AN INVESTIGATION INTO A COMPUTER-AIDED INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN FILIPINO STUDENTS AND THEIR FOREIGN FRIENDS: TOWARDS AN EMERGING CROSSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION By: Edgar R. Eslit -----o0o----Dissertation Digest ORCID No. orcid.org/0000-0001-8072-0486 Email Address:
[email protected] -----o0o----ABSTRACT Modern communication technology has enriched people’s perspectives on how people communicate and establish intimate online friendship across cultural boundaries. With the emergence of Computer-aided Communication (CAC), new concepts towards understanding the meaning of relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and relationship barriers in a Cross-cultural communication situation have emerged. Others may find the use of modern communication technology dynamic while others find it artificial. Because of this, issues and concerns relating to the parameters of its use and how it affects friendship in the context of cross-cultural communication are opening all kinds challenging ideas for researchers all over the globe to explore. Hence, this study ventured into investigating the Computer-aided intimate friendship between Filipino students and their foreign friends: Towards an emerging Cross-cultural communication. Cultural Dimension, Relational Maintenance, and CAC theories served as primary theoretical backbones for this research.
As this research was qualitative in nature,
methodologies used include in-depth interviews, questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) which was voluntarily participated in by Filipino college students and their intimate online foreign friends. Results showed that informants utilized practical relationship maintenance strategies.
Relative to publicized relationship maintenance
strategies, however, another three notable strategies came to the surface. These are Material and financial support, Cyber-sensual activity and Constant and regular [ERE 2017]
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communication
through
CAC.
Such
strategies
profoundly
created
strong
interdependence and commitment that help broke certain relationship barriers between the collectivist and individualist informants. Further, informants convincingly explicated seven (7) online interaction practices that magnified the conceptualization of an emerging cross-cultural communication pattern.
These practices are: a) Openness in
communication; b) Willingness to commit to one’s online friend; c) Benefiting from distance interaction; d) Strong Interdependence; e) Practical relationship maintenance strategies amidst relationship barriers; f) Active participation of social networks; and, g) Mutual support.
Overall, the study brought the “techno-dyadic cross-cultural
communication pattern” and “Computer-aided cross-cultural communication theory” to the fore. (
[email protected])
Keywords: Computer-aided, Cross-cultural communication, Intimate online friendship, Culture, Language
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I. Introduction
[email protected] Consistent with the study of Cross-cultural communication, debates about relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, barriers, and Computer-aided communication (CAC) in an intimate online friendship relationship are getting significant among social scientists and researchers all over the world. With the growing importance given to this topic (Amant, 2002; Reuben, 2011; Walther, 2011), it has caught the attention of not only among scholars but also among language students as well. Such is the case that led to the conceptualization of this dissertation. Ever since the start of the Internet connection in the Philippines, Iligan City has been observed to have a tremendous growth in the number of Internet users enjoying the benefits provided by it.
Now-a-days, the Internet is used as an interpersonal
communication medium and as a information tool. It is extremely popular among students in Iligan to make friends via Internet. According to the World Internet Project Report (2013), Internet users in the Philippines reported to have an average of 17.7 million online friends, whom they had never met in person, which is more than twice as many as any of the other among the 13 surveyed countries in Asia. However, compared to the systematic CAC studies, less research effort had been conducted to examine the online intimate friendship behaviors among Filipino students Internet users. By studying the Filipino students Internet users, the present study is expected to help expand people’s understanding about online relationship maintenance strategies, interdependence, commitment, relationship barriers and the use of CAC in an intimate online friendship situation. In addition, it could be noted that the use of intimate online friendship maintenance strategies can be associated with a variety of relationship factors and circumstantial issues. It remains to be seen, however, if and how these strategies differ in relationships that were developed online in the context of the Filipino students and their intimate foreign friends over the Internet. Study about intimate online friendship holds the promise of extending previous online relationship maintenance literature and adding new insights into the role of CAC
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in people’s social lives. Learning how relationships are formed and maintained using the CAC can bring into focus the unspoken assumptions and biases of a face-to-face or physical relationship and communication practices.
The study of Luft (2007) in
particular, pointed out that romances and dating cite left a gap in our understanding about emotional exchanges between online friends over the internet. In her study, Luft advances the field of research on internet friendships in that it investigates both platonic friendships and romances, and considers a variety of friendship sources. Further, Walther (2003) argues that research on relationship formation and relationship maintenance via CAC will reform not only the study of contemporary relationship dynamics, but help extend understanding of CAC across variety of domains. The lack of information about this area of communication interaction is creating a gap in the study of cross-cultural communication and the use of CAC. Thus, this dissertation investigated the issue about relationship maintenance strategies, commitment, interdependence, relational barriers and CAC which the target Filipino students utilized to maintain their relationship with their intimate online foreign friends.
Overall, this study is hoped to yield empirical results
that will help explain how CAC changes, redefines, or even alters people’s traditional concepts about cross-cultural communication, CAC being known to quite possibly influence those with different cultural backgrounds who engaged in intimate online friendship relationships. 1.2. Statement of the Problem
[email protected] The advent of technology and the consequent prevalence of CAC have increased the chances of Internet users who have different beliefs, languages, values, and skills to be in contact with one another across the globe. Particular relationship maintenance strategies and online intimate friendship experiences are expected to emerge. However, current knowledge on how people with different cultural backgrounds develop interpersonal relationships with one another using CAC remains to be limited. There is clearly a need to extend understanding about the CAC and its use in the increasingly multicultural societies. For a person from one society to interact with another person in
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another society requires the adaption to new cultures and values, encounter new language, rebuild social networks, construct new friendships, and adjust to another environment. Given the study’s emphasis on relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, relationship barriers and the use of CAC, the following research questions were therefore proposed: 1) What is the profile of the target Filipino students and their intimate online friends in terms of age, gender, religion, nationality, language, educational status, and online activity duration? 2) What online relationship maintenance strategies are used by the informants to sustain their intimate online friendship? 2. a. Which of these relationship maintenance strategies suggest qualities of a collectivist society? 2. b. Which of these relationship maintenance strategies suggest qualities of an individualist society? 3) What shared interdependence behaviors do Filipino students have with their intimate online foreign friends? 3. a. Which of these reflect a collectivist society? 3. b. Which of these reflect an individualist society? 4)
What kind of commitment do Filipino students have with their intimate online foreign friends?
5) What barriers affect the relationship between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends and how do they go about these? 6) How does Computer-aided Communication (CAC) practice affect relational maintenance and interdependence between the Filipino students and their foreign friends? 7) What cross-cultural communication pattern is emerging between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends?
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1.3. Significance of the Study
[email protected] Investigating
relationship
maintenance,
barriers,
interdependence
and
commitment across cultural boundaries could provide insights and understanding of the experiences that CAC users faced in building their new social lives in the virtual world and how these experiences affect friendship and communication in the process. To date, no study has been conducted to explore the sphere of intimate online friendship between the Filipino students who belong to the collectivist community and their intimate online foreign friends who belong to the individualist societies. Most studies that explored the experiences of Internet users and the use of CAC focused on the effects of certain social and economic gains and the development of social interaction. Studies on online intimate friendship and its relationship maintenance remain scarce. Thus, this study sought to bridge this gap to increase understanding on how friendship across diverse cultural milieu would be affected by the use of CAC and how it helped sustain intimate online friendship across cultures. Further, the study aimed to respond to a call for thorough and innovative crossculturally framed information exploring the impact of CAC in the area of intimate online friendship.
The findings of this study, therefore, would not only contribute to the
understanding of perceived effectiveness of CAC among the rich Internet users, but also provide helpful insight for ordinary Internet users. By using the CAC resources efficiently, it could facilitate efficient intimate online friendship among the Internet users. Hence, the current study would be significant to all Internet users, the local community of Iligan, learning institutions, and all researchers who would want to venture into studying cross-cultural communication and friendship with the use of CAC. 1.4. Theoretical Framework
[email protected] Investigating for relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, relationship barriers and the use of CAC between Filipino students and their intimate online friends necessitates the presentation of pertinent theories that are relevant to the
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study. As the study is Cross-cultural in nature, this part of the paper presents the theories that would explicate the research problems. It is hoped that readers will then gain a better view of the research issues being raised. This is done to make the reader understand the intricacies of the variables involved in the study. Paramount to this is Hofstede’s (1980) Cultural Dimension theory which stipulated the concepts of “collectivism” and “individualism”. While collectivism and individualism can be studies in any culture, much of the research so far have been conducted on European and other Western cultures. A lot of researches have found that Western people tend to be more individualist while East Asian people tend to be more collectivist. However, it is important to remember that many factors can influence this situation, so individual people within a particular culture can also differ in their levels of personal interdependence and views in life. Hofstede (1980) posited that collectivism and individualism can even be affected by the situational context. One may then ask, how does culture impact a certain form of relationship? For a person belonging to an individualist culture, personal relationship is often seen as deliberate, and it is not unusual to choose to end certain form of relationship which is not beneficial. Relationship in collectivist culture, on the other hand, is often seen as firm and stable. In addition, researchers hypothesized that, in a collectivist culture, there can be greater obligation for an individual person not to become a burden to the other person. And as mentioned early on, when discussing the issue about attachment and online relationship, it varies from one culture to the other. It would be important to distinguish that what is desirable in a relationship in one place is not necessarily the same anywhere else. There is no particular type of relationship that works the same in one society (Hofstede, 1980). Another significant theory is the Relational Maintenance Theory. As cited in Canary and Stafford’s (1994) study, relationship maintenance is defined as the actions and activities used to sustain a desired relationship situations. The theory elucidates that maintenance is required in order to keep a relationship working effectively, and that contentment will fall apart without the continuous adjustments to the so called maintenance strategies.
Relationship maintenance often centers on the barriers that
restrain individuals to stay in a relationship. From this point of view, online friendship [ERE 2017]
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suffers from barrier deprivation (Attridge, 1994) for the reason that many strategies employed by geographically distant individuals, such as physical collective social networks and daily interactions of affection, which are hampered by the existence of distance. Therefore, other methods of maintaining that intimacy or interdependence and commitment must be replaced or improved for this online people to stay committed and satisfied with their friendship relationship. While it has long been pointed out that the maintenance
of
friendship is
also a process, most researches on relationship
maintenance gave a one-shot assessment of the process (Stafford, 2003), and do not address how maintenance strategies contribute to change, or lack thereof, in an intimate online friendship. Guided by this idea, the inclusion of this theory is deemed necessary to bridge certain gaps relative to the current study. This idea is densely connected to the next theory, the Interdependence and Commitment Theory. This theory could illustrate the key elements involved in intimate online friendship relationship according to Kelley & Thibaut, (1983). Further, Surra (1985) explicates that interdependence can be understood as growing amounts of overlay between partners at different stages of involvement as the interaction between partners grows.
Elements involved in this overlay consist of
information in which each partner know about each other, as well as the kind of undertakings they do together and the likelihood that they will share them all together. In a relationship, interdependence is known as the degree to which a person is mutually dependent on each other. This concept differs from a dependent relationship, where someone in that form of relationship is getting more dependent and the other is not. Lastly, putting all cited points about Cross-cultural communication and online intimate friendship, what other theory to interweave them but CAC. Computer-aided Communication (CAC) has become one of the most common and widely used communication theories, even though it is fairly new. This theory is also known as Social Information Processing theory (Walther, 2011). Email, chat rooms, instant messaging, video chat, skype and the newest platforms of social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are some popular examples of CAC. Scholars asserted the ways that this kind of platform can shape communication and social interaction. For [ERE 2017]
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example, people can create the best relationships through social media in order to create certain understanding about them (Walther, 2011). And, considering the advancement in communication gadget and technology, people today will have plenty of means to connect and interact with one another. Some scholars even claimed that given a greater number of communication channels, the impact of distance is decreasing, allowing people to develop and maintain relationships with those who live far away to meet faceto-face frequently (Wood, 1995). Further, Griffin (2012) as cited by Garcia (2015) pointed out that CAC can facilitate hyperpersonal relationship perspective.
The
hyperpersonal perspective is defined as the claim that CAC relationship is often more intimate than those developed when partners are physically together (Griffin, 2012). This is made possible because of CAC’s synchronous and asynchronous channels. Synchronous channels of communication consist of messages being simultaneously exchanged, while asynchronous channels consist of a nonsimultaneous medium between messages, which allow each individual to respond when he or she so desires (Griffin, 2012). While cultural dimension, relationship maintenance, interdependence and commitment and CAC theories helped form the present study, this paper sought to incorporate a more process-oriented perspective, or social constructionist (Arditti & Prouty, 1999) viewpoint that focuses on the intimate online friendship which individuals attach to their relationship. Furthermore, the study sought to examine the nature of shared online intimate friendship’s interdependencies as well as commitment to one’s partner. A plausible contribution of this paper in the area of Cross-cultural communication could be to move beyond the analyses of the perceptions of individual’s traditional face-to-face friendship
to
analyses
of
actual
online
enacted
relationship
maintenance,
interdependence, commitment and in facing the relational barriers among the informants involved in this study for the understanding of the importance of relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment among Filipino students and their intimate foreign friends while using the CAC.
