Close online relationships in a national sample of adolescents

Adolescence,  Fall, 2002  by Janis Wolak,  Kimberly J. Mitchell,  David Finkelhor

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Characteristics of Close Online Relationships

Type of relationship. The majority (95%, n = 246) of the youths who reported close online relationships provided details about one online relationship from the past year (see Table 2). Of these, 75% were identified as close friendships, 41% included face-to-face meetings, and 7% were described as romantic relationships. (Some relationships were in more than one category.) Twenty-three percent of the close friendships involved face-to-face meetings, as did 28% of the romances.

Initial encounters. Fifty-nine percent of close online relationships originated in chat rooms, 30% through instant messages or e-mail, 5% in gaming sites, and 6% some other way. Thirty-two percent of youths were introduced to their online friend by a face-to-face friend or family member. For example, an 11-year-old boy said his grandfather suggested he get in touch with an 11-year-old cousin. Also, several youths mentioned meetings through instant messages based on profiles posted online.

Gender of online friends. Two-thirds of the relationships reported by girls were with boys, and 79% of those reported by boys were with girls. Girls were less likely than boys to report cross-gender relationships (p <.05, OR = 0.5, CI = 0.3 to 0.9). Few of these cross-gender relationships were described as romantic or sexual. Teens who were age 14 through 17 were much more likely to report cross-gender relationships than were the younger youths (79% vs. 50%, p < .001, OR = 3.7, CI = 2.0 to 6.7).

The nature of the relationships. Sixty-four percent of youths stated that common interests drew them to their online friends. Mutual interests specified during interviews included ballet, skiing, skating, paganism, role-playing games, acting, musical theater, Star Trek, scary movies, and comic strips. Several youths mentioned books and reading. Some of the youths volunteered additional details. A 14-year-old girl said she became friends with a 14-year-old boy because they were both "against the porno stuff" An 11-year-old girl said of her friendship with a 16-year-old girl, "I taught her how to pitch a softball over the web." A 14-year-old girl said of her relationship with a 15-year-old boy, "He is a pretty good friend, a close friend, someone I can talk to about personal things."

Several of the youths had established online friendships with adults. A 15-year-old boy said he became close friends with a 24-year-old man when the 15-year-old made a web page for the man's music group. A 17-year-old girl reported a close friendship with a woman in her forties which sprang from encounters in a chat room run by a well-known self-help group. One youth described meeting his 40-year-old uncle online before they ever met face-to-face.

Vicinity of online friends. Eighty-four percent of youths knew where their online friend lived. Few youths reported relationships with people from other countries. Twenty-six percent of the relationships were with people who lived within a one-hour drive of the youths.