Knapp's Relational Model

Growing up, my cousin lived about 40 minutes away from me. All of our free time was spent together. We would go on trips and weekend adventures together and we never got sick of spending time with each other. We shared common interests and would talk for hours about anything on our minds. As we grew older and became more immersed in the online world, our time spent together started to dwindle. We would still see each other occasionally but our main way to communicate was through our phones. As the pandemic took over, this only worsened. Our families weren't getting together anymore and our connection wasn't the same as it used to be. As we drifted apart, we entered into the circumscribing stage of Knapp's Relational Model. We experienced a lack of exchange, and our relationship wasn't as strong. When we would talk, our conversations were minimal in length and we didn't have much depth in the topics we discussed. As a result of online communication becoming widespread, we didn't feel as close to each other as we once were. Instagram was the primary platform that we talked on and it made our conversations very shallow in addition to making it difficult to read emotions. Even with COVID restrictions loosening, our relationship hasn't turned back to normal. We have both become busy with school and work and our lives no longer revolve around each other. Although my cousin and I still enjoy communicating online, social media definitely had an impact on our relationship and continues to leave us within the circumscribing stage.