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1.5. Conceptual Framework
[email protected]
The framework of this study was drawn from the interweaving theories detailed in the previous discussion to illustrate the general flow of the current study. In so doing, it helped bridge the gaps of information not found in other studies. Consistent with the cultural dimension, relationship maintenance, interdependence and commitment theories, intimate online friendship in this domain is assumed to be influenced by the CAC. The researcher has drawn these theories to investigate the problems associated in this study. Cross-cultural communication, as an existing field of study, endeavors to know how languages other than one's own can serve not only to help one understand what humans have in common, but also assist in the understanding of the diversity which underlines people’s languages methods of constructing and organizing information. It is not a surprise then when one would attest that communicating across cultural borders is challenging.
Because of this, research on cross-cultural communication often
concentrates on accepting how individual variances affect one’s capacity to interconnect with each other. In as much as most people are born and will grow with predetermined cultural background, having to interact with other people with different cultural bearings could represent a challenge. In a cross-cultural communication study, therefore, its core is to look at how people from diverse cultural backgrounds communicate in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.
Most studies, however, are based on physical or actual face-to-face
communication. By and large, cross-cultural communication literatures by Gudykunst (1989), Hall (1959), Ting-Toomey (1984), Hofstede (1973) etc. are testament to this. Here, it would be worth mentioning, that as the world changes, the concept of crosscultural communication also changes. The emergence of modern technology had brought instantaneous breakthroughs in terms of communication. The Internet and computers basically altered and improved the way people interact and communicate physically or even virtually across cultural boundaries. Hence, the inclusion of Hofstede’s (1980) Cultural Dimension theory, Canary and Stafford’s (1994) Relational Maintenance, Kelly
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and Thibaut’s (1983) Interdependence and Commitment theory, and Walther’s (2011) CAC theory were deemed essential for the paper’s framework. Due to limited literature, empirical studies on intimate online friendship using CAC hardly differentiate friendship from other forms of friendships, wherefore, remains attractive among language researchers. Studies should investigate the effects of online friendship among individuals in an intimate online friendship by looking into the confounding factors affecting cross-cultural communication. Further, it needs to venture into investigating the spectacles about relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, relationship barriers, and the use of CAC itself especially in the local setting for most, if not all students are also venturing to this kind of activity. Considering this entire premise, the present study, therefore, was conceived in order to investigate the relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, relationship barriers between Filipino students, particularly the selected students from St. Michael’s College in Iligan City, and their foreign friends who engaged into intimate online friendships with the use of CAC. It is noteworthy that in the Philippines, as in other parts of the globe, CAC plays a very important role in the life of the students. Considering that a great majority of students in the country have Internet access, the influence of CAC on many aspects of student’s life can not be underestimated. This reality took a greater meaning in the light of the students’ lifestyle and their continuing effort towards establishing an intimate online friendship with their online foreign friends. It is therefore logical to assume that investigation into relationship and the use of CAC among the target participants and their intimate online friends would have significant impact on the study about cross-cultural communication. The schematic diagram that follows (see Figure 1) shows the different variables of the study. It also shows the processes which the study examined in order to come up with a comprehensive picture of how intimate online friendship is developed and maintained. The study likewise tried to see the influence of Hofstede’s view on collectivist and individualist individuals in the said kind of relationship.
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Figure 1: Schematic Diagram Figure 1 shows the different variables of the study. In the middle, the boxes are marked “Relationship Maintenance Strategies”, “Interdependence and Commitment” and “Relationship Barriers”.
Following Stafford’s and Canary’s (1994) explication,
“Relationship Maintenance Strategies” entail the following predictors: showing positiveness, demonstrating openness, providing reassurance, integrating into social networks, and sharing tasks and responsibilities. On the other hand, “Interdependence and Commitment” includes satisfaction, investments, and the quality of activity alternatives according to Rusbult (1983). The two boxes marked “Relationship Barriers” refer to manifest language, stereotypes, personal values, distance, and one’s own culture as asserted by Swarthout (2015).
In a traditional face-to-face relationship, “Barriers”
are something that could create hindrance in any form of relationship, hence, the term barrier. However, with the emergence of the modern technology, this notion is proven [ERE 2017]
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otherwise. It can be observed in the illustration that CAC facilitates in knitting the three variables together. The connecting oblong lines surrounding the variables in the middle signify internet signal and virtual connections that bind all relationship variables. The CAC poses the innovation of their connectedness thereby bringing the smooth flow of communication in the processes.
Outside the oblong lines are two-pointed arrows
connecting to the proximal boxes (both sides) next to the dotted oblong lines called “Cross-cultural Communication” signifying significant connection to another variable. In the process, CAC paved the way in establishing the so called intimate online friendship, possibly breaking all known barriers.
This would manifest significant
connection to the last two remaining boxes called “Collectivist Filipino Students” and “Individualist Online Foreign Friends”. Such idea would amplify Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory. One would notice that the prime movement of the arrows began at the center. This would suggest that CAC serves as the prime mover in connecting all elements present in every variable. Further, the arrows show dynamism and continuous movement through time implying that the interaction and flow of communication would be highly achievable in an intimate online friendship formation. Following this illustration, the computer and the Internet brought major changes to intimate online friendship. How CAC was able to form online intimate friendship was evident because of its synchronous and asynchronous channels that connect intimate online friends. More importantly, relationship maintenance, interdependence, breaking of relationship barriers and commitment, finely developed in this type of relationship with the help of CAC, eliciting new insights about the study of Cross-cultural communication and possibly the emergence of a new cross-cultural communication pattern. 1.6. Objectives of the Study
[email protected] Having discussed the statement of the problem, significance of the study, theoretical framework, and the conceptual framework which set the parameter of the current study, this paper intended to:
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1) Know the profile of the Filipino students and their intimate online friends in terms of age, gender, religion, nationality, language, educational status, and online activity duration 2) Discover the online relationship maintenance strategies used by the Filipino students to sustain their intimate friendship and which of these relationship maintenance strategies suggested qualities of a collectivist and individualist society 3) Find out what shared interdependence do Filipino students have with
their
intimate online foreign friends and which of these suggested qualities of a collectivist and individualist society 4) Identify the kind of commitment Filipino students had with their
intimate
online foreign friends 5) Investigate the barriers that affected the relationship between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends and how they went about these. 6)
Find out what Computer-aided communication (CAC) practices affected relational maintenance and interdependence between Filipino students and their foreign friends, and
7) Discover what cross-cultural communication pattern was emerging between the Filipino students and their online foreign friends 1.7. Scope and Limitations
[email protected] While studies on Cross-cultural communication that focused on the area of relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment, barriers, and the use of Computer-aide Communication (CAC) are objectively expanding, the current study only focused on fifteen (15) Filipino students enrolled in St. Michael’s College, Iligan City, A.Y. 2015-2016 and who used the same media in establishing intimate friendship online. The use of the term “Filipino” is specifically pointed to SMC students only who engaged in an intimate online friendship. Data collection was conducted from January to May
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2016.
Data gathering was carried out using in-depth one-on-one interview and Focus
Group Discussion (FGD). Vivid and dense descriptions were used by the researcher in the analyses of the data as they were richly supplied by the SIs. That in turn enabled the researcher to dwell more deeply into understanding and discussing the intricacies of intimate online friendship experiences based on the unique personal answers of the five (5) FIs and rich narratives of the fifteen (15) SIs. While it can be assumed, however, that majority if not all of the students do engaged in an online interaction activities, one way or another, only fifteen (15) students qualified under the category of having an intimate online foreign friends and whose friends (FIs) belonged to an individualist communities. Such criterion needs to be emphasized as this study specifically dealt with the concept of an online intimate friendship happening between the individualist and collectivist people – a situation which is presumed to be rarely occurring in real life. With this, and considering the sensitivity of the topic being dealt with, answers given by the SIs or even with the FIs might have been “restrained” considering the personality of the researcher who is one of the teachers in the same school where the SIs also studied. Teacher-student interaction is highly regarded as something to be revered in a collectivist culture. To divulge personal experiences to somebody in authority like in the case of the current study, therefore, would somehow be unconventional.
As
Segelken (2014), pointed out although self-expression disclosures are less frequent, compared to the social validation ones, they are the ones that can get people in trouble. If, indeed, some information from the SIs were not completely divulged, Segelken is correct in this assertion. 1.8. Definition of terms
[email protected] Terms and concepts which appeared frequently in this study deserved an explanation as to the meaning attributed to them in this dissertation. They are listed in alphabetical order below and operationally defined:
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Asynchronous CAC. In this study, it is defined as online interaction means, such as email and conferencing systems, that allow participants to plan, contemplate and edit their comments. The conversational relaxation that results from this type of communication provides the capacity to construct more socially desirable and effective messages (Walther, 2011). Computer-aided communication (CAC).
In this study, it is operationally
defined as the use of a computer and the Internet as an indispensable tool for communication and online interaction. It is usually derived from more traditional fields of science and computer for communication and interaction purposes. CAC can be meticulously
linked
with
the
following
techno
terms:
Computer
Mediated
Communication (CMC) and Computer aided language learning (CALL) (Garcia, 2015). Cross-cultural communication.
In this study, it is operationally defined as
communication across cultures. It is also traditionally defined as a specific field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures (Gudykunst, 2002). Cyber-sensual activity. In this study, it is operationally defined as any loose sensual act involving kissing of pictographic images of a lover, showing of the sensitive body parts to the online partner while chatting, and posing barely naked in front of the camera in a synchronous online activity for fun. Such act, however, can be, by a hair's breadth, associated to cyber-sex activities. Internet generation. In this study, it is operationally defined as those who use the internet connection or wireless connection to make and receive messages, texts, videos, chat, etc. Internet has been used to nurture relationships and connections that previously had been impossible. Withdrawal is unacceptable. Fear of the digital future should not drive them apart. In an area where regulations, privacy policies and treaties may take decades to catch up to reality, this generation needs to take the lead in negotiating a “cultural treaty” endorsing a new value, related to privacy, that secures our ability to have a past captured in data that is not held to be the last word but seen in light of our having grown up in a way that no one ever has before. (Gewirtz and Kern, 2013). [ERE 2017]
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Intimate Online Friendship. In this study, it is operationally defined as a kind of friendship which is established and maintained with the use of CAC. As such, the involved individuals must exhibit and demonstrate positivity, openness, reassurance, share responsibilities, and break cultural barriers while fostering commitment and interdependence in order to sustain it. Further, to sustain its academic perceptiveness, it is also used to denote boy/girl friend or an online lover. Netizen. In this study, it is operationally used to mean a “slang term” for an Internet user. It is derived from the combination of the words "Internet" and "citizen." The term netizen is used to describe people who use the Internet to participate in or contribute to an Internet group or society. The word may also be used to describe an individual who spends a lot of time on the net (webopedia.com). In effect, anyone who uses the internet becomes a netizen. As netizens, one has the responsibility to ensure that social customs are adhered to. Online Friendship. This term is operationally defined in the study as friends who are situated anywhere around the world and are connected with the use of the Internet and CAC. It also entails online friendships involving geographical distances. Relational Barriers. In this study, it is operationally defined as any obstacle(s) that pose risk and misunderstanding to a possible successful encounter of any individual. According to Swarthout, it includes language, stereotypes, personal values, distance, and one’s own culture. All this relate how people see an individual person either casually or intimately. Synchronous CAC – In this study, it is operationally defined as simultaneous online interaction between two or more individuals using voice, chat, email, and conferencing that allow each participant to communicate using the computer and the Internet to people across the globe in real time, hence, the word synchronize. Social Networks. In this study, it is operationally defined as the connection or network of social interactions and personal relationships. A social structure made up of a set of social actors, sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between people. According to Wasserman et. al., (1994), the social network perspective provides a set of methods for analyzing the structure of whole social entities as well as a variety of [ERE 2017]
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patterns observed in the structure itself. The study of this uses network analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics to include circle of friends, kens and family members Techno-dyadic communication. In this study, it is operationally defined as people’s reliance to modern communication technology to establish the necessary interaction online.
With the absence of physical interaction, the use of modern
communication technology makes virtual interaction possible.
If and when actual
physical interaction fails, it can be supplemented with CAC’s synchronous and asynchronous channels.
This, therefore, advances the idea of techno-dyadic
communication. Such view is supportive of Berlo’s communication model and the current study that will help readers understand the intricacies involved in an intimate online friendship relationship. II. Review of Related Literature and Studies
[email protected] This chapter presents literature and studies related to the present study, entitled “An Investigation Into a Computer-aided Intimate Friendship Between Filipino Students and their Foreign Friends: Towards an Emerging Cross-cultural Communication.” Focus is given on areas that touch relationship maintenance, commitment, interdependence, relational barriers and Computer-aided Communication (CAC). 2.1. Understanding Relationship Maintenance Stafford’s and Canary’s (1994) Relationship Maintenance generally refers to a group of behaviors, actions, and activities that individuals use to sustain desired relational states and definitions. Individuals in intimate relationships and other form of relationships routinely use these behaviors to maintain their relationships. Further, it is defined by scholars (i.e. Hall, 2003; Gudykunst, 2002; Hofstede, 1980; Canary and Stafford, 1994; in four different ways: 1. to keep a relationship in existence; 2. to keep a relationship in a specified state or condition; 3. to keep a relationship in a satisfactory condition; and, 4. to keep a relationship in repair.
