Functionality And Dysfunctionality Of Chatting For Relationships Of 14- To 16-Year-Old Adolescents

Abstract

The motive of getting to know other young people is the most frequently mentioned reason for chat communication for young people. However, meeting other chat partners only becomes a reality for a few chatters. On the basis of its own qualitative study and taking into account further empirical results, the article attempts to provide an explanatory approach to this phenomenon. The expectations of chat communication, which are partly in tension, in combination with structural peculiarities of the web chats visited, lead to the fact that it becomes unlikely that longer-term relationships arise for young people from contacts in the chat.