The topics of breadth and depth have come up repeatedly.  That is because these two terms are so important and the central foundation to the Social Penetration Theory.  Just as in real life, breadth and depth works the same in online social networks such as Facebook.  Greater breadth of self-disclosure will predict greater depth of self-disclosure (Craig).  Likewise, the revelation of breadth and depth lead to predictions of a user’s Facebook friends’ behaviors.  Along with greater predictability comes greater interdependence (Craig).  Think of your closest Facebook friends.  How often do you visit their page or view their photos?  Do you know ever time they have updated the smallest thing on their page?  With Facebook being a relatively new phenomenon, it will be interesting to see additional research on relationships, especially romantic, conducted about it in the years to come.

When studying relationships that begin on the Internet, Parks and Floyd conducted a study to measure social communication and relationship development on the Internet. Breath, the limited amount of communication topics and depth, how much one chooses to reveal about each topic, were found to overlap in the Internet relationships. Other measures in the study focus on relationship commitment, (eg. “the two of us depend on each other”), code change (eg. “We have special nicknames what we just use with each other”), predictability (eg. “I do not know this person very will”), commitment (eg. “This relationship is a big part of who I am”), and network convergence, (eg. “We have overlapping social circles on the Net”) The participants in Parks and Floyds study had been in an on-line relationship for an average of 9.63 months and they reported “moderate levels or breath and depth.”

SPT predicts that relationship development is a continuous and usually a gradual process. Self-disclosure in social interactions moves from superficial to more personal levels, increased levels of depth, and the partners divulge information about a wider range if topics, breadth, and the relationship progresses.

How honest are people who participate in online dating?  It is so tempting to use the Internet to manipulate your identity (Gibbs, Elison, Heino).  In a study done by these researchers, they found a surprising result that honestly has a negative effect on the self-presentation success of relationships.  One explanation is that lack of honesty results in a better impression of oneself.  A person is able to edit the flaws and bad habits.  The easiest mode to do this through is online dating because that person does not have face-to-face contact with the other person, especially at the beginning of a budding relationship.  Social penetration theory supports this because the theory claims people do not give out negative information in the early stages of the relationship.  This same study conducted a survey that found similar results.  People misrepresented facts such a physical appearance, relationship goals, age, income and marital status (Gibbs, Elison, Heino).

 

Social Penetration Theory is all about how people reveal layers of themselves.  What does it take to get to those deepest layers of person information?  Online dating brings a whole new dimension to this theory.  In a face-to-face relationship, there is no way around revealing certain layers.  You can’t hide your appearance or age or income.  Online dating provides a way to dance around those details.  You can embellish and hide whatever you want.  The layers that normally get revealed at the initiating stage can be avoided.  Is this a healthy way to date?  Or is it okay to avoid those issues as long as possible?

Today’s world is practically dominated by technology. The Internet plays such a big role in society, it would be impossible for it not to play a big role in relationships as well. The question is whether technology helps or hinders people’s relationships.
I have a friend who is currently in a long distance relationship. Her and her boyfriend dated before college and have since been apart at different colleges. This is where technology comes in handy for them. Cell phones, text messages, emails, and iChat or Skype are all ways they can keep in touch without being physically with each other. There is one more medium that can help with their long distance relationship, but it can also be considered controversial in a relationship. That medium is Facebook. Facebook can bring joy to people who want to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and converse with current friends. But what exactly does Facebook bring to existing relationships, especially those that are long distance? I feel like it just a mode to create jealousy among a couple. Pictures are the biggest instigator. Who wants to see their significant other get tagged in pictures with random girls or guys they do not know? Or wonder what that last wall post about the crazy party meant? The ultimate downfall of Facebook’s presence in a relationship is the dreaded “relationship status.” If you break up and have to make your status as single, be prepared for a torrent of texts, messages, calls, or any other computer-mediated contact asking you what is going on. Sometimes, those calls come before you even know!
Is Facebook really worth the jealousy and fights it could cause among long distance couples? My friend thinks so, as she still has it and her and her boyfriend are still together. I don’t think it is capable of truly breaking apart a relationship, but sometimes it seems to go too far in pushing buttons. This raises a better question: is it better to know all the details or remain sweetly oblivious to the things that could make you mad?

Breadth and Depth

The social penetration theory states that as relationships develop, communication moves from relatively shallow, no intimate levels to deeper, more personal ones. Typically, the social penetration theory implies that the more time we spend with eachother, the more likely we are to self-disclose more intimate thoughts and details of our lives. But what if we have never met this person, or we have but most of our communication has been computer mediated?

“Close relationships develop in a variable ways. But whatever the specific pattern, social penetration theory gives a distinctive emphasis to self-disclosing behaviors because a relationship begins and is maintained by the “gradual overlapping and exploration of their mutual selves by parties to a relationship.” (Sprecher andWenzel) When someone meets another person all they know about that person is what they see, what others have told them about that person, based on their first impression. “The main route to social penetration is through sharing a wise range of topics (breadth) and personally revealing information that is a core of one’s self concept (depth)” (Yum and Hara). Breath includes the surface topics, which typically are very easy to talk about when you are in the beginning stages of a relationship such as your favorite food, music and movies. Breadth is the number of topics while depth is the how much one discloses about each topic. For example, what religion you are is the the breadth of the conversation but once you start disclosing your true beliefs within the religion that is the depth of the conversation.

What if you were told that you were comparable to an onion? Not something cool like a tiger or exciting like a lightning bolt, but a plain old, smelly onion. That is exactly what Altman and Taylor compared people to when they established the Social Penetration Theory in 1973. They said people were like onions. They have many layers and with each peeled layer, you get deeper into the onion. The outer layer contains details that people are willing to share with people they first meet. This can be a thing like your sex, age, hair color, and height. Only through peeling back the layers, can people discover the deeper information. It is weird to consider yourself like an onion, but it many ways it is true. There are certain layers that we don’t want anyone to get to, that is why they are at the deepest core of the onion. Those deepest desires or fears or dreams are only shared with people you really trust. There is no greater treasure than being the person who can be confided in. If you don’t know if you are that person, ask yourself how much you know about your friends, roommates, spouse, or family. It is a start if you know a lot of things about a person, which is also referred to as breadth. What really counts is the depth of what you know. If your friends peels back all his or her layers for you and lets you in to their inner core, that is when you really know that person. So next time you look at an onion and just see a plain old, smelly sphere of layers, think of what might be under those layers and how great it would be to find out what lies beneath.