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2.2. Viewing Intimate Friendship Maintenance in the Internet Generation A strong and lasting intimate friendship requires maintenance. People grow and change over time and relationship experiences go up and down. The more energy you put into intimate friendship, the deeper it will become and the greater chance it will have to survive in thick and thin situations. Maintaining a friendship involves consistent effort. Strategies like online chats and balanced conversations can help build a solid or quality intimate friendship that will withstand the test of time.
2.3. Understanding Intimate Relationship Maintenance
[email protected] To maintain a good intimate relationship especially if it includes distance, friends must continuously communicate be it upon telecommunication technologies such as phone or CAC using the Internet. For quite sometime, researchers have developed a wide range of theoretical perspectives of relational maintenance in an attempt to explicate the process of relationship formation, development, and deterioration. For instance, uncertainty reduction theory examines the potential influences of uncertainty and uncertainty reduction in starting for an acquaintance. Social penetration theory focuses on how relationships develop through time in a systematic and predictable fashion. However, few theories have centered on relational maintenance. Empirical studies of relational maintenance tend to borrow or adapt theories that were developed for other relational processes. Research evidence has demonstrated that theories such as social exchange approaches and uncertainty reduction theory have significant implications for understanding relational maintenance. 2.4. The Strategies of Intimate Relationship Maintenance
[email protected] Pointed out in the study of Ye (2006), relationships are like machines in that we have do certain things to keep them running, especially when our goal is to strengthen
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and preserve our bond with our partner. Also, all relationships require maintenance behaviors. Behaviors that help maintain a relationship at a satisfactory level can be strategic or routine (Dindia, 2003). Strategic behaviors refer to those that individuals enact with the conscious intention of maintaining the relationship. Routine behaviors, on the other hand, are those that people perform that serve to maintain a relationship more in the manner of a byproduct. Although scholars acknowledge that both types of maintenance behaviors may play a vital role in sustaining an existing relationship, most studies on intimate relationship or friendship still conceive of relational maintenance primarily as strategic behaviors (Dainton, 2003). As summarized by Canary and Stafford (2002), maintenance strategies help prevent relationships from decaying, sustain existing levels of relational intimacy, and uphold desirable relational features that are essential to intimate friendship. 2.5. The Types of Strategies of Intimate Relationship Maintenance While relational maintenance has been found to be an important aspect of interpersonal relationships within the face-to-face world, the nature of relational maintenance among partners within computer-aided relationship (CAC) is a relatively unexplored area. Relational maintenance is an important part of any kind of relationship, and researcher like Ye (2006) had found it to be vital to the subsistence of a relationship and for both partners to be pleased. Other researches focused on the bright side of relational maintenance, but others also demonstrate that people may use undesirable behaviors to remain in a current relationship in the face of displeasure or difficulties. Thus some scholars suggest that relational maintenance strategies may be divided into pro-social strategies and antisocial strategies (Stafford, 2003). 2.6. Viewing the Cultural Factors in Intimate Relationship Maintenance One of the most frequently used indicators of culture is that of one’s country of origin or residence.
For several reasons, country-level differences qualify how
individuals in intimate friendship assess relational fairness and use maintenance behavior. In most studies, the relational maintenance research has been primarily conducted only in [ERE 2017]
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Europe if not America, thus it is not clear as to what extent the findings may be generalized to other cultures. Studies on culture and interpersonal communication have consistently found that people in “individualist” and “collectivist” cultural dimensions differ greatly in beliefs about friendships and relational interaction. Korn (1993) pointed out, despite the universal importance of friendship; friendship patterns emerge as culturally specific. Cultural norms regulate and govern such relationships as in countries that are known to foster so much individualism and collectivism. 2.7. The Individualist and Collectivist Values
[email protected] According to Triandis (1989), the basic individualist and collectivist views of people are believed to be as interdependent or independent that could lead to opposing sets of values. In the study of Leake and Black (2005), it is pointed out that nearly threefourths of the world’s cultures can be labeled as collectivist and the rest is individualist. What follows are the summary of their mutual attributes and values. Table 1: Collectivist and Individualist Values Compared (Leake and Black, 2005) Collectivistic and Individualistic Values Collectivistic
Individualistic
Sees obligations for others
Individual rights
Relies on group
Self-sufficient
Adheres to traditional values
True to own values and beliefs
Maintains traditional practices
Continuously improve practices (progress)
Fulfills roles within group
Pursue individual goals/interests
Group achievement
Individual achievement
Group or hierarchical decision-making
Self-determination and individual choice
Feels shame/guilt due to failing of the group
Shame/guilt due to individual failure
Living with family and kin
Live Independently
Property shared within group
Strong individual property rights
Elders convey knowledge (often oral)
Individuals seek knowledge (often in text)
Polychronic
Monochronic
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As pointed out by Leake and Black (2005), it is significant to realize that values, like any human attributes, fall on different typical varieties. There are elements of both individualism and collectivism in any culture. The term “values” as used here includes beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes. Other scholars may call it “worldview”. Values in broader sense are assumed to guide people live their lives, including their moral judgments, goals, and behaviors. Exploring and understanding the values of people from different cultures therefore plays an important point to understanding people with different values in life that affect the formation of friendship or intimate friendship as in the case of the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends. 2.8. Dyadic Communication
[email protected] Since this study involved communication between two individuals and with the emergence of informants coming from different countries with different cultural backgrounds in a dyadic situation, it is but proper to discuss points related to dyadic communication and its process. Dyadic communication is an interchange of information between two or more individuals engaging in a formal or informal interaction. Communication skills are developed and may be enriched or improved with better awareness and preparation. Through interactive interaction, there is message receiving and message sending. All this can be done using both direct and indirect approaches. Effective dyadic communication transpires when the message sender and the message receiver understand the message (Griffin, 2012). Many scholars mutually identify and use the term dyadic to describe their own work. These scholars, however, also recognize that there is a substantial multiplicity in how they and their equals theoretically and conceptually define this area of concern. To some extent, the construct of dyadic communication is like the phenomena that it represents a dynamic and changing recourse of information. Thus, efforts to recognize what exactly dyadic communication is or is not are often exasperating and fall short of consensus (Knapp, et. al. 2002). Additionally, many researchers who research and theorize about dyadic communication do so from different research paradigms and
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theoretical traditions (Manning, (2014) to pin its significance in people’s day-to-day interaction. While there are many definitions available, dyadic communication is well-defined as the communication that takes place among people who are codependent and have some information of each other.
Dyadic communication includes what takes place
between siblings, a teacher and a student, two friends, two lovers, and many others. Though largely interpersonal in nature, dyadic communication is often stretched to comprise intimate clusters such as the family. Nowadays, dyadic communication will not only take place in face-to-face settings but also in social media platforms (Johnson, 2014). In this study, dyadic communication looks at a variation of components that add to the interactive communication practices.
Within the study, while asserting the
significance of dyadic communication, some of ideas to be discussed include: language, personality, social interaction, expression, social networks and the life of relationships, influence, conflict, interpersonal skills, interpersonal communication in the workplace, intercultural perspectives on interpersonal communication, escalation and de-escalation of romantic relationships, interpersonal communication and healthcare, family relationships, and computer-mediated communication (Manning, (2014). Dyadic communication miscarry to work its tenacity if too many emblematic movements are used as there is a reasonable chance that no two individual will accord same connotation to a representational meaning which is denoted to as something just bypassing and when there is absence of language and heeding skills. Emotional intervention and physical disruptions like faulty acoustics and noisy environments act as a barrier to interpersonal communication. Added to this point is the mergence of Computer-aided
communication.
With
the
emergence
of
technology,
dyadic
communication is positively altered that enhances the communication process itself (Garcia, 2015). With the modern communication technology, communicators have to face it; it is altering the pinnacle of human interaction. The way people interact nowadays became very extra ordinary after communication itself become virtual and not just physical. [ERE 2017]
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Osgood’s, Schramm’s, Shannon’s, Weaver’s, and Berlo’s dyadic communication models (Siegman & Pope, 1972) can be intensified with the use of modern communication technology.
Apropos, dyad means two things of similar kind or group and dyadic
communication means the inter-relationship between the two; but in practice, this relationship refers to dialogic relations or face-to-face verbal communication between two persons involving their mutual ideas, thought, behavior, ideals, liking and disliking and above all the queries and answers concerning life and living in nature. Traditional dyadic communication used to happen in a physical face-to-face interaction. Nowadays, this would no longer be the case. It seems that dyadic communication does not only involve lasting communication of ideas between two persons for long duration of time or of any intensive duration but of deeper impact between two or more individuals which can be done even in a virtual situation. However, it needs to be sustained. With the absence of physical interaction, reliance in modern technology makes it possible. If and when actual physical interaction fails, it can be supplemented with the help of technology. This, therefore, communication is becoming techno-dyadic with people’s reliance to the efficacy of the modern communication technology.
Such view is
supportive of the current study that will help us understand the intricacies involved in an intimate online friendship. 2.9. The Filipino Communication Style
[email protected] Generally speaking, the official language of the country is the Tagalog-based Filipino language. In spite of its being the national language, only about 55 percent of Filipinos speak the language (Fillmore, 2014). The Iliganons do not use this language; they speak the “Sebuano” or “Binisaya” language and they are good in using both English and Filipino languages as well. In addition to Filipino, there are about 111 distinct indigenous languages and dialects, of which only about 10 are considered regionally important (Fillmore, 2014). English is utilized for educational, religious and commercial resolves and is broadly understood by many people since it is the medium of instruction used in schools. Since English language is widely spoken in the Philippines
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today, it is normal to hear Filipinos use a mixture of English, Filipino, and “Binisaya” words or phrases in their everyday conversations. Given the relational nature of self in Filipino intimate friendship, how face is protected and managed infuses every aspect of personal dealings.
Any personal
interactions, entities need to reflect the needs of face-protection for herself and her relational partners. Proper face handling is essential to uphold the prevailing friendship and in protecting interpersonal unity and understanding. Ting-Toomey (1988) has recommended that people in more independently oriented communities would be more concerned with preserving their own face compared to those in collectivist cultures where individuals are concerned with mutual or other face which she or he can cause the idea of shaming. For researchers, it is good to ask how is this maintained online. 2.10. Points About Intimate Friendship Status
[email protected] Technology experts embrace the use of Computer-aided communication (CAC) technologies and are logically disposed to find them valuable in social relations, so it is no surprise to see the high level of covenant that the Internet is a tool that yields constructive results. Still, many people took advantage of the prospect to make available some written elaborations in which they pointed out many negatives, and they shared other incisive observations. Hays (1989) found that intimate friends maintain more frequent interaction than casual friends. The degree to which individuals engage in maintenance behaviors depends on the status of the relationship. Intimate friends provide greater emotional and informational support than casual friends. Rose’s and Serafica’s (1986) study reported that intimate friendship is described as more affectionate, engaged in more positive relationship maintenance behaviors, and were not as reliant on contact or proximity as close friendships. In the study of Oswald in 2004 found that as intimate friendship become higher in status, the frequency of pro-social maintenance behaviors such as supportiveness and openness also increased.
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2.11. The Computer-aided Communication (CAC)
[email protected] Computer-aided communication (CAC), in a variety of forms, has become integral to the initiation, development, and maintenance of interpersonal relationships (Eslit, 2013). CAC is involved in the delicate shaping of better communication in almost every relational situation. Anyone may observe or contribute in the discussions of huge numbers of social actors, from the “Twitter” to messages one has never meet, family’s “blog”, and from messaging a barely acquainted “Facebook” friend to harmonizing with one’s spouse through “texting” about who will pick up the kids that day or saying “happy birthday” via e-mail and that one is “sorry” about the fight they had the other day. The ever increasing viability of CAC use in terms of text, voice and video applications necessitate Individuals to exploit the features of these media to make their best impression and attract attention or to ward off undesired contacts all together (Walther, 2011). Although many people perceive that CAC applications are minor and ordinary, so is the stuff by which relationships are maintained. Nevertheless, this new technology can increase people’s autonomy, creativity, productivity and team work (Eslit, 2013). So, why would people use the CAC as a medium of communication? Reasons are explicated in the succeeding discussions. 2.12. The Internet as a Social Medium
[email protected] Undisputedly, the ever increasing access to the Internet use has greatly expanded people’s informational and social capacity. As an interactive medium, it allows people to overcome great distances to communicate with other people almost instantaneously across cultural grounds (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). A recent Pew Internet study showed that the Internet supplements, rather than replaces social interactions. The Internet has become a fertile ground for people to meet others and start a relationship. Over the Internet, people are exposed to tremendous opportunities to interact with new, funny, and like-minded individuals whom they would unlikely to meet under normal circumstances (Durkin, 2004). Online communities or social groups have been
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established for people to share experiences, advice, and support. Unlike traditional communities, virtual communities do not depend on physical closeness. These communities are “gathering points for people with common interests, beliefs, and ideas” (Barnes, 2001). For example, fans of the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Honor Thy Father” movies can get together in an online fan group to share information and ideas or even talk about the bid of Vice President “Binay” for presidency in the 2016 national elections with some fixing twits about the “AlDub” without abandoning the comfort of their individual bedroom would be very feasible. Further, the Internet can help people who are physically disabled or socially anxious to expand their social networks in just a click of the “mouse”. For example, online communication may enable socially reticent individuals to develop interpersonal skills because it reduces social pressure embedded in face-to-face interaction such as concerns about the judgment of others. Morahan-Martin (2003) found that lonely individuals, who are more likely to be socially inhibited and anxious, are drawn online because of the increased potential for companionship, different social interaction patterns online, and the ability to modulate negative moods associated with loneliness or even dissatisfaction in life. Indeed, establishing an online intimate friendship is not impossible.
