Page 120 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

relationship quality. Thus, Facebook could be relevant in relational maintenance because of its utility in marshaling relationship-related support from a couple’s network, which proved to be beneficial for romantic relationships.
Facebook use and relationship quality in LDRR and GCRR
The results indicate that those in GCRR reported higher levels of Facebook use than those in LDRR. In a previous study comparing SNSs use in LDRR and GCRR, the opposite result was found (Billedo et al., 2015). Note, however, that when it comes to Facebook use specifically to communicate with one’s partner (i.e., Facebook private and public communications with partner), we found that LDRR and GCRR groups did not differ. This is consistent with the findings of an earlier study, which indicated that SNSs communication frequency with a specified friend did not vary between long-distance and geographically-close friendships (Vitak, 2014). Taken together, these results imply that the levels of Facebook use might vary for LDRR and GCRR when used for general purposes, but not when they are used specifically to communicate with significant others. We suggest that subsequent studies should aim to replicate and validate these opposing findings and examine their robustness.
We also found that GCRR participants reported higher levels of Facebook relationship support compared to LDRR participants. This could be because GCRR partners have more accessible (e.g., geographically co-located) social networks (offline or Facebook). In LDRR, one partner is away from most of the couple’s established support network, and this might limit support in two ways (Weiner & Hannum, 2012): First, people may be less likely to solicit support from a long-distance social network; and second, long-distance social networks cannot be as immediately and directly supportive as geographically-close social networks, “even with improved communication options to bridge the distance” (p.668).
Moreover, those in GCRR reported higher perceived relationship stability and satisfaction than those in LDRR. Most likely, the challenge of geographic separation is taking its toll among those in LDRR. LDRR often require more effort to maintain compared to GCRR (Aylor, 2003). Distance could be straining those in LDRR in keeping the relationship going and affecting their sense of satisfaction with their relationships (Mok et al., 2007).
118 Chapter 5