A systems approach to understanding the effect of Facebook use on the quality of interpersonal communication

摘要

Social networking platforms such as Facebook have become integrated into the milieu of modern-day social interactions. Facebook, one of the most prominent social networking platforms globally, is widely used as a primary medium for communicating and networking for personal, professional and recreational purposes. This paper attempts to grapple with an identified problem in the tension between the use of Facebook and the quality of interpersonal communication. Using qualitative systems dynamics modelling, the paper explores the effects of Facebook on the quality of interpersonal communication from the perspective of a potential Facebook user. Given that one of the co-authors is an active Facebook user, the paper employs this case study area with the purpose of understanding and illustrating it, primarily, from a subjective, individual point of view. In this way, a personal experience of Facebook and its impact on the nature of interpersonal communication provides the intuitive starting point for the inquiry.