Knapp's Relational Model

     We all have several relationships in our lives whether they are friendship, romance, family, etc. All relationships at any time are in the ongoing process of either developing or dying. Knapps Relational Model portrays a relationship as a series of steps broken down into two stages that happen at the same time. These two "stages", coming together and coming apart, combine to form relational maintenance. 

    One interpersonal relationship that I have that is a good representation of Knapp's Relational Model is my relationship with my mom. My mom and I have been through a lot, and so has our relationship. We have come together, grown apart and ended up coming back together as most children do with their parents. Starting with the initiating stage, that initiation happened when I was a baby, and my mom was my mom. That relationship started the day I was born. Moving on to experimenting, my mom tried several ways with me growing up to aid our relationship and aid me in general. Please experiments brought us closer as I started figuring out that relationship. Next comes intensifying, which game in my tween slash teen stages. This was where our relationship became stronger because I was actually able to start developing my side of the relationship because I was finally able to put things in perspective and relate. Next comes integrating. This is where I established my identity and established the relationship's identity by highlighting the qualities that make my relationship with my mom its own. Then came bonding, this was probably established in middle school to early high school when my mom and I started hanging out with my sisters and going out. This was formally establishing that relationship in public. Then moving on to late to mid-teens that differentiation stage kicked in. I had moments where I felt thrown to the side or moments where it felt like some things that meant a lot to me didn't mean anything to them. This is where I expressed my beliefs and acted in a way that was different in my mom's perspective. Next came circumscribing. This is where I avoided topics that would make us angry at each other and I shared information that she wanted to hear and held information that she didn't want to hear to myself. Next stagnation kicked in where I avoided communicating or talking about the problems or disagreements and soon after avoiding was taking place because I had distanced myself from her by going out more and spending as little time at home as possible, engaging minimally. My relationship with my mom never hit the terminating stage. Instead that relationship was rebuilt starting back at initiation.

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Oversharing Online

 Some questions that come to mind:

• What factors might influence whether Facebook has negative influences, such as links with depression, versus positive results, such as boosts in self-esteem?

• Do social networking sites have any responsibility in promoting mental health in their users? If so, how might they go about doing so?

    Facebook, and all other social media platforms for that matter, has both negative influences and positive influences on users. Some factors that may be linked with negative results could be lack of followers, lack of likes, mean comments or posts made and anything else of the sort. Some factors that may be linked with positive results could be a higher number of likes, a higher number of followers, nice comments or posts or anything of that sort, essentially the opposite of what there could be causing negative results. These numbers and comments associated with social media in comparison to that of others or that of what you normally get on posts can impact your mood and thoughts about it all in different ways. In other words, it all depends on perspective and the person running the account. Some people may find it overwhelming to have that many people keeping tabs on them whereas others may find it flattering and enjoy the attention and some people could care less about any of it. Links with depression can occur when people who appreciate the attention are not seeing the numbers and comments they want to see. This lack of attention can cause poor self-esteem, poot feelings of self-worth and they may wind up feeling as though they can't be good enough. These thoughts over a prolonged period of time could lead towards that feeling of depression. On the other side, boosts of self-esteem can also result from social media. Seeing the numbers, comments and support you want to see over social media and seeing your platform grow for example, can boost your self-esteem like no other. Knowing that there are people out there who want to follow your journey, find you entertaining, or even just like the content you are putting out can make you feel so supported. This can make you feel like you are good enough because people like what you have to offer, which boosts your overall self-esteem and confidence levels.

I feel like social networking platforms do have some responsibility in promoting mental health for its users but not completely. To certain extent, these platforms do have a responsibility in my opinion, but a lot of it depends on the perception and mindset of the user. Just because a platform promotes mental health does not mean that it is going to work by itself, it's the user's job to perceive it in a way that is beneficial. Promoting mental health doesn't stop a user from comparing themselves to others or taking something the wrong way. The user is responsible for that part. I do believe though that it is the platforms' responsibility to give the user some of the tools to do this. One way that platforms could do this could be promoting body positivity, for example. Another way may be normalizing seeking help and it being okay. This could be done by refining the advertisements shown to viewers. Simply just switching out a few models here and there or having advertisements geared toward actually helping people could do the trick. There are so many more way that platforms could promote mental health, but these are just a couple examples.

About Me!

 Hello all!

My name is Madeleine Bouchard, but I go by Maddie. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science majoring in Chemistry at Oregon State University. I am currently a senior and will hopefully be graduating next spring! Afterwards I will be pursuing my Masters in teaching here as well. In my free time in the fall, I march alongside the Oregon State Marching Band as one of the captains of the Oregon State Marching Band Color Guard, or flag team as some may know. In my free time in the other times of the year, I practice this activity and I work. During the school year I work on campus as a General Chemistry Teaching Assistant, and I run a lab full of General Chemistry students! With my degree, I hope to one day be a high school chemistry and science teacher.  

Oregon State University Color Guard