Drawing on a survey among 687 adolescents, this article investigates to what extent
their perceptions of internet communication differ and what background variables
(i.e. age, gender, social anxiety, loneliness, need for affiliation) underlie these
differences. The analysis focuses on how adolescents perceive the controllability,
reciprocity, breadth and depth of internet communication in comparison with
face-to-face communication. Younger, socially anxious and lonely adolescents more
strongly value the controllability of internet communication and perceive it as
broader, deeper and more reciprocal than older, non-socially anxious and non-lonely
adolescent respondents. Boys perceive internet communication as more reciprocal than
girls do. The greater the adolescents’ need for affiliation, the more
often they regard internet communication as deeper than face-to- face communication.
The findings suggest that a stronger focus on perceptions of internet communication
may improve understanding of the internet as a social medium.
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