1998/08/01 by Malcolm R. Parks, Lynne D. Roberts · 5 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Team Dynamics and Performance #Knowledge Management and Sharing #Digital Marketing and Social Media #Psychology #Cyberspace #Social psychology #Context (archaeology) #Hyperbole #The Internet #World Wide Web #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1177/0265407598154005
openalex publication_date 1998/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/05
Despite the rapid development of the Internet over the past decade and the associated media hyperbole about cyberspace relationships, there is a paucity of systematic research examining the prevalence, type and development of personal relationships in on-line settings. This research examines relational topography in real-time text-based virtual environments known as MOOs (Multi-User Dimensions, Object Oriented). Current users of MOOs (235) completed a survey on MOO relationships, with 155 also completing a survey on offline relationships. Almost all survey respondents (93.6%) had formed ongoing personal relationships on MOOs. The most commonly reported types of relationships were close friendships, friendships and romances. The majority of relationships formed (83.6%) was with members of the opposite sex. Levels of relational development (interdependence, depth, breadth, code change, commitment, predictability/understanding, network convergence) were typically moderate to high. Most relationships had migrated to other virtual environments, and a third had resulted in face-to-face meetings. On average, MOO relationships were found to be more developed than newsgroup relationships, but less developed than off-line relationships. It was concluded that MOOs provide an inherently social and powerful context for the formation of personal relationships, many of which will transfer to other settings.