Close online relationships in a national sample of adolescents

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

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Offline contact. Seventy percent of close online relationships included offline contact by mail or telephone after the initial online encounter. Over one-third of youths received telephone calls. Further, 41% of the youths who answered follow-up questions about an online relationship reported face-to-face meetings with their online friends.

Parents' knowledge. Seventy-four percent of youths said a parent knew about their close online relationship.

Romantic and sexual relationships. Seven percent of youths who answered follow-up questions about a close online relationship called their relationships romantic (n = 18). Most of these youths (61%) were age 14 through 17. Fifty-six percent of these relationships were reported by girls. None involved same-sex partners. Most (72%) were described as both romances and close friendships. About one-quarter (28%) involved face-to-face meetings. Almost all (83%) involved youths who were within one year in age of each other and only one involved an adult who was more than 5 years older. (That instance was a relationship between a 17-year-old boy and a 29-year-old woman. The boy told the interviewer he ended the relationship when he learned the woman was married.)

All youths were asked if their online relationship was "sexual in any way." Only four, all boys ages 14 to 16, said "yes" to this question. The girls with whom they were involved were ages 15 through 17. Three of the four relationships included face-to-face meetings, all three of which were known to the youths' parents. In two instances the girls lived near the boys. The third girl, who did not live nearby, had been introduced to the boy through a friend or family member. The fourth relationship involved two 15-year-olds who had exchanged mail, but there were no phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

Looking at the romantic and sexual relationships together, 22% were initiated by introductions from face-to-face friends or relatives. There was offline contact by mail or telephone in most cases (78%), and parents knew about two-thirds of the relationships.

Characteristics of Relationships Involving Face-to-Face Meetings

Connections with social networks. The close online relationships that resulted in face-to-face meetings were different from other close online friendships in several ways (see Table 2). Significantly higher numbers were initiated through introductions by friends or family, and higher numbers involved online friends who lived within an hour of the youths. There was more offline contact by telephone, and more of these relationships were known to parents.

More than half of the face-to-face meetings involved relationships that were not described as close friendships or romances. Virtually all of the youths in this category (89%) lived within an hour's drive of their online friend. (These face-to-face meetings may have been casual events where a youth encountered an online acquaintance at a group event like a high school game or in the presence of a mutual friend.)