Online Communication and Adolescent Social Ties: Who benefits more from Internet use?*

Literature suggests 4 hypotheses to explain social outcomes of online communication among adolescents: displacement, increase, rich-get-richer, and social-compensation hypotheses. The present study examines which hypothesis is supported, considering differences in social ties (time vs. quality of social relationships; parent-child relationships; friendships; school connectedness). This study's sample was 1,312 adolescents ages 12 to 18. Displacement hypothesis predicted negative associations between time in online communication and time with parents, but time with friends was not displaced. Examination of relationships among earlier sociability, online communication, and cohesive friendships supported the rich-get-richer hypothesis. That is, adolescents who already had strong social relationships at earlier ages were more likely to use online communication, which in turn predicted more cohesive friendships and better connectedness to school.