Synthesis
[email protected] This chapter presented the review of literature related to this study. Paramount in the review, it set forth the concepts that focused on relationship maintenance, commitment, interdependence, relational barriers and Computer-aided Communication (CAC).
As stipulated by Canary and Stafford (2002), when one or more of these
strategies are missing in a substantial and consistent manner in a certain form of relationship, it will likely illustrate signs of anguish among intimate partners. Further, maintaining friendship involves consistent effort. Strategies like online chats and balanced conversations can help build a solid or quality intimate friendship that will withstand the test of time. On this premise, scholars (i.e. Canary and Stafford, 2002) have identified key conceptual components of intimate friendships: (1) it is an individual [ERE 2017]
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who should feel an overall enjoyment of the other person’s company; (2) the foundation of friendship is based on interdependence between two individuals; (3) for a friendship to exist, there must be interaction over a period of time; and (4) it is a kind of relationship that developed through voluntary interaction with particular person. This can be gleaned further on the studies by Ye (2006) about online relationship, Dindia’s (2003) relational maintenance,
Triandi’s (1989) Individualist and Collectivist Values, Kyle’s (2015)
communication style and Walther’s (2003) Computer-aided Communication which are highly supportive of the concepts about friendship across cultural boundaries. Furthermore, this literature elucidated how research on friendship centered on the characteristics of a relationship and various online communication behaviors but little is known about the process used in maintaining online friendship when CAC is used as a means for communication. In the traditional face-to-face scenario, relationship and its maintenance can be repeatedly stressed and be comprehensively examined. Although the processes and strategies of initiating and maintaining relationship is important, people spend time in maintaining this kind of relationship. In the study of Leake and Black (2005), it was pointed out that nearly three-fourths of the world’s cultures can be labeled as collectivist and the rest is individualist, hence, intimate online friendship will always be affected culturally speaking. The review found limited empirical support linking online communication behaviors and relational factors especially in online intimate friendship. It is unclear as to what extent friendship cultural factors may influence the relational communication in Internet-based relationships, including communication behaviors used for sustaining an intimate online friendship at a satisfactory status.
This, therefore, needs certain
consideration that led to the conceptualization of the current study. Overall, the cited literature served as landmark that paved the way for the current study.
However, such literature was generally based on physical and face-to-face
interaction which created certain gap that needs to be addressed. Hence, this study ventured into this kind of exploration. With the premises posed in the current paper, CAC could help an individual person who seek intimate online friendship exercise relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and break certain forms of [ERE 2017]
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relationship barriers even if they belong to different cultural backgrounds and, as such, can sustain the relationship. III. Research Methodology
[email protected] In this chapter the specific research methodology and procedure which the researcher used are presented and described.
3.1. Research Design and Data Gathering Procedures
[email protected] This dissertation is qualitative in nature. This method was purposely chosen in order to uncover specific end result in terms of how a relationship works among individualist and collectivist individuals who engaged in an intimate online friendship. Further, qualitative because the study generally focused into a select group of informants, it did not isolate variables, and results were almost, by demarcation, impossible to duplicate. Instead of isolating variables, this study generally tried to look at a broad range of interconnected processes or causes of the online intimate friendship happening between and among the SI and FI informants. Rather than testing a particular hypothesis about intimate online friendship, the study tended to engage in a dialectic and persuasive data gathering processes that affect the problem to be dealt with. Information collected in the process was expected to have molded the views and perception of the informants even before the study was conducted. And in place of reproducible result, qualitative answers to the questions were generally aimed at accuracy—getting at everyday realities of the intimate online friendship without overlooking the magnanimous and fertile experiences of the informants. The conduct of the study relied so much on the combination of interview, observation, questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD).
This entails both
understanding the specific background context of a research setting and also spending a lot of time with the informants. In other words, in order to meet the standards of qualitative output, the researcher stood firmly on the ground where the study was
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conducted. Malinowski was the person who attributed to bringing out this kind of idea. He argued that to truly understand people, their language, interaction, culture and even their relationship, one has to spend ample time to be with the informants to learn not only their language and situation but their feelings, emotions and relationship as well (Malinowski, 1967). Becker (2007) further argued about the epistemological aims of quantitative research that it is not fundamentally different from qualitative research - it is just that the standards, questions, and methods used tend to be diverse. Becker distinctly labeled this idea in terms of breadth, precision, and accuracy; hence, the same precision was epitomized and applied in this study. On this premise, having sought the approval and completion of the necessary permission from different concerned offices, the data gathering commenced. The profile and demographic information of the informants were gathered for the purpose of describing the informants. As stipulated early on, one of the main sources of data gathering was an in-depth interview, which was recorded every session. In the study of McCracken (1988), he stipulated that the interview will allow the researcher to get into the mind of participants being interviewed and will experience their world as they see it. Further, in-depth interviews were used as they are excellent means of grasping the meanings attached to relationship maintenance strategies, interdependence, and commitment in a relationship (Arditti and Prouty, 1999). The interview sessions were conducted using a structured questionnaire.
Closed-ended questions regarding age,
gender, religion, nationality, language, educational status, and online activities among the informants were asked. The in-depth interviews utilized a set of open-ended questions and probes designed to explore the meanings individual respondents attached to their words, how they saw their relationship and distance as well as how informants evaluated their partner and the strengths of their relationship. In so doing, relational maintenance, relational barriers, interdependence, commitment and the use of CAC were thoroughly scrutinized.
Five months were allotted for data gathering itself.
Considering the
sensitivity and complexity of the topic, the first month was used just to scout for possible informants, who, during the first encounter with the researcher totally repudiated and rejected the request of the researcher for them to take part in the study. [ERE 2017]
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persistent request and invitation, however, they finally accepted the invitation and consented to participate in the initial interview. The conduct of the initial interview was necessary in order to screen them if they really met the requirements to participate in the study. This alone required another month to accomplish. The next two months were spent for the tedious in-depth interview and FGD. Finally, the remaining month of the allotted five months was spent in the analyses and encoding of the data. 3.2. The Informants
[email protected] All informants in this study were intimately dating with their online foreign friends for at least five (5) months prior to this study. Similar to the study conducted by Holt and Stone (1988), this time frame was chosen to enhance the possibility of including individuals who demonstrated overt and covert indicators of investment in their dating relationship as well as to ensure some level of shared commitment and interdependence. Due to the sensitivity of the issue involved in the study, only participants studying in SMC were interviewed, as it also required a direct and exhaustive methodological consideration necessary in a one-on-one follow up or assessment in the data gathering stage of the study. A great deal of recorded interviews and journal notes were generated as a result of the in-depth interviews and, given the exploratory nature of the paper, the study was focused on the experience of both partners. Persuasive and exhaustive efforts were exerted in gathering the data in order to corroborate the information given by both intimate online friends and to fully understand the online experiences of both parties. It is not uncommon to study only one person in the dyad to learn about intimate relationships of both partners (Rusbult, 1983), but this study seemed to succeed in doing the extreme. Instead of just focusing on only one personal account about intimate online friendship experiences, this study interviewed both parties in an intimate online relationship. Based on the profile of the informants, the youngest was eighteen (18) years old and the oldest was thirty (30) years old, giving an average age of 21 years old. Smelser
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and Erikson (1980) explained that a societal expectation generalizes for individuals to begin early adulthood at approximately the age of 18 to underscore the legal or psychological points such as that of being in the “age of reason”. This age group was selected, as opposed to younger respondents, due to their presumed greater maturity and independence (Smelser and Erikson, 1980). In the Philippine context, younger students are more likely to have a higher level of dependence on their parents in terms of emotional, financial and personal responsibilities including their academic obligations. Hence, the participants included were at least 18-year old for both SIs and FIs. The openended nature of the interview allowed better exploration of the topic and in finding out how their online attachment to their intimate foreign friends influenced their online relationship maintenance strategies, interdependence and commitment with each other. 3.3. The Sampling Procedure
[email protected] Considering the nature of the study, purposive sampling was used in choosing the informants.
This was observed until a saturation point of the data was attained.
Naturally, the saturation is typically reached when no new concepts, themes or patterns appear from the interview process. The starting interview point for the respondents was casual interview. This approach can be likened to the techniques utilized by Groves and Horm-Wingerd (1991). Additional respondents were provided by those already in the respondent’s list. 3.4. The Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
[email protected] The study likewise employed the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) technique. The main purpose of the (FGD) was to draw from the informants their feelings, attitudes, beliefs, reactions and experiences in a way that it would not be reasonable using other methods, for example observation, one-on-one interview, or surveys. Considering these attitudes, feelings, communication, interaction processes, and beliefs might be in some measure independent of a group or its social situation, but more likely to be discovered
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via social gathering or collaboration in a focus group discussion. In contrast to individual interviews, which meant to acquire individual concepts, attitudes, beliefs and feelings about the topics used in the study, the FGD could elicit numerous opinions and emotional developments within a group context. Anyhow, the separate interview was easier for the researcher to regulate than the focus group discussion in which the informants could take the initiative. But, compared to an interview, a focus group discussion generally enables the researcher to gain greater amount of information in a shorter time. The observation method is inclined to depend on waiting for things to occur, whereas the researcher monitors an interview guide in a focus group discussion. In this sense, the FGD is not naturally done but if properly organized will illicit the necessary information from by the informants. Hence, the FGD group is particularly useful when differences of ideas arise among the informants and when the everyday use of language and practices of a particular group is of interest or when one wants to explore the degree of consensus on a given topic (Kreuger and Kreuger, 2009). Such were the contentions in the current study. And, like the individual interviews, the conduct of the actual focus group discussion was also recorded. Unlike the SIs, however, considering the inevitable distance between the FIs and the researcher, FIs were not as privileged as the SIs. They were not able to participate in the FGD. 3.5. Coding and Interpretation of Data
[email protected] To preserve the accuracy and richness of the gathered data, every interview was recorded, transcribed and coded in an interview journal. The transcription process was very tedious but very helpful, as well, in extracting the meanings and in solidifying the information given by the informants.
It has to be noted that, since the individual
interview was conducted in the vernacular, or, depending on the preference of the informants, they had the option to code-switch from Binisaya to Filipino and to English, or the other way around. This made a great deal of translation challenge on the part of the researcher. In the transcription process, however, the researcher had the opportunity, once again, to listen to the recorded voices of the informants and to orderly transcribe
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them in the journal. Similar to the methodology employed in Arditti’s and Prouty’s (1999), reading and reviewing the rich coded data in the journal transcriptions was very beneficial. After reading the transcriptions, content analysis was written in English highlighting
important
ideas,
movements,
mannerisms,
agreement
disagreements among the informants especially during the FGD.
and
even
In so doing, any
reflected similarities and dissimilarities of opinions among the informants were clarified. To be identified included but not limited to the following: strengths of their relationship, weaknesses,
relationship
maintenance
strategies,
interdependence,
commitment,
relationship barriers, and the use of CAC. In terms of language, the researcher was also keen in looking into the language being used, attitudes, beliefs, verbal and non verbal cues and other communication issues they manifested. Furthermore, considering the sensitivity of the topic discussed in this study, utmost precautionary measures were taken to protect the identity of the informants, hence, as an alternative to citing their names in toto, they were also coded as SI for student informant and FI for foreign informant respectively. Lund Research Ltd (2012) pointed out that guarding the secrecy and privacy of research informants is a concrete element of research ethics. After all, participants will typically only be willing to share information, especially information of a private or delicate nature, if the researcher would hold such data in confidence. While it is possible that research participants may be offended in some way if the data collection methods used is in some way impervious, there is perhaps a greater danger that impairment can be instigated once the data has been collated. This happens when data is not preserved privately, whether in terms of the storing of data and their examination, or during the writing process. Nevertheless, this does not mean that all data collected from research informants needed to be held confidential or secret. It would be possible to divulge the identity and opinions of participants at numerous stages of the research process. On the other hand, consents were sought before the confidential information was revealed in this study. Finally, the last step was the analysis. Content analysis was made to further classify the coded data found in the journal and to find out the emergence of crosscultural communication pattern. The areas expected to emerge concerns and be related [ERE 2017]
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to the occurrence of relationship maintenance strategies, interdependence, commitment, barriers and the use of CAC. Identities for both SIs and FIs were all coded to ensure secrecy and security. IV. Results and Discussion
[email protected] This chapter presents the results that surfaced after the data of the study were analyzed. Consistent with the qualitative research approach, presenting the prevailing output relative to the objectives of the current study is the main goal. The study basically aimed at finding out how the informants who belong to the collectivist and individualist communities
dealt
with
issues
concerning
their
relationship
maintenance,
interdependence, commitment, relational barriers and the use of CAC in their regular day-to-day communication or interaction. The questions were fully answered by the SMC student informants (SIs) and their intimate online foreign friends otherwise known as the foreign informants (FIs).
One of the concentrations of the study involved
exploring the ways in which intimate online friends stayed connected and dealt with any difficulty posed by their physical distance from each other. Dense data of narratives and the ensuing analyses attained through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) showed significant relationship maintenance strategies, interdependence, commitment, and communication patterns that were not previously discussed in other literature on intimate online friendship. These brought emerging insights about Crosscultural communication patterns. The results of the study are presented following the order of the research questions.
