Discussion satisfactions and chat rooms and do you want a reason to talk to someone you don’t know ? A key aspect of our argument is that some of the benefits of online interaction may accrue particularly to people with stigmatizing conditions, whose need for a sense of community may be harder to meet in the course of normal, day-to-day offline interactions (Goffman, 1963). A stigmatizing condition is one that subjects its carrier to social devaluation (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998), and stigma is a psychological stressor for precisely this reason (Allison, 1998, Heckman et al., 2002, Varni et al., 2012). Although social stigmas may be differentiated along a variety of dimensions (e.g., visibility), our goal in this work is not to draw fine distinctions between different types of stigmas. Instead, we cast a wide net by considering the core defining element of devaluation that links the experience of people who have a variety of different types of stigmatizing conditions.

As the common saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Most of your close friends are just like you. They probably like the same things as you, they have similar educational accomplishments, the make almost the same amount of money as you, you know almost similar things, you have similar world views, and so on. Interacting with this close circle of friends and acquaintances all the time limits your ability to learn new things. Strangers, on the other hand, are nothing like you. They don’t have the same experiences as you, their educational achievements are different from yours, their world view is different, their interests are different, and so on. Talking to strangers therefore provides you with an opportunity to learn new things that you wouldn’t learn from your social circle.

Do people’s relationships (on- and offline) provide usable help? In other words, do they add to what social scientists now call interpersonal social capital? Such help could take the form of giving information or emotional support, lending a cup of sugar, or providing long-term health care. It is easy enough to give information on the internet. And while it is impossible to change bedpans online, it is easy to use the internet to arrange for people to visit and help. Read extra details on teen chat.

When you make the effort of actually seeing the other person and when you show them through your expressions that you are listening and you care about what they are saying, you will show the other that you value them. You will make them feel that what they are saying is important and heard and make sure that they are listening to you too. For example, if you travel to meet with a client, you are showing them that they are worth the time, effort, and money. You will guarantee that they will hear your message and that you will have their complete attention.

But even as social media connects teens to friends’ feelings and experiences, the sharing that occurs on these platforms can have negative consequences. Sharing can veer into oversharing. Teens can learn about events and activities to which they weren’t invited, and the highly curated lives of teens’ social media connections can lead them to make negative comparisons with their own lives: 88% of teen social media users believe people share too much information about themselves on social media. See even more info on talkwithstranger.