Social Networking as Determinant of Online Friendship Quality and Trust: Case of Pakistan

Abstract

This study's major objective is to investigate the relationships between young adults' use of social media, degree of trust, and quality of friendship. A relationship between social media use, level of trust, and the calibre of online friendship was hypothesized. It was also hpothesized that young adults' use of social media and degree of trust are indicators of the strength of their friendships. 300 college students (150 men and 150 women) made up the sample. The sample's age ranged from 18 to 30 years (M = 22.10, SD = 2.11).The data was collected from University students, having online friendships. Friendship Quality Scale (Thien, 2012), Trust Scale (Yamagishi, 1986) and Social Media Usage and Attitudes Scale (Rosen et al, 2013) were used. The results revealed negative relationship in social networking and perceived quality of friendship and trust among online friends. The results of regression analysis reflected that social media is a significant negative predictor of the friendship quality and level of trust is a positive predictor of online friendships. There were marked gender differences in friendship quality and level of trust as boys showed up better friendship quality and greater level of trust than girls. However future research, longitudinal in nature is suggested to keep into account intersection between youths’ online and offline friendship experiences overtime in order to reveal the dynamics of online friendships.