Do we visit, call, or email?: media matter in close relationships

Authors:
Jonathon N. Cummings;Robert Kraut;Sara Kiesler
Affiliations:
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Venue:
CHI '01 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2001

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Abstract

People use a variety of media to communicate with family and friends, though the evidence is sparse regarding whether differences in the quality of social relationships can be explained, in part, by differences in the media they use. Participants (N=446) in a longitudinal study of household technology use were asked to generate the names of up to 5 family or friends who lived nearby and up to 5 family and friends who lived far away. For each relationship at three points during the course of one year, respondents reported the frequency of face-to-face, phone, and email communication as well as how close they felt toward them. Analyses indicated that an increase in phone communication was most strongly associated with an increase in feelings of closeness, regardless of whether family and friends were nearby or far away.