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20 September 2012

Face-to-Face Communication Still Rules

Keywords: computer, multitasking, survey, television, North America, internet, mobile, mobile phone, tablet, teens, tweens,

Despite all opportunities to socially interact with friends online, real life communication is still the most ‘healthy’ form of communication for young girls. According to a study in Developmental Psychology, face-to-face communication is associated with feelings of being socially happy, while online communication and extensive media use are associated with negative socio-emotional outcomes. Girls' multitasking behavior is also discussed.

Take aways

  • Girls who communicate with their friends face-to-face regularly experience greater feelings of social happiness (e.g., feelings of social success and being normal).
  • In contrast, girls who often engage in online communication (via instant messaging, email or social network sites) experience lowered feelings of social happiness.
  • Extensive amounts of video watching and multitasking are also related to reduced feelings of social happiness and fewer hours of sleep.

Study information

  • The question?

    How do media use, online communication, and face-to-face communication relate to social well-being? 

  • Who?

    3461 8-to 12-year-old girls (mean age: 11 years old) 

  • Where?

    United States & Canada 

  • How?

    The data was collected via an online survey. The survey link was shown in the August/September 2010 issue of the Discovery Girls magazine. This American magazine targets 8-to 12-year-olds girls. In the survey, the girls were asked about their media use, multitasking, friendships (online and offline) and time they spent interacting face to face. They had to complete the whole survey in order to win an I-pod.

Facts and findings

  • Girls who watch a lot of videos felt like being less socially successful (i.e., having lots of friends, finding it easy to make and keep friends, etc.) 
  • Girls who frequently communicate online (e.g., via instant messaging, email or social network sites) and often engage in media multitasking reported to feel less normal than other people of their age. These girls also reported a relatively low amount of sleep.
  • In contrast, girls who regularly talk to others face-to-face felt like being more socially successful and normal. 
  • Girls who frequently communicate online and talk to their friends on the phone evaluated their online friendships as more positive (e.g., more trustworthy, comfortable, and safe) than their offline friendships. For girls who prefer to communicate face-to-face, this was the other way around. 
  • Only 1 out of 10 girls ranked online friends more positively than offline friends. 
  • On average, the girls spent 6.9 hours per day using media and 2.1 hours communicating face-to-face.
  • Girls and their media multitasking behaviors:
    • When using a medium, girls used an average of 1,4 other media at the same time.
    • The most common media multitask activities were: listening to music, talking on the phone, and communicating online.
    • Girls who owned a cell phone and had a television in their bedroom multitasked more often. Computer ownership did not influence their multitasking behaviors.
    • Multitasking also occurred while communicating face-to-face. However, the more girls communicated face-to-face, the less they engaged in multitasking.
    • Older girls reported to multitask more often than younger girls. 
  • Critical note: The results might not be representative of the American population of 8-to 12-year-olds girls, because only readers of Discovery Girls magazine answered the online survey. 
  • Critical note: This study does not allow for any conclusions about cause (e.g., online or face-to-face communication) and effect (e.g., social wellbeing). The results only show that some types of communication are associated with certain socio-emotional feelings and cannot say anything about what causes what.