Relationalreconnection refers to “a process that encompasses both the re-initiation of a relationshipas well as its continued maintenance after initial contact” (Ramirez & Bryant, 2014, p. 2)
I like that the authors highlighted the "relational reconnection" because it takes more than reaching out to relationships from decades ago to sustain it. Again, it is one thing to restart a dormant relationship and it is another thing to maintain after initial contact.
During the pandemic,people might have turned to their SNSs to engage with ongoing relationships or reigniteold ones. Indeed, in our study, participants reported that they wanted to reconnect withpeople from their past for several reasons, ranging from checking in on people they caredabout to rekindling friendships in order to reminisce
I think another thing we may want to consider was how much of a change/constant updates these Social Networking Sites (SNSs) had experienced which restored relationships and even virtual communities in a more immersive way, as a result of the pandemic. One such example is X Space (fka Twitter), ClubHouse etc.
Breadth refers to the quantified amount, number, or rangeof information exchanged, whereas depth refers to the level of intimacy (nonintimate tointimate) that occurs in the information exchange (Taylor & Altman, 1975).
Taylor & Altman's breadth and depth argument in the penetration process is spot on in every sense. Parsimony wise, SPT can be used as one of the key elements, concepts or assumptions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory since they overlap. I kind of identify with the breadth construct because I usually sift through my pool of ideas and storied background and sort of put my best foot forward in terms of letting out a relatively measured amount of information until I find intimacy (depth).
The strongest predictors of whether toreconnect with someone include the predicted outcome value (i.e., reward in the future) ofthe connection and uncertainty, which negatively predicted the decision to reconnect(Ramirez et al., 2016). Those whose reconnection did persist, however, used morecommunication channels and had higher breadth of self-disclosure than did those whosereconnection did not persist (Ramirez & Bryant, 2014).
I usually like to see the 'bigger picture" especially whenever I follow up and reconnect with either a new/old connection with whom I exchange business cards on the back of a networking session/event.
As a result, people restarted these dormant relationships from their past, often viatechnology that allowed them to reignite previous relationships that have fallen by thewayside (Ramirez & Bryant, 2014).
This insight in particular gives me an idea of how we should rethink COVID-19 as that one pandemic which, despite its disruptive effect, cut through the noise and kind of served as a boundary spanner between families and friends after a long while.