvine, CA, 92697-5500, USA

    Joanna C. Yau & Stephanie M. Reich

Authors
  1. Joanna C. Yau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephanie M. Reich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanna C. Yau.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This manuscript does not involve any human participants or animals.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yau, J.C., Reich, S.M. Are the Qualities of Adolescents’ Offline Friendships Present in Digital Interactions?. Adolescent Res Rev 3, 339–355 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-017-0059-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-017-0059-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation