People have engaged in dramatically rising social connections nowadays through online social network sites such as Facebook, while the network existing on these online sites is less-bounded than that on place-to-place society. As mentioned in “Network relationship”, the original network size of “150” is too low for most people in the developed country. Through the Internet, especially individual communication technology, people’s network size has been expanded to over 600. Some people argue that even though the quantity of network is rising, the quality is not as high as smaller network size. On the contrary, Rainie, and Wellman state that “the quantity goes along with the quality” (Rainie & Wellman, 2012). Rather than the larger network size provides more and better support, the people in larger size tend to be supportive and have more opportunities to gain support. No matter the quality is higher or lower, the quantity growth itself matters first in various perspectives.
According to Rainie and Wellman, People have the ability to build various connections for different milieus, where people can exchange the variety of information and form various social contacts. You own the right to keep in touch with not only your door-to-door world, your kin, your real-world friends in traditional settings, but also the people who have the same interests in virtual reality. ICT provide people with a platform to play different social roles and participate in various social communities at the center of an individual without too many efforts. People have the freedom to shift among the diversified set of social networks, and through “their own efforts, individual motivations, the corrections of network”, (Rainie & Wellman, 2012) to find who has what to offer to meet their various needs. While the contact ties are weak, you can reach them anytime with little efforts via the ICT. In this case, the larger network sizes who has, the more information they could access, meaning the more “social capital” they own.
Moreover, people in larger network size could access to more social supports, which are strongly linked with mental and physical health. (Landis, & Umberson, 1988). People are provided with different types of social supports via the ICT, such as information, guides to services, methods to seek and ask for help. In our life, we don’t trust the search results on google easily or directly, people easily accept the suggestions or recommendations from their network circles. On the other hand, it not only provides convenience for people in the circle but also gives commercial opportunities for brands who aim at this circle. The unconscious commercial immersing in our social networks is pervasive. The things recommended by the influencers you followed on Instagram may be promoted by some brands. How to access effective support in networks is also a research subject. Except for the search and information needs satisfaction, the larger network size could bring a sense of connectedness and belongingness. Although the ties may weak in the larger network size, it indeed forms a sense of community. Landis, & Umberson also argue that the quantity, quality, structure, and content of social supports all have effects on health. The social supports not only provide practical help to enhance health but also through fostering a sense of meaning or coherence or facilitating health-promoting behaviors such as proper sleep, diet or exercise to promote health. (Landis, & Umberson, 1988).
Lastly, the larger network size built online social network would enhance the life satisfaction. However, the network size is not the only factors to improve the life satisfaction. In a paper, Hyun Jung Oh, Elif Ozkaya, and Robert LaRose first examine the direct relationship between the amount of supportive interaction and the positive effect, then use a path model to explore the possible mechanism through ICT networking can lead to a greater sense of life satisfaction. (Hyun Jung Oh, Elif Ozkaya, and Robert LaRose, 2013). The research shows that the network size (Number of SNS Friends) is positively associated with the life satisfaction as an original factor, then through the supportive interaction, positive affect, perceived social support, sense of community this mechanism, lead to better life satisfaction.
The ICTs never substitute our human contact, they supplement, extend, and transform the human contact. It not only creates and expands the online network size but also lasts the offline network. Thanks to the ICTs, the network size has expanded and brought various benefits to human social life and mental or physical conditions. However, the network size matters, but not only network size matters. Other factors or mechanism involved in the network circle would lead to different results in people’s social life. The negative impact of network size should also never be ignored.
Reference：
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Oh, H. J., Ozkaya, E., & Larose, R. (2014). How does online social networking enhance life satisfaction? The relationships among online supportive interaction, affect, perceived social support, sense of community, and life satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 69-78. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.053
Rainie, L. & Wellman, B., A. (2013). Networked. Milano: Guerini scientifica.