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4.1. Profile of the Informants
[email protected]
The informants’ profile does not only speak of socio-demographic information but also portrays the specific information that college students do have an inclination for dating foreign nationals online. According to the blog of Sarahgats (2009), there is no question that the Internet has offered many Filipino women a convenient way to connect, locate and revitalize relationships. A lot of questions associated with the traditional form of establishing a relationship, which often leave one frustrated and lonely, are happening among students nowadays and there is a concern that individuals might forego their real-
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life interactions in order to maintain online dating. It can be noted that online dating has become a new dating approach that allows exclusive use of an internet service to get a potential mate (Sarahgats, 2009). In the Philippines, online dating is a concept involving Filipino women’s liberation which emphasizes freedom from the traditional restrictions in sexual and social behavior which has manifested itself in dating patterns (Medina, 2001) as cited by Sarahgats (2009). Today, patterns of dating initiative is getting so inviting that it has been exploited by people across the globe. It is common knowledge that some individuals aim to interact with foreign nationals online not only to get a friend but to find a suitable mate, and, eventually, to be married in the future. As pointed out in the study of Labucay (2011), women in the Philippines indeed used the Internet for many reasons other than information gathering or for study purposes. Age has been found to be a strong predictor of
Internet use,
such
that
Internet use is higher among the youth internet users. All of the informants aged 18 to 30 years old use the Internet regularly on a day-to-day or weekly basis. Internet use is higher among students who get Internet connection at home and from other mobile access. The Internet has become a fertile ground for people to meet others and start a relationship. Over the Internet, people are exposed to tremendous opportunities to interact with new, funny, and like-minded individuals whom they would unlikely meet under normal circumstances (Durkin, 2004). Indeed, CAC defies age, gender, religion, educational background, nationality, language, educational status and even culture in the name of intimate online friendship.
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Table 3. Profile of the Foreign Informants (FIs)
[email protected]
Table 3 presents the five (5) foreign informants who were the intimate online friends of five (5) of the SIs. Of the five (5) FIs, the youngest was twenty six (26) years old, the oldest was fifty one (51) years old.
They belong to different religious
denominations like Catholic, Methodist, and Anglican. With the intention of studying participants coming from individualist societies, the five (5) FIs indeed all come from countries known to be individualistic. Their online activity duration ranges from eleven (11) months to two (2) years and above. With the desire to corroborate the information given by the SIs about their intimate online friendship activities with their counterpart FIs, much effort was exerted to interview them to get their side on how they maintained their interactions with the SIs. As pointed out, only five (5) responded to the invitation. With the help of the SIs, they made their participation by answering the questionnaires (see appendix D) sent to them through e-mail.
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4.2. Online Relationship Maintenance Strategies
[email protected] It is generally accepted that in order to maintain intimate friendship online, it must be made dynamic and must be enhanced so that both partners stay committed and satisfied with their online relationship. While it has long been pointed out in most studies that maintenance of relationship is a process, these researches gave a one-shot assessment of the communication process and did not address how maintenance behaviors contributed to the sustenance of online relationship or lack thereof in terms of communication between the collectivist and individualist individuals. Informants of the current study, however, strongly agreed that their online relationship became intimate because they valued their intimate friendship. They put premium in their relationship by openly admitting that they became intimate friends online. This was crystallized and made to be so because they had successfully established their online relationship maintenance strategies like observing “positivity”, “openness”, “assurance”, “social network” and “sharing of tasks”.
Below are the relational maintenance strategies as
employed by the informants. 4.2.1 Positivity. Student informant no.1 (SI-1), a 30-year old college student, had previously experienced a bad relationship with her local ex-boyfriend when she met her new intimate friend online. She said: SI-1: (Smiling) Sir, it’s more than a year now. In our conversation, we were both coming off pretty bad with our previous local relationship. Everything started ordinarily, nothing significant happened for, let’s say, two months and a half in our chat. I’m not serious about it. Some of my friends are doing it anyway, so… I went on. But after that, by fate, maybe, we became good friends in the succeeding month. December last year, hmm, good interest was expressed by him and I like it. He’s nice, I believe, so that’s it. We’re on. We are so positive about it. SI-3 had been dating someone at the time when she met her online friend and was thus hesitant to begin a relationship with him. She shared the following story: [ERE 2017]
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SI-3: Actually sir, (hesitant at first) I was so honest with him and told him about my current relationship and at that time I couldn’t commit because I didn’t know my feelings about him. But, my gush, when I met him online! But we could be friends (we agreed on it, friends lang!) You know one thing led to another and we started spending more time together over the net, (ngee….ambot ngano?) gee don’t know why. (Positive lang pod ko) I am positive about it. And it was funny because I prayed to the Lord to give me a good man …I can’t believe this guy had all the qualities that I am looking for. This must be a good sign. (Nindot baya, hehe) It’s nice. Clearly, these individuals were not looking right away for an intimate relationship with their current online friends.
The relationship just evolved, and the friendship
foundation facilitated a strong intimate relationship in the long run since they felt comfortable with each other and had no pretenses about who they really were since they started as just friends at first. When asked about the reason why they stayed in this kind of relationship, majority of the informants affirmed the intimate status they had with their online friends and that they were very positive about finding what they were looking for and had no reason anymore o look for other online friends. 4.2.2. Openness.
This is the case of SI-4 who admitted that she relied on her
online friend to be her loyal sounding board for anything that she needed to talk to online: SI-4: Sir, he’s okay. I mean, the fact that he is very much similar to me in terms of likes and dislikes, I guess. Hmmm, I don’t know, I talk to him all the time so he is pretty much my best friend. I am telling him anything and everything I want to tell him (nodding her head). (Ana me ka open, sir) That’s how open we are, Sir. Student informant (SI) no. 8 or SI-8, who had been in her intimate online friendship for five (5) months pointed out that she liked her intimate online friend [ERE 2017]
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because he was not like all the other men she met over the Internet. Her current intimate online friend was a very strong person and capable of making her laugh. She said: SI-8: (Holding her hands) (Open siya ug joker pod, Sir). At the start he was reserved. Later on, he opened up and he has a good sense of humor, Sir. He laughs, he is smart, and he’s not a typical type of lover.... Other men don’t have strength or character and he got all those things. I was thinking that he was not a foreigner before we got intimately close with each other. In the in-depth interview, the informants gave a lot of reasons why they were happy with their intimate online friends, but one factor that they admitted which can be noted as one of the most important was the solid foundation of friendship which they had built with their intimate online friends which gave them “assurance”. After discussing the strengths of their relationship that include their relationship maintenance strategies, the researcher explored whether these informants had any major troubles in their online friendship. Two informants cited minor problems such as a tendency to be stubborn as a minor difficulty in the relationship.
This, however, helped developed into positive
assurance. The informants stated they both tended to be stubborn on purpose sometimes. 4.2.3. Assurance. In the case of SI-4, she explained that being in an intimate online friendship actually brought inevitable arguments that she and her online intimate friend had.
Despite this, the relationship became even stronger which gave them
assurance in their relationship. She pointed out that: SI-4: (Holding her cp) I accept, we are both pretty stubborn on some issues, but I don’t know, that’s one of the biggest things. We just have dumb arguments, so we `don’t want to admit the other person’s right. The biggest change is probably that we get into lesser arguments. We would look at each other and just be like... what are we going to do? That’s it. We are sometimes stupid. Some petty little arguments, you know, maybe because of frustrations because we can’t see each other personally. But I [ERE 2017]
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think, he’s sometimes jealous, hehe. (Pero) but, we have the assurance that, no matter what, we will be together. SI-5 humbly admitted that she and her online friend got along so well, and that her other colleagues in school thought they had an extraordinary friendship based on their observations. She said: SI-5: (In an emphatic voice) (Na!) Sir, this is a really strange thing, we have never fought, ever. We don’t fight. Hehehe. We don’t like to fight; we have no reason to fight anyway. Everyone told me that is not normal, but I think it must be. We’ll, if we would ever fight, then might as well break our friendship. (Naay daghan oy) There could be many others. (Sa among relasyon, sure man pod ko). In our relationship, I am assured, anyhow. Indeed, the SIs pronouncements indicated the importance of relational maintenance that helped them break the distance barriers through CAC which further proved positive points that enhanced their commitment to intimate friendship in an online setting (Duck and Sprecher 1998). The type of connection that these informants foster seemed to be quite deep in itself. It was not a surprise to hear from them then, that because of the assurance they felt about the relationship, receiving gifts and money from their online friends came naturally. SI-15 actualized this by saying: “He is always sending me money even if I am not asking.
He is very trustworthy. It made our
relationship stronger”. Not to be outdone is SI-14 when she said: “I love chocolates that is why he keeps on sending me whenever he can. While on our intimate online friendship, I got to know his family as he got to befriend my family members. Emotional and relational support are constant for both of us. I think nothing can break us apart”. There is no doubt about this act, the informants’ positivity, openness and assurance contributed in maintaining their relationship. Further, the online interaction that brought openness to both intimate online partners could be associated with the emergence of the so-called equal responsibility of both partners which led them to talk about almost anything, even if it was just over the [ERE 2017]
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cellular phone, chat or e-mail, thus, making their online friendship works. This idea was highly substantiated by one of the foreign informants, FI-1, when he said “I am comfortable with her even with this kind of relationship and I trust her that she would not abandon me and everything that we build up”. 4.2.4. Social Networks. Another online relationship strategy that surfaced during the interview was the idea about “social networks”. Similar to the process in other types of intimate friendship, social networks seemed to influence the informants’ opinions about online relationship (Ye, 2006). Certain negative social pressures may arise which may possibly negate the possibility of two individuals maintaining a strong relationship for a long period of time. But with the presence of social networks, the situation can turn to a brighter side. Attridge (1994), for example pointed out that the maintenance of intimate online friendship was based on the idea that if geographically close friends use social networks, it will help them stay together. Then, subsequently, this situation would serve as glue in a certain form of relationship that would be largely needed by those people who are geographically separated from each other. However, in a broader sense, it has been identified by the SIs that family and common friends, or social networks, can be of great help. Social networks include not only those who are physically available when you need them, but those with whom they were acquainted over the years, even those they were not physically interacting, would also be of assistance for them. Indeed, for the SIs, sharing with their friends in terms of everyday interaction was not impossible. It would seem that the significant meaning the informants attached to their own social network is an approval of their intimate online friendship. This in turn gave significance in their online relationship. There were SIs whose family members and friends are instrumental in convincing them that they might have a good chance if they were willing to put patience and some efforts on their online relationship. Other SIs, however, had to deal with some negative attitude of their friends and even their family towards their online friends, SI-4 added that her friends at school sometimes chided her by questioning why she would want an
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intimate online friend when she could have one at school with her all the time. SI-4 explained her side by saying: SI-4: Sir, I think people are supportive. It’s just that some guys are just being kind sometimes and will be like, you know. In his case, he is far away. Well, maybe, you can go out and have fun with your local bf (boyfriend), but, by experience, they are just joking and they are not serious. You can’t get a certain kind of commitment from them! In spite of the lack of support from her local friends, SI-4 did not actually bother anymore with other local guys because she was already totally committed to her intimate online friend and would never consider cheating on him. Their distance created a situation where actual physical interaction and frequent activities between friends and other social network were not possible. However, in an intangible way, these SIs do share their friends and family members with their intimate online friends at some personal, emotional and social levels. They do so by using the CAC. While few SIs had limited physical interaction to share their experiences with their local friends, nonetheless, others succeeded to solidify both their commitment and interdependence with their intimate online friends with the help of their social networks, especially with their family members. This point brings us to the discussion about the “sharing of task” for both online partners. 4.2.5. Sharing of Task. Another relational maintenance strategy used is sharing of tasks, consistent with that identified by Stafford and Canary (2003). In narrative of SI15, “One good task that I normally do for him is to update him of my activities and I would make sure to ask him if he’d eaten. Wifi is a big help. He does the same thing to me every day”. On the other hand, SI-14, said: “We update each other about our daily activities online and he is very serious about this task. When we chat he normally opens the topic which is why he is not boring to talk online”. With these personal and emotional exchanges of daily tasks, it can be deduced that both partners are benefiting from it. One factor that appears to be important in [ERE 2017]
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helping the sustenance of this kind of friendship is likewise shown in the narrative of SI12. She said: “We designate time when the two of us can talk. And, using a private message in our social media account, we send important messages regularly. We make sure not to miss the significant dates in our lives. Our parents’ and family members’ birthdays are always included. We are doing all of these in turn”. As Stafford and Canary (2002) pointed out, the sharing of responsibilities also relates to the concept of interdependence in a relationship, as partners count on one another to carry an equal burden. Sharing of tasks and responsibilities leads to a sense of mutuality in an online relationship. In addition to the five relationship maintenance strategies earlier established by Canary and Stafford (2002), the study appeared to have found three new one. These are material and financial support, cyber-sensual activity and constant and regular communication through CAC. 4.2.6. Material and Financial Support. This is what came out in the following narrative of SI-11: “He sent me cellphone, tab, and even money. But I’m not asking for these, he just gave them to me”. The FIs’ sending of gifts and money to the SIs appears to be a relational maintenance strategy between the Filipino informants and their online friends. What is quite striking to note is the fact that this was happening in an online context. 4.2.7. Cyber-sensual activity.
