Relational communication is an academic concept and research area investigating the role of communication processes in the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of interpersonal relationships, focusing on how interaction patterns shape relational identity, quality, and evolution over time.
Ontological type
Theoretical Foundations
Key Relational Constructs
Research Methods
Nonverbal Relational Meaning
1977 - 1994
Digital Relationship Formation
1995 - 2008
Networked Socio-Technical Relationality
2009 - 2023
Nonverbal Relational Meaning era
Joseph B. Walther [1] was a central figure in this era, with affiliations at Northwestern University [2] and the University of Arizona [3], where his work addressed how relational meaning forms through communication. In his 1992 paper Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction [4], he proposed a framework showing that relational impressions can develop in computer-mediated communication through extended cue-rich exchanges, thereby establishing measurement approaches for immediacy [4] and interpersonal competence [4]. This work was influential because it reframed expectations about mediated interaction and provided a methodological baseline for experiments and standardized measures in this era. Thus Walther's [1] contributions in this era laid the groundwork for subsequent research on how mediated communication yields durable relational attributions through systematic experimentation.
Digital Relationship Formation era
Dorothy E. Leidner [1] is associated with INSEAD [3] and The University of Texas at Austin [4] in the Digital Relationship Formation era (1995–2008). Her key contribution during this period centers on Is Anybody out There? Antecedents of Trust in Global Virtual Teams [7], which analyzes antecedents of trust in global virtual teams and explains why trust-building is central to coordinating distributed online work. Katelyn Y. A. McKenna [2] is associated with New York College of Health Professions [5] and New York University [6] in this era. Her key contribution from Relationship Formation on the Internet: What’s the Big Attraction? [8] illuminates how online relationship formation unfolds and what attracts people to online ties, laying groundwork for understanding online relational work.
Networked Socio-Technical Relationality era
Nicole B. Ellison [1], linked to Menlo School [3] and the University of Southern California [4], stands as a central figure in networked relationality across 2009-2023. Ellison's [1] 2011 paper Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices [7] analyzes how Facebook-enabled communication shapes social capital and signaling, highlighting the central role of platform-mediated interactions in building and sustaining relational ties within networked socio-technical systems. Cliff Lampe [2], associated with University of Maryland, College Park [5] and Michigan State University [6], contributes to this stream by examining how online platforms mediate social ties and trust in networked contexts. Lampe's [2] contributions in the 2011 paper Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices [7] illustrate how platform affordances and algorithmic mediation shape signaling, trust, and relational maintenance at scale in this era.