Relationship on the Internet

McKenna, Green and Gleason (2002) suggested that the ability to show "true" self online, the likelihood of close relationship formation, and the possibility of bringing relationships online to offline are mutually related. I would argue that this type of enhancement only exists when a person display a more consistent " true self" online and offline, or there is less discrepancy between the two self's. If a user is intentionally trying to turn into a different person in virtual world, (s)he would keep that online relationship online to be safe.

My early experience/perceptions of how powerful a social network could be was not from BBS, newsgroup, or chat room, but an online game called "Legend". Back in 2002 before my coming to the U.S, it was perhaps the top one game then (still one of the most popular now) in China. Millions of people got addicted to it, including my best friend S. She lived a double life literally. During the day, she's a company employee, well-dressed and self-disciplined. At night, she's a spicy witch and warrior online: besides enemies, she also had her "sisters and brothers", leaders, followers, even pursuers. Her relationships online seemed to be closer and stronger than those developed in her real social network, yet she kept the two worlds/lives apart. Another young couple I knew went even far. The husband met a "girl" in Legend and developed such a "deep" feelings for each other that they eventually got married in the virtual world-- all the time the real wife knew and permitted. When the husband and his virtual bride were holding a wedding ceremony with hundreds of guests and friends attending on the screen, the real wife is sitting right beside him! They actually used the game to escape the boredom of routine life and satisfy their fantasies. However, it is hard to imagine that they would bring the relationships formed online to real life--just too complicated to handle.


Kraut et al (1998) proposed two opposing models--"social enhancement (richer get richer)" and "social compensation"--to predict the relationship between Internet use and social network. I suppose both coexist in reality and insisting on either one tends to ignore the complicity of the problem.
The figure on p.61 shows that as introvert users' use of Internet increases, their community involvement decreases while their feeling of loneliness grows. So if you are lonely offline, going online won't help; or make you feel even worse. Linking back to the topic of building a learning community, the facilitator/moderator/instructor may need pay more attention to this type of learners, making them feel more comfortable, and more confident to participate.