Study About The Usage Of IM And The Single Youths' Interpersonal Intimacy

As the population sex ratio imbalanced,China has emerged single tide once again.With the rise of Individualism,and the spread of Internet and communication tools,the young men began to choose single lifestyle,bearing the pressure from families and society to pursue the freedom of individual.Being single means not only a change of lifestyle,but also represents the innovation of technology and culture.At the same time,there are increasing reports about the "empty nest youths",so the study of single youths have attracted more and more attention.Based on this,this research focus on questions of how single youths use IM,how they communicate and interact through IM,how they develop interpersonal intimacy,especially around their family and friends.This paper studies the establishment of the interpersonal intimacy by using the method of grounded theory and qualitative interviews to establish a systematic model,so as to show the progress of research.After the in-depth interviews and grounded theory coding,this study summarizes the characteristics of single youths' usage of IM,develops a model of interpersonal intimacy's establishment.We come to a conclusion that,single youths' usage of IM is based on their own type of relationship and the desire for sociality,with this understanding they develop their relationships.Through the discussion of private topics they have deep self-disclosure,and the selective self-presentation helps them establish positive images.The non-language clues and the environment are conditions in the maintenance of interpersonal intimacy.The study also found that IM generally maintain and develop single youths' interpersonal intimacy.From the perspective of family relationships,IM provides a chatting platform for young people who are far away from their families,and increases the frequency of connection,extends the coexistence time;from the perspective of friendship,instant messaging help single youths to keep in touch with friends,expand the social circle,get emotional support,enhance understanding and so on.