“Friend” or Foe? Why People Connect with those they Dislike
A recent article examined why people connect online with people they dislike. Social media offers features that allows users to solicit and establish a friendship with strangers. Once connected, social media allows a steady stream of information regarding the superficial ‘friends’ with whom individuals may not otherwise connect offline. Results from a study comprised of 305 college students found that 61% of the Facebook users were connected as ‘friends’ with people they disliked. Additionally, 85% of participants actively read postings of their online ‘friends’, despite finding those postings annoying. Gender, relational anxiety, and intensity of Facebook use independently predicted friending disliked people and actively reading their annoying postings online. Specifically, being a female, having a high Facebook use, or experiencing higher general relational anxiety increased the odds of friending disliked people on Facebook and reading their annoying posts. The reasons reported for friending disliked people online included monitoring (55%), downward social comparison (i.e., self-enhancement by observing others’ misfortunes; 17%), entertainment (16%), and personal utility (16%). One explanation could be that individuals engage in non-intuitive behaviors (e.g., friending disliked people) for strategic purposes.
For Further Reading
Vendemia, M. A., High, A. C., & DeAndrea, D. C. (2017). “Friend” or foe? Why people friend disliked others on Facebook, Communication Research Reports, 34, 29–36. doi:10.1080/08824096.2016.1227778