This is the second possibly new relational
maintenance strategy. This was gathered from the story of one of the SIs. When asked the question what she would miss when not seeing her intimate online friend physically, SI-11 pointed out that, perhaps, it could be the physical intimacy. With her somewhat liberal view, she said: “Maybe it is normal in an intimate relationship to have a personal activity online. It’s for fun”. This pronouncement was corroborated by FI-1 when he wrote in his reply about the item on nudity and cybersex over the Internet. He said: “Maybe. It works. Others enjoy it. Me, as the need arises”. Another significant [ERE 2017]
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narrative was that of SI-4 when she said: “Sometimes, Sir, when we are chatting over the net, it would just be nice to become closer to him. Well, you know, like acting or giving him a kiss on screen”. Although these informants did not reveal much about this activity, it appears to be a significant factor in the sustenance of their relationship. Of the twenty informants, only these three made a disclosure about the said activity which could be an affirmation of a common knowledge that things like these are actually really happening online. While the remaining eighteen (17) informants denied, eschewed and even rejected the idea, the disclosure of the three
informants about cyber-sensual activity are valuable and
significant in this study as this vented the popular belief of what commonly takes place between couples in an online relationship. 4.2.8. Constant and regular communication through CAC. This is the third possible new relational maintenance strategy and it is not a surprise to discover CAC coming to the surface. The informants indicated that they were more likely to disclose themselves online than in real life because of the physical distance between them. In Floyd’s (1996) study of Internet newsgroups, he pointed out that nearly two thirds of his participants reported that they had formed online intimate personal relationships with people whom they met in newsgroups. Similarly, Green (2002) study suggested that real, deep, and intimate meaningful relationships do form on the Internet and these online relationships went stable over time. SI-5 said: “Every Saturday or Sunday, when I’m home, we’ll talk or chat for almost 2 hours sometimes. (Ana ‘dyod, Sir) It would be like that, Sir.” While, for SI-4, “Sir, we chat and talk a lot over the phone, especially recently because, on the Internet we can have the skype, sir, so we usually talk to each other at least every other day - well, practically at night..” For SI-2, “Yes! I e-mail several times in a week. We talk on the phone close to an hour a day, maybe 3-5 times a week …I think about him even in school because he knows a lot about technical stuff, especially now that I have so many projects and ‘am writing. He knows more of that kind of thing. I e-mail him questions about my paper. He told me that he loves it (smiling)”. [ERE 2017]
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The informants’ accounts about CAC showed that it served as their precious link or life-line with their intimate online friends. CAC made them closer even though they could not be physically near each other.
All the informants had no financial
apprehensions like incurring much bill because all they need to do is just to open their computer or Internet-ready cellphones to make the necessary connection with their intimate online friends. SI-8 said: “Sos, that 5 months of e-mail and chat. Every single day I sent him an email. Well, just about every day he e-mailed back to me. And it was very nice. I think we became closer through that than anything else. That was it. We are treasuring it”. SI-8 and SI-13 below further demonstrated the significance of CAC in her interaction with her intimate online friend. Interactions vary differently across cultures for the distance at which people feel comfortable talking to each other or for appropriate reason. SI-13 said: “We chat twice a day. Talking about our Interdependence and commitment, we shared pictures online and I’m financially supported by him. We commit to stay longer in our relationship”. Consistent with Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, display of interaction may vary from culture to culture, but what is more significant for an intimate friendship to survive is the frequency of its occurrence. In this case, SI-8 and SI-13 were able to hit the nail on its head. Interestingly also and contrary to this researcher’s preconceived expectations about the importance usually given to physical attributes, the informants did not mention physical attractiveness as a factor in the intimate online friendship. In the review of related literature and studies, majority of the researches conducted on reasons for attraction in relationships suggested physical attractiveness as an important attraction factor in an intimate relationship. (Sprecher, 1998) The fact that physical attractiveness did not emerge as a reason for staying into this kind of relationship, it appears that the SIs and FIs in the study are showing a unique exception. It is also possible that the intimate friendship stemmed from the long distance experience itself. One might speculate that because of their inability to physically see each other face-to-face on a day-to-day basis, these intimate online friends were less focused on the physical aspects of their intimate online friends and got more focused on the personality [ERE 2017]
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traits such as the online friends’ attentiveness, kindness and probably intelligence of their partners, a factor also cited by Sprecher (1998) as more important than attraction in a certain form of relationship. Consequently, outward appearance was not what these intimate online friends were concerned about, rather it was being content with the person for who he or she was. It was observed that these individuals were really proud to be with their online partner and that the attraction was deeper than physical connection in their friendship. 4.2. a. Relationship maintenance strategies that suggest qualities of a collectivist society
[email protected] From the dense narratives given by the research informants, significant points entail recurring value systems that differentiate the qualities of a collectivist and individualist person. Exploring and understanding the values of people from different cultures therefore plays an important role in understanding people with different values in life that affect the formation of friendship or intimate friendship as in the case of the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends. The case of SI-3 is a typical example where collectivist values are inherent in terms of making her decision “…I prayed to the Lord to give me a good man …I can’t believe this guy had all the qualities that I am looking for. This must be a good sign. (Nindot baya, hehe) It’s nice.” Such line of thinking illuminated the idea of choice and personal responsibility. According to Leake and Black (2005), collectivist culture is more likely than individualist one to allow for external explanations for the cause of a good or bad event. The mere mention of the words “I prayed to the Lord” would further imply SI-3’s value system which is very collectivistic. Another point that revealed a collectivist value system is that of SI12 when she said “With the help of a friend I was able to meet this man online. At first we’re just ordinary friend, but as time passes by…my God, I fell madly in love with him.” Conferring with close associates or circle of friends one’s activity, as in the case of SI-12, highly suggests a collectivist value system (Ye, 2006; Fillmore, 2014; and Kyle, 2015)
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4.2. b. Relationship maintenance strategies that suggest qualities of an individualist society
[email protected] Individualist person is so distinct compared to a collectivist individual. One good example is shown in the narrative of FI-1. When FI-1 was asked about the possibility of making his own group or social network, he gladly answered by saying “I haven`t tried this”. In regards to expressing his love using FB or technology, he replied by saying, “I only send that kind of messages in private messaging not thru her FB wall”. He added “When I had my own job, I started to live separate with my kin”. Living independently and having a limited circle of friends are indicative of an individualist characteristic (Leake and Black, 2005). The same expression of value system can be observed in the answers of FI-2, FI-3, and FI-5, where they put less emphasis on social network, family attachment, sharing of task. According to Leake and Black (2005), in all cultures, interaction standards depend on social status. In many individualistic cultures it is common that younger people are expected to behave in a way when interacting with older or people of better status. This is an extremely common source of misunderstanding. Individualistic culture promotes self-expression. The view of an individual person as independent unit hints to highlight a range of self-oriented values and skills that sustains independent living. This kind of value includes self-efficacy, self-sufficiency, selfdetermination, self-advocacy, self-competence, self-direction, self-regulation, selfreliance, and self-responsibility according to Leake and Black (2005). As to how this affect interdependence and commitment will be discussed in the succeeding discussions: 4.2. Shared interdependence behaviors which Filipino students have with their intimate online foreign friends Commitment which is somewhat less tangible and perhaps more subjective than interdependence, involves the tendency to maintain a relationship and to feel psychologically ‘attached’ to it (Rusbult, 1983). While interdependence tends to reflect what intimate partners might share, one’s commitment to the relationship influences the
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nature and extent of the relationship’s interdependence (Van Lange, 1997). Based on the informants’ narratives, it can be deduced that their interdependence was heightened by their reminiscing activity when they missed their intimate online friends and further intensified with the thought of their online friends expected visit. Still, as pointed out by SI-11 and FI-1, it is also worth mentioning that such interdependence can go sensual because of a cyber-sensual activity which could be done online. The conceptualization of interdependence is advantageous in an intimate online friendship as it can be tested and empirically assessable. SI-2’s response in particular gives an idea on how she valued her interdependence and commitment: “Sir, you know, at first, I was not quite sure why this thing was happening and I was not even sure that I wanted a long-distance relationship to start with, but we talk and chat a lot.” This idea can pose certain limitations in terms of relationship for it presumes behavior in an online intimate friendship to be predictable and could just be a product of rational thought. Obviously, there are instances of relational commitment that defy such simplistic explanation for both partners to endure.
Thompson (1989) refines the ideas of
interdependence and commitment by considering what constitutes “online intimate friendship.” According to this perspective, a key component of intimacy is in the form of interdependence for both friends, which is defined as the degree to which they help or influence each other. The degree to which intimate friends are intertwined or “interdependent” is very likely linked to the nature of their commitment to the relationship (Van Lange, et. al., 1997).
With SI-2’s long standing intimate online
friendship with an individualist person, their interdependence and commitment is beyond question. They support each other and satisfy what they want. Following one of the SI’s assertion, she added: “So I think we spent so much time in the beginning chatting and talking over the phone, yes that helped a lot to know ourselves better, ‘till this day”. Here, the informant showed that she made things work for themselves. This is not far from the ideas expressed by the other SIs and the rest of the FIs.
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4. 3. a. Shared interdependence which reflects a collectivist society It can be noted that studies about online relationship communication are largely western-based. Given the essential differences between “collectivist” and “individualist” societies, comparative research on culture is necessary to examine intimate online friendship and its relationship maintenance to find their differences. Studies show that intimate friendship status may mediate the effect of culture on interpersonal interaction. Some relationship maintenance strategies, such as being open or positive, may be subjected to the current study. For example, regarding Filipino friendship styles, Gao claims that you need to be an intimate friend before a Filipina will open up and tell you her background and story (Gao, 2001). One will notice the language, values, communication styles and dynamics, reflected in the responses of the informants to be unique and so varied. Variety is the best term to use here, and, yet they were able to maintain and even sustain their online friendship through the years. The collectivist informants (Filipino students) are so subtle in their values and views compared to that of their foreign counterparts.
One good
example about this is when S-12 was asked about how she would handle issues about uncertainty and anti-social treatment, she answered “… basta, bahala na (…well, it’s up to God). I’m open to all possibilities”. Comparatively speaking, the Filipino students would tend to be God fearing as they see obligations for others, rely on group, adhere to traditional values, fulfill roles within group, feel shame or guilt due to failing of the group, live with family and kin, share property within group, expect elders to convey knowledge, and to be subtle, and very polychromic. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension theory is decisive when it discusses how being “subtle” affects not only the values of individual person but on their judgment and how they interact within or outside their community. These are common attributes of a collectivist person. SI-1, SI-11, and SI-14 made their reflective views about this concept. Their views about not making a decision without consulting their parents, prioritizing their studies, and adhering to God’s mercy and compassion were evident in their narratives, which, likewise are indicative of
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collectivist values fostered in a collectivist society. Further, SI-7’s “(…parang) like… so serious, and I like it”; SI-8’s “oops, he got me!” (laughter follows)”, and SI-2’s “Hehe…I am romantic (others call me hopeless romantic)”, referring to their conversation with their intimate online partners not only reflected their indirect communication style but of their collectivist value system inherited from their family and community where they live in. 4.3. b. Shared interdependence which reflects individualist society On the part of the foreign informants (FIs), it is noteworthy to mention how the majority of the FIs declined the invitation of this researcher for an online interview and opted for their exclusion in the study. Such action is typical of people belonging to the individualist society. As pointed out by Leake and Black (2005), the individualist view of life emphasizes a range of self-oriented values and skills that support independent living. These values include self-sufficiency, self-determination, self-efficacy, selfregulation, and self-reliance. Hence, for the FIs, any form of intrusion can be construed as an act of invasion to their privacy. One good example was that of FI-1’s idea about adding the friends of his intimate friend to strengthen their friendship and readily gave his answer by saying: “I`m not use to it” or “When I had my own job, I started to live separate with my kin” when asked about the idea of living with his family or kin. These two narratives highly reflected the same idea as pointed out by Leake and Black (2005) of their being self-sufficient and being so self-reliant which are very typical among individualist people.
4.4. Kind of commitment which Filipino students have with their intimate online foreign friends
[email protected] As cited in previous discussions, commitment is closely associated with interdependence. In his study, Ramirez (2008) discussed the idea of commitment that is linked to interaction patterns and strategies that are used to sustain online friendship and inevitably show how individuals deal with their online friends.
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Looking at how the twenty (20) informants elucidated their answers in the interviews, they all seemed to want to remain in online relationships and were proud of being identified as being intimately connected with these online friends. In fact, they all felt obligated to stay in the relationship. SI-14 even said: “Our eleven (11) months old intimate online friendship relationship, I think, has been made possible through the computer and the Internet. Communication wise, it has given us the chance to express our thoughts, feelings and emotions. And, with my parents’ approval of his proposal to visit my place and his pending invitation for me to visit his place in Germany, I am fully committed to him. I believe in happy ending, so what’s the point of having this kind of relationship, di ba sir (is it not, sir?)”. This is the kind of commitment the SIs have with their intimate online friends - a commitment that is not hindered by geographical distances. FI-4 exhibited the same level of commitment when he said that “we are officially in a relationship and there is nothing that could ever make me want to end things or lose her - she‘s the best girl - and I intend to keep it that way.” Clearly, CAC appears to have broken any form of relational barriers thereby sustaining the partners intimate online friendship. Further, it can be noted that commitment is closely associated with trust. One of the main points that came out in the FGD and interviews was the topic about commitment which came to the surface because of the intimate online friend’s trust with each other. While commitment and trust are issues in all types of relationships, it seemed to have a particular significance in an online friendship due to the limitations posed by the presence of distance. Commitment and trust were attributes which individuals carried with them as they progressed from one level of relationship to another, eventually, becoming intimate.
