A research analyzes the impact of new technologies on everyday social interactions.

Aurelio Fernández, researcher group Youth in transitiongroup at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra, has defended his thesis in Communication entitled'Use of digital media in daily social interactions'. He developed this thesis the University of Navarra, with Charo Sádaba and Javier García Manglano (ICS), and at Ghent University (Belgium), where he completed two research stays research Mariek Vanden Abeele, his supervisor at the Belgian center. In her research, she measured the quality of social interactions in a digitalized world by looking at different variables, such as modality digital or face-to-face), the person's disposition, familiarity, and context.

According to the expert, Digital Communication transformed social interactions, which is why he considered it necessary to examine its impact on the quality of everyday interactions. First, Fernández found that there were very few programs of study social interactions at the time. Furthermore, there was no standardized measure in academia to assess their quality. He therefore developed a measure of the quality of social interactions based on Martin Buber's theory of interpersonal communication. "It focuses on feeling valued, valuing the other person, and valuing the relationship between the two," he summarized. In his first study, he test scale, which predicted levels of closeness and loneliness at the time. He found that the quality of interactions improved social well-being and significantly reduced loneliness rates. He emphasized that various programs of study that we are facing an epidemic of loneliness, across ages, locations, and socioeconomic levels, and that the quality of relationships is a particularly significant mitigating factor. "People with very satisfying interpersonal relationships have lower levels of loneliness," he said.

He also compared the quality of face-to-face interactions with technology-mediated interactions: calls, video calls, messages, and social media. "We found that the quality of social interactions is indeed associated with well-being, but the effect of the modality, i.e., face-to-face or technology-mediated, is not so clear and needs to be nuanced," he explained. In fact, in one of the samples analyzed, there were hardly any significant effects, and in another, it appeared that calls and video calls could offer higher quality.

Nuances that influence interaction

To expand on these results and better understand the nuances in the impact of modality, Fernández conducted a third study analyzing the role of status. The article the quality of face-to-face interactions with each of the technology-mediated modalities (video call, phone call, message, social media). He noted that, in terms of interaction, both the interlocutor (proximity) and the place and purpose the interaction were important. The study found several cases in which status a predominant role. For example, in the case of negative interactions (such as arguments), the analysis showed that people felt more valued when they took place via phone or video call.

In addition, the expert has analyzed how individual differences can affect interactions. Specifically, he has focused on the phenomenon of social anxiety. As Fernández explains, there are some social situations that can cause fear or concern, but some people may even experience anxiety in imaginary situations. Thus, for a person with social anxiety, social interactions are generally of lower quality and require greater effort. In a fourth study, the researcher to find the "comfort zone" for this subject people. "These people care a lot about external judgment, so if they are in safe places, with people they are close to and controlling the interaction, they feel less anxiety and report positive results," he said. He has thus discovered that the mediation of technology, interacting with people who are particularly close, and being in small groups are key factors in controlling exhibition reducing stress and the negative effects of social anxiety. "Social anxiety is created by bad experiences, but with good interactions, it can decrease," he added.

Finally, due to the complexity of studying social interactions in real time, the researcher a framework to better explore them: the Interact Framework. Interact is an acronym for the elements to be studied: I, individual, focus on the individual; N, nuance, see the nuances; T, talkative, the importance of interaction is talking; E, ecological, explore interactions in the moment; R, relational, focus on the relationship; A, attuned, see the harmony between those interacting; C, context, take context into account; and T, theoretical, base programs of study instructions . "Interpersonal communication is something absolutely universal, which does not depend on people; everyone needs to have good interactions for their well-being," he concluded.

To carry out these programs of study four data instructions data which he analyzed more than 30,000 social interactions reported by more than 600 people in Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States. The articles were published in high-impact journals, and three of them were published in open access format.