Research Note: Individual Differences in Perceptions of Internet Communication

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.