Canary and Stafford’s (1994) relational maintenance theory explains that
individuals attitudes about trust come from their own romantic past and from observing their environment and parent’s relationships when they are young. Majority of the informants responded that without commitment and trust, an online relationship would never work. The informants knew from their experiences that commitment with trust was an inviolable trait that must be totally observed and be made stable for the maintenance
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of a strong and healthy relationship, given the distance that these online individuals encountered. Informant SI-3 spoke about the attractive local male option that she could have in school and admitted that sometimes it would enter her mind to play tricks on her online friend, but that she chose to remain firm because of her commitment to him. SI-9, on the other hand, warned that because of one’s commitment, he or she had to be flexible and considerate in an intimate online friendship or else it would become difficult for both of them. Their narratives below show this dynamics. SI-3: Hmm, Sir, I trust him. I mean that is the bottom line. I trust him and I know he trusts me also. I mean there is no question about it. We have established that. We value our commitment which brings better commitment among ourselves. SI-9: Sir, in a situation like this, I think, you have to be flexible. I met one guy once in college, and if you are not flexible, there could be a problem, because with your distance you can be carried away. You have to be really flexible. If your intimate friend will not call you at 9 PM on Saturday when he normally does call you up, I just say, maybe he was busy or he is resting at the moment. SI-14 below pointed out that commitment would serve as perfect tool for her and her intimate online friend. And if they could practice it, then, their relationship would go smooth sailing. She said: SI-14: (smiling but nervous) We are committed to each other. We share our daily activities online and he is very serious about our relationship. When we chat he normally opens the topic which is why he is not boring to talk online. Summing up, the informants were articulate about their commitment to their intimate online friends, despite their distance. They all viewed the idea of commitment as the main reason why they felt their intimate online friendship worked. In fact, without even questioning the participants about betrayal, many offered the idea that without absolute trust as shown in their commitment in the relationship, an online friendship will [ERE 2017]
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never prosper. SI-12 and SI-13 clearly articulated this commitment concept by saying: “We are super in love!” 4.5. Barriers that affect the relationship between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends and how they go about these Swarthout (2015) elucidated three common barriers that affect online relationship across culture.
First, apart from culture and distance which are inevitable in cross-
cultural communication, he pointed out language to be one of these.
He said that
language is one of the factors that can “make” or “break” the communication process. It is a public knowledge that misunderstanding is common among individuals who speak diverse languages, so it is not startling that people from different cultural and linguistic upbringings face communication barriers. Everything from the misstatement of a word to an absence of specific word can lead to confusion. Language is a reproduction of culture, and diverse cultures have very diverse ways of conveying meanings to words. Second is behavior. Differences in body language and other behaviors across cultural boundaries can cause miscommunications. For example, in the USA, it is essential to make eye contact with somebody who is communicating to you or they may think you are apathetic. However, for some Asians, eye contact can be construed as sign of impudence or defiance to authority. There are many other cultural variances in body language that can generate barriers to better communication. These consist of different facial expressions, the use of head-moving like in nodding to show agreement or comprehension, and the giving of space to show someone with whom you are having a conversation a certain degree of respect. And, third is stereotype. Stereotype is an assumption people make about the characteristics of members of a cultural or social group. Many stereotypes are undesirable or even unfriendly and are serious barriers to communication. If you make a joke about expecting your American friend to call late for a meeting, you may damage your relationship. While some cultures may show a general set of characteristics, it is never okay to accept that individual members of a group have the same characteristics as they interact with each other. In the study about online [ERE 2017]
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friendship, all this can be manifested even online. So, what were the views of the informants about these issues? According to SI-7: “Sir, I have his picture in my CP and when I am working on my assignments or getting tired; I will look at the picture and even kiss it and let him know about it (she laughed)”. Obviously, while distance is keeping SI-7 and her intimate online friend physically isolated, CAC somehow bridged this distance and therefore made a significant contribution in sustaining their relationship. Once she opened her laptop, she can start their conversation rolling. One good advantage on her part is her being confident in the use of the English language. And with her openness, she would not even be affected if she received comments about erroneous spelling found on her e-mail and a number of mispronunciation being corrected when they engaged in a video chat. Unlike SI-7, other informants found it awkward to communicate in English, but in time, as they went along with their online friendship, everything seemed to turn ordinary. SI-14, on the other hand, insisted in saying that “We’re now well adjusted regarding our distance, values, language and even culture that is why these do not cause any trouble among ourselves.
I don’t consider them as barriers in our relationship”.
The CAC
was making their friendship virtually handy. Overall, all SIs found a way how to face the barrier challenge. Nevertheless, FI-3 pointed out that language, in a way, may cause some sort of a barrier but found his way how to solve it properly by saying: “Yes, sometimes but we clarify what is not clear.” Indeed, while English remains to be a universal language, people in love can use it and find their ways to break any form of barriers. Notwithstanding the positive meanings attached to distance, majority of the informants did identify some difficulties encountered with their intimate online friends due to distance. Their worries encompassed uncertainty resulting from their separation that created emotional and psychological impact towards their intimate online friends. SI-3 feared that their distance might affect the friendship she had with her online friend if the separation would go on for a longer period of time. Therefore, she was unable to focus on distance as temporary since she was not certain about when this separation
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would end, thus making her situation more difficult than the other respondents. She gave this explanation: SI-3: Sir, looking at our relationship closely, the longer we stay separated, aaa, that may cause anxiety if we don’t see one another. ‘Cause there is a chance that we may fall out of love. Hopefully, no, not! I think if the friendship were to come to an end, it would affect me pretty hard, and I think it would take some time for me to recover. You know, it is funny, you think when you fall in love with somebody online, and people say it is not true love and I think that is what it was just a game, but then... there it is. You know it just get your heart, my heart is kind of pumping right now, but…aaa, anyway, it is very nice. Oh love! Respondent SI-14 gladly summarized this point by saying: “CAC helped us in terms of disclosure”. Intimate online friends like SI-2 and SI-8 who virtually knew their partners through non-physical communication had an easier time using the CAC. They had less time together before the onset of the online friendship seemed to be able to cope better with the distance. Therefore, seeing their intimate online friends physically was a bonus for them, but they had already felt extremely connected to their partners from quality computer chat, cellphone conversations, e-mails and video chat. SI-5 though, had a more difficult time with distance since her intimate online friend really wanted know most of her daily activities. In any case, it seemed that distance made communication processes quite salient in terms of relationship satisfaction and the ability to maintain the relationship. Realizing the benefits of their distance seemed to be connected to the perception about its necessity for the sake of their future. The ability to focus on its temporary nature and the experience of feeling valued by their intimate online friends are the issues that matter. This finding seems to negate Swarthout’s (2015) idea about certain forms of barriers that affect intimate online friendship, as, at has been proven, CAC succeeded in breaking these barriers. It can be noted, however, that distance still pose a threat to this [ERE 2017]
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kind of relationship but was not strongly considered by the informants to be so for CAC could bridge the necessary connection for as long as there is Internet signal. 4.6. Computer-aided Communication (CAC) practices that affect the relational maintenance and interdependence between Filipino students and their foreign friends Empirical evidence of the effect of CAC on relationship development reported that 10.6% of research subjects established a long distance relationship and 43.6% have maintained a long distance friendship because of the Internet. In another study, 40% or more college students sampled stated that their goal in meeting people online was friendship and 60% admitted that they had met someone via the Internet, of which 26% became friendships (Zusman, 2001). Gleason (2002), on the other hand, found that 54% of his respondents had met with an Internet friend face to face. And according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2002), 72% of the college participants said most of their communication on the Internet was with friends. In addition, of a wide variety of online communication tools, email and instant messaging are suggested to be especially interpersonal relating oriented given their user specific features (Baym, 2002). How did the informants assess the veracity of this claim? Let us take SI-6’s answer. She said: “Sir, we send e-mail to each other every day. And then we will chat once or twice a week, or whatever, like every Saturday or Sunday or during holidays. He will call me or I will call him whenever possible”. On the other hand, SI-5 said: “Sir, we have to talk over the phone. That was before we got the Internet connection at home. He was spending much for his phone bill, I believe, since he is working in the field but that’s what he wants. Even if I am at, for example, in a class and he wants to talk to me, but we can only talk at certain times and there is a time difference too, so we are missing each other. But now it’s simpler. Every Saturday or Sunday, when I’m home, we’ll talk or chat for almost 2 hours sometimes. (Ana ‘dyod, Sir) It would be like that, Sir.”. While, for SI-4, “Sir, we chat and talk a lot over the phone, especially recently because, on the Internet we can have the skype, sir, so we usually talk to each other at least every other [ERE 2017]
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day - well, practically at night..” For SI-2, “Yes! I e-mail several times in a week. We talk on the phone close to an hour a day, maybe 3-5 times a week …I think about him even in school because he knows a lot about technical stuff, especially now that I have so many projects and ‘am writing. He knows more of that kind of thing. I e-mail him questions about my paper. He told me that he loves it (smiling)”. Finally, SI-3 can summarize all other responses when she said: “I think, Sir, about our distance it is something different. Well that’s it. I can say that it is so funny because when certain occasion happens, you know like Birthdays, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s day, etc. those kinds of things. Good that we have the net. And to be apart is a kind of day that your head can think of something. Our time together over the Internet does make things different, especially that we’re getting intimately close already. We are able to manage anyway.” Regardless of the frequency of communication, overall, the informants seemed to be dealing well with the online mechanism of contact they had successfully devised for themselves and their intimate online friends. A socially constructed view (Arditti & Proutty, 1999) which emphasized online interaction meaning, inherently challenges the supposed negative consequences of distance or separation between individuals who engaged in an intimate friendship happening online. Results of the study suggest that these individuals actively approached their separation, as they needed to without letting it consume them. Cellphone calls, chat, video call, skype and e-mails were looked forward by the informants and treasured by them all. For them, chat, calls and e-mail messages were the sources of continued connection to their intimate online partners. Checking an e-mail, or waiting by the computer or cellphone calls each night became a source of enjoyment, which enabled these intimate online friendship activity to work so successfully and allowed the concerned informants to plan for their future. Another significant point that surfaced during the in-depth interviews and FGD was the anticipation of the SI’s foreign intimate online friend’s actual visit.
Such
information transpired significantly. Further, while Walther (2003) only postulated the idea of synchronous and asynchronous channel that can strengthen an online interaction,
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it came out in the interviews that, indeed, a cyber-sensual activity can also sustain it with the same intimate effect. With all this, this researcher came to the point of asking as to what cross-cultural communication pattern is emerging between the SIs and FIs while engaging in this kind of relationship online? The next discussion is focused on this issue. 4.7. Cross-cultural communication pattern that emerged between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends Based on the data collected, seven (7) prevalent online interaction practices came to the surface as the result of the constant interaction between the Filipino students and their intimate online friends or also known as SIs and FIs informants. With these seven (7) online interaction practices, they served as potent knitting glue in forming the emerging cross-cultural communication pattern. These online interaction practices are: a) Openness in communication; b) Willingness to commit online; c) Benefiting from distance interaction; d) Strong Interdependence; e) Practical relationship maintenance strategies amidst relationship barriers; f) Active participation of social networks; and, g) Mutual support. Combining the seven (7) online interaction practices, with CAC, the researcher postulated the idea of calling the emerging communication pattern as “technodyadic cross-cultural communication pattern” for it occurred between two individuals who belong to two different cultural backgrounds and was happening in a “dyadic” communication situation. Using CAC, informants of the current study made use of it to initiate the necessary “interaction” that made both parties acquire personal information until such time that they were able to establish their intimate friendship online. All these interaction practices were made possible with the use of CAC in a “dyadic” context. As such, it can be further illustrated using this formula: “techno-dyadic initiation + technodyadic acquisition = techno-dyadic cross-cultural communication”. As this has created a significant communication pattern, discussion about the seven (7) online interaction practices needs to be undertaken. Generally speaking, the informants expressed complete trust with their intimate online friends, citing it as making their online friendship successful. Nonetheless, added [ERE 2017]
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effort must be made to keep their interaction with their online friend always available since distance affects their communication activities. Informants identified no major problems with their online intimate friends because of CAC, who, also signified that they, though belonging to different cultural backgrounds, felt their friendship are always getting stronger. With the absence of the actual physical interaction, the use CAC made their virtual interaction possible. If and when actual physical interaction fails, it can be supplemented or even intensified with the use of CAC’s synchronous and asynchronous channels (Walther, 2011). This, therefore, advances the idea of an online “dyad”. Such idea is supportive of the traditional dyadic communication (see Osgood, Schramm and Berlo’s dyadic communication models), but with the emergence of the modern communication technology, such idea has been modified, for, instead of using the traditional physical and face-to-face interaction to complete the concept of a “dyad”, modern communication technology has made its own way in making a particular online interaction possible. Hence, the current communication pattern, as amplified by the seven (7) online interaction practices will help understand the intricacies that allow the building of an emerging cross-cultural communication pattern. Overall, the informants believed that they had a firm sense of interdependence and commitment with their intimate online friends.
