Online communication and interpersonal relationships

Before taking Communicating Online (COMM 211) at Oregon State University, I never gave much thought to how important online communication is in interpersonal relationships, and it has been in mine personally. I met my current partner of almost three years on Tinder. I would have never connected with my now best friend if we were not part of the same 120,000-member Washington hiking group. 

Today I will be focusing on the Coming Together stages in Knapp's Relational Model about myself and my best friend, Kristina. 

If you are unfamiliar with Knapp's Relational Model, here is a helpful infographic from helpfulprofessor.com

I was hiking at a popular destination in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest called Snow Lake in July of 2018. When my dog, Harper, and I decided to continue our hike past Snow Lake to Gem Lake we followed a pair of backpackers. Harper ran up to their dog, and they immediately started to play. I asked if I could hike with them to Gem Lake and I asked them a million questions about backpacking because I was very interested in doing this activity someday. Once we got to Gem Lake, I took some pictures, we exchanged pleasantries and they stayed and I returned the way I came. We did not exchange any information. 

In December 2018, Kristina posted to a hiking group we were both in on Facebook. I saw her post and commented on how we had met back in July at Snow Lake and I had the white Miniature Australian Shepherd. She remembered me and we made plans to go snowshoeing beginning of January 2019. These plans fell under the Experimentation Stage, we were going to do a strenuous activity together with a six-hour roundtrip drive, getting to know each other. Little did we know that that summer encounter was in the Initiation Stage, we had learned a bit about each other and made a good first impression which led both of us to believe that we could get along again. 

That day we learned a lot about each other. We ended up in white-out conditions at Mount Baker and we could not complete our entire hike. It was quite an adventure. For some reason, we did not make plans for several months. Then in May 2019, she posted on Facebook about how she got permits for the Colchuck Zone of the Enchantments in June and had extra spots. I asked if I could join and I made the cut for the group. This was my first backpacking trip ever. This situation fell under the Intensifying Stage because it tested how we both would react doing this type of activity together and how we got along with people we barely knew. 

After this trip, we went backpacking again and started fully Integrating into one another's lives. We started making plans to go skiing and do other activities together. In late 2019, I considered her one of my closest friends - this would fall under the Bonding stage. And we are still there!

We have now gone to many ski resorts together west of The Rockies, including Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho.

We have gone on multiple backpacking trips and attempted summits. 

We have traveled to Europe together. (This was in Budapest.)

And one year ago, she moved to San Diego with her husband. I drove down with her and flew back up. We have since gone on several trips and maintain our relationship with lots of shared Reels on Instagram and TikTok. Needless to say, online communication has been an integral part of my interpersonal relationships. Without online communication, I would not have the relationships that I do today. Furthermore, online communication is crucial when maintaining long-distance relationships and I use it every single day for that purpose!