User:Chelsea.nakayama/Knapp's relational development model

Knapp's relational development model in the modern world
Knapp’s relational stage model was created in 1978. This was well before the way we communicate became so heavily based on technology. The stages that have been established can still be seen, but they look a lot different than they did over forty years ago. Social Media Networks allows us to broadcast and share information about out relationships much more quickly and to a much broader audience.

In the first phase, the initiating phase, people tend to try to “size each other up” to decide whether to initiate a relationship and how to start communicating. This can be made more difficult in a virtual world where people communicate through text without ever seeing each other. In the virtual world you can be whoever you want to be and withhold information such as real name and where you are from. Even if or when photos are exchanged it is easy to send photos of someone other than yourself. This type of anonymity makes it difficult to know with whom you are really initiating a relationship.

In the second stage, experimenting, the two individuals try to learn more about each other. They try to determine if they have anything in common and decide if they want to pursue a relationship. If both parties decide to go to the intensifying step, they will start to exhibit more self-disclosure and start to have verbal shortcuts and more expressions of commitment. According to Fox and Weber’s 2013 study there are six stages in the escalation of relationships involving Social Media Networks:

1)    Meet the target face to face

2)    They went to Facebook to look at the profile of the target and send a friend request

3)    Request and exchange phone numbers

4)    They begin texting and will invite the target to a group activity

5)    They will begin to post on the targets Facebook wall and comment on posts

6)    They would call the person and ask them on a date

In the next stage, integrating, social circles start to merge, and they may exchange symbols of their relationship or own property together. If the relationship makes through the integrating stage, then it will enter the bonding stage. This stage is where their commitment will become formally announced to the world. This is usually in the form of engagement or marriage.

Social networking has changed the way the steps in Knapp’s model are processed. Facebook, for example, allows one to find out details about someone you are interested in without even having to have a conversation. Romantic relationship status can easily be found through a quick search of social media. The initiation phase no longer requires taking a chance by asking directly what the relationship status is. Facebook also functions as a convenient way to pursue someone while not having to put yourself in too far out on a limb   The pursuer can interact with the target by liking or commenting on posts or by tagging them on posts. Because of the lack of intimacy involved when using SNS this method is often preferred over phone calls. Using computer mediated communication also allows the pursuer the time to think about what they want to say and how they want to say it.

Facebook profiles provide information about an individual, such as education level, religion, interests, as well as photos. This immediate information can influence how quickly a relationship is formed. While most relationships are initiated off-line, the participants often turn to Facebook to communicate. In Knapp’s second theme, experimenting, Facebook provides a lot of information on interests, activities, and information. This serves as a way to talk about interests that are shared as well as ways to learn about interests the other has. The final theme is making the relationship “Facebook Official” by sharing photos to each other’s pages as well as changing the relationship status on the profile page. This is part of the integrating phase.

Social networking sites are used by over 900 million users worldwide, and the average college student uses Facebook an average of 1-2 hours per day. Men and women see romantic relationships differently and have different goals when pursuing relationships. Women are more likely to advertise their relationship through the use of social media sites than their male counterparts and tend to see displays of affection more acceptable on social media than men do. Men and women also have different views on what it means to be “Facebook” official. Being Facebook official can mean different things to different people. Men don’t seem to feel that Facebook Official necessarily means they are in a committed relationship or at the very least as seriously as their partner does.