Majority of them revealed the
significance of their relationship maintenance efforts as evidenced in their commitment and other strategies to stay connected with their online partners through the CAC. However, this positive viewpoint was subjective and may resemble plain idealism. Idealizing their online situation and their intimate online friends may serve as an emotional defense mechanism which can facilitate not only the endurance of their relationship, but also allows them to focus in their other love and interest in life (i.e. academics). A single alteration in their online friendship may serve as a possibility of meeting other potential mates, and justify their online experiences as valid. Perhaps, the youthful gullibility of the SIs, not necessarily with the FIs, may have to connect their trust in their current relationship to the strengths of their relationships and to that of their intimate online friend’s belief, despite the fact that majority of them have yet to see face-
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to-face their intimate online friends to test the firmness of their relationship in a more realistic manner, that is, in a physical or face-to-face encounter.
Figure 9: Summation of online interaction practices Figure 9 shows the summation of the “online interaction practices” resulting from the informants’ practical relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and the use of CAC which affect their intimate online friendship relationship. Their communication interaction is dynamic – it always changes and is on-going. As such, their way of communicating with each other is always circular, two-way process, and, in this study, it is always “dyadic” or “techno-dyadic”. It remains in the same movement so long as both SIs and FIs stay connected using CAC. This further shows the significance of their relationship strategies and in breaking up certain form of relationship barriers. The dynamism of these “online interaction practices” made them stay connected. Through these communication exchanges, the informants foresee the “completeness” of
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their interaction as they positively anticipate the “happy ending” of their intimate online friendship. To reiterate the previous discussion about the emerging cross-cultural communication pattern, the idea can simply be put this way: Informants of the current study made use of CAC to initiate “interaction” that made both parties “acquire the necessary personal information” until they “establish the intimate online friendship formation”.
All this are made possible through the use of modern communication
technology in a “dyadic” context. And, considering the modern concept about CAC, technology (techno*) has become the interweaving element that intensifies the concept of online communication. As such, it can be understood using this formula: “techno-dyadic initiation + techno-dyadic acquisition = techno-dyadic cross-cultural communication”, henceforth, in this study, it is proposed to be known as techno-dyadic cross-cultural communication pattern. It is, in deed, an emerging communication pattern arising from the online interaction between the collectivists and individualist informants of the study. This emerging cross-cultural communication pattern is straightforward and less dependent on traditional etiquette and conventional norms. Thus, it minimizes the notion of gate-keeping in terms of social interaction and making it participatory and dynamic as it caters effective communication for all people regardless of their cultural backgrounds. IV. Conclusion and Recommendations
[email protected] This study is an investigation into a Computer-aided Intimate Relationship between Filipino Students and their Foreign Friends: Towards an Emerging Crosscultural Communication. Specifically, the study attempted to: 1) know the profile of the Filipino students and their intimate online friends in terms of age, gender, religion, nationality, language, educational status, and online activity duration.; 2) discover the online relationship maintenance strategies used by the Filipino students to sustain their intimate friendship and which of these relationship maintenance strategies suggest qualities of a collectivist and individualist society; 3) find out what shared interdependence do Filipino students have with
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which of these suggest qualities of a collectivist and individualist society; 4) investigate the kind of commitment do Filipino students have with their
intimate online foreign
friends; 5) examine the barriers that affect the relationship between the Filipino students and their intimate online foreign friends and how do they go about these; 6) know out what Computer-aided communication (CAC) practices affect relational maintenance and interdependence between Filipino students and their foreign friends; and, 7) identify what cross-cultural communication pattern is emerging between the Filipino students and their online foreign friends. The researcher interviewed fifteen female student informants (SIs) from St. Michael’s College, Iligan City, and five foreign informants who were
engaged in an
intimate online relationship with five of the fifteen SIs. These informants belonged to the collectivist and individualist communities, respectively. Important points focused into exploring how they maintained their relationship, interdependence, commitment and relationship barriers. And, since this study is cross-cultural in nature, the researcher further sought meanings into how they communicated and put value into their relationship experiences and how they sustained their relationship with their intimate online friends. As discussed earlier, important points consisted of cultural dimensions, relationship maintenance, literature about online friendship and CAC provide important context for the discussion of the results of this study as well as in forming suggestions for future research. Most notable is the absence of research that examines the processes involving intimate online friendship despite approximations made by early researchers regarding the prevalence of intimate online friendship on college campuses.
One
example is the study which long distance relationships account for approximately onethird of all romantic relationships happened within college campuses (Stafford, 1987). Given this increasing phenomenon, it would seem a valid and necessary topic to examine it in an academic setting.
Little research which has been conducted superficially
identifies broad issues of intimate online friendship such as idealism without addressing the in-depth experiences of an individual online friend. However, the paper’s in-depth interview format lends itself to achieving both emotional intensity and articulation of [ERE 2017]
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issues that may not be known by other researchers previously to the intimate online friendship investigation process. An in-depth understanding of intimacy implies that relational maintenance, interdependence, commitment and breaking of relational barriers used by the current informants, which have been previously overlooked by other researchers, should be investigated. Therefore, this study incorporated in-depth interviews and FGD to better understand the strategies and experiences of intimate online friends. Discussion focused on the reasons why this intimate online friendship was believed to work for the informants, which reflected both socially constructed personal meanings about the distance issue and naming the essential qualities that these individual informants possessed that enabled them to become comfortably well with their friendship and were able to move through trying moments. Also, interdependence and commitment linked with the feeling of finding the special someone and being willingly committed helped solidify the main motivations which the current informants expressed as to why they were able to become strong about their intimate online friendship; allowing them to stay completely committed even in virtual situation. Indeed, the changing face of communication tells us that its pattern is shifting from personal and conversational to sharing and collaborative. Amplified by all kinds of online linkages, photos, videos and other social media contents, as such, substantially enrich the communication experiences of the informants. This is made possible by affordable and better online connectivity, quality communication devices through CAC.
Conclusion
[email protected] Inquisitive minds would probably ask as to why this intimate friendship works in an online situation. This study proved that one of the main issues concerning intimate online friendship literature made some blemishes depicting online friendship as an intrinsically stressful situation. The current in-depth examination of the issue, however, allowed better insights and significant merits to emerge. Analyses of the data proved
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otherwise. Online friendship was very fascinating and rewarding for both online friends (SI and FI). Intimate online friendship could be sustained and strengthened as pointed out and articulated by the informants -- giving positive insight regarding the implications attached to their intimate online friendship experiences to be very advantageous. It would seem that intimate online friendship was not used as a means of temporarily meeting someone, but as a means to an end (namely, looking for a suitable future partner) while getting through a period of tedious online involvement with people of different cultural backgrounds. Even the SI informants who had the option of dating local males responded that there was no need to do such thing since they were already happy and contented with the best person they met online. The mere fact that distance necessitated extra effort to communicate, for the informants it helped develop their practical relationship maintenance, commitment, interdependence and in breaking certain forms of relationship barriers. To date, five months after the conduct of this study, a pair of informants has tied the knot in the sacrament of matrimony. This development, in effect, gave a new and better perspective towards online friendship in the context of crosscultural communication.
Cultural dimension, relationship maintenance, and CAC
theories, with which this study was anchored, were magnified in this study. Though such theories can be assumed as based on the face-to-face or physical social interaction, their magnification is made possible with the use of CAC. Not to negate the beauty of the longstanding concept of the face-to-face or physical communication interaction, but the ever-increasing access to Internet, indeed, greatly expanded people’s language and social capacity to form a firm intimate online friendship. As an interactive medium, CAC allowed the respondents, whether collectivists or individualists, to overcome great distances in order to communicate with their intimate partners almost instantaneously according to Bargh and McKenna (2004). Computer-aided Communication (CAC), in a variety of forms, had become integral to the initiation, development, and maintenance of interpersonal relationships (Eslit, 2013). Indeed, CAC is involved in the subtle shaping of communication in every communicative and relational context possible. Overall, the study successfully investigated the Computer-aided intimate friendship between Filipino students and their intimate online foreign Friends. It has [ERE 2017]
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proven the effectiveness of CAC. Hence, people who engaged in an online relationship can rely on its efficacy. As the study is Cross-cultural in nature, the focus was not only on the issue about the use of language but how it helped established and sustained certain types of relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and in breaking relationship barriers using the CAC.
As a whole, the study has explicated and
expounded the parameter of Canary and Stafford’s Relationship Maintenance Theory as it did not only touched positivity, openness, assurance, sharing of task and social networks but also revealed three possibly new relational maintenance strategies namely, Material and financial support, Cyber-sensual activity and Constant and regular communication through CAC. Walther’s CAC theory, on the other hand, apart from its capability to utilize synchronous and asynchronous channel, was also lengthened due to the emergence in its capability to help online friends sustain intimate relationship and virtual attachment among the informants. Thus, the idea about intimate online friendship among Filipino students and their intimate online friends is crystalized in this study. Finally, questions about relationship barriers appeared not to affect intimate online friendship relationship.
With CAC, relationship maintenance, interdependence and
commitment can be significantly sustained. Consequently, seven (7) “online interaction practices” between the FIs and SIs arose which contribute better information about the new insights appertaining to the concept of emerging Cross-cultural communication. These are: a) Openness in communication; b) Willingness to commit to one’s online friend; c) Benefiting from distance interaction; d) Strong Interdependence; e) Practical relationship maintenance strategies amidst relationship barriers; f) Active participation of social networks; and, g) Mutual support. All this “online interaction practices” made a persuasive revelation that supported the emergence of a new cross-cultural communication pattern, which the researcher dubbed as “techno-dyadic cross-cultural communication”. Recommendations
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Since CAC has proven to pave the way in establishing, sustaining and enhancing online relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and in breaking certain form of relational barriers across cultural boundaries, it would be of essence if other researchers will venture into studying local male and female informants, who engaged in an intimate online friendship using the CAC with other foreign nationals. Second, it would also be significant to make a qualitative and comparative study among college students from private and public colleges or universities who venture into this kind of activity to see the veracity of their relationship.
Lastly, a longitudinal study will
contribute important literature about intimate online friendship in order to understand how it affects relationship formation to cohabitation. With the present study’s restricted number of informants, results may not be adequate to make conclusive generalizations about the steadfastness of CAC in maintaining a strong intimate online friendship relationship. A similar study involving more participants would probably enhance the findings of the study. Theory arising from the current study
[email protected] Theories are set of interrelated concepts and definitions or propositions that explain events or situations affecting the relationships between the existing variables present in the study. Having completed this study, one grounded theory was formulated by the researcher to explain the reasons behind the success of the intimate online friendship between the Filipino students (collectivists) and their foreign online friends (individualists). The theory is proposed to be called “Computer-aided Cross-cultural Communication”. The Computer-aided Cross-cultural Communication Theory.
Chapter 1 of this
paper defined Cross-cultural communication as a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures (Gudykunst, 2002). In relation to Computer-aided Cross-cultural communication theory, the researcher
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underscored the statement that says “people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures”. Indeed, the current theory amplified the words “different ways” as it connotes practicality, sensibility and efficiency. Why practical, sensible and efficient? Given the concept of internationalization where people are now living in one global village and where technology is always connected in almost everything people do, it can be assumed that people will be left behind or expire in isolation if they will not accept the benefits provided by modern communication technology.
Why cogitate
distance as reason for isolation when CAC can make the necessary connection? Why stay alone when technology can provide better companion? And, why limit interaction with just one person or a segment of the society when there is an enormous opportunity to reach out to different kinds of people around the globe in just one click of the mouse? Indeed, CAC can facilitate the indispensable interaction while providing all kinds of methods available for communication. The ever-increasing growth of CAC has brought complex points involving a redefinition of relationship maintenance, interdependence, commitment and in breaking some forms of relationship barriers. Discussions in Chapter 2 have shown that language, culture and communication researchers have adapted “change” by remaining open to the countless possibilities of the computer and the Internet for efficient and reliable communication. This idea was geared towards responding to the call of the times due to the latest advancements in communication brought by communication technology. There is no doubt that in communication, every individual who use the computer and the Internet shall be benefitted. Along with this assumption comes specific concern about language and technology as used in human interaction. Certainly, we affect the world by what we browse (Berners-Lee, 2014). Further, Berners-Lee pointed out that the “Web as he envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past”. Thus, this theory crystalized the idea how CAC can help re-shape the modern concept of cross-cultural communication. CAC is a communication tool that can bridge all kinds of people across the globe. And, with CAC, comes the genesis of Computer-aided Crosscultural communication theory. [ERE 2017]
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Openness in communication pattern; Willingness to commit online friends communication pattern; Benefitting from distance interaction communication pattern; Strong Interdependence communication pattern; Practical relationship maintenance strategies amidst relationship barriers communication pattern; Active participation of social networks communication pattern; and Mutual support communication pattern; Gif giving and money sending; reminiscing, and cyber-sensual activity.
Figure10. Illustration of Computer-aided cross-cultural communication theory This figure illustrates the genesis of Computer-aided Cross-cultural communication theory and its process.
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