What the study found
Online social support appears to function as an adjunct to in-person support, not as a substitute. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, the findings support the rich get richer hypothesis rather than the social compensation theory.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that the study's findings suggest online social support should be understood in relation to existing in-person support, rather than as a replacement for it. They also state that the results need to be replicated with more diverse, larger samples and with responses collected over multiple time points.
What the researchers tested
The article reports a cross-sectional study examining whether online social support serves as an adjunct or substitute for traditional social support. The abstract compares two ideas: the rich get richer hypothesis and social compensation theory.
What worked and what didn't
What worked was the interpretation favoring the rich get richer hypothesis. What did not work, relative to the authors' expectation, was support for the social compensation theory; the abstract says the findings were contrary to hypothesis.
What to keep in mind
The abstract notes that the results need replication with more diverse, larger samples and with responses collected over multiple time points. No other limitations are described in the available summary.
Key points
- Online social support appeared to add to, rather than replace, in-person support.
- The findings supported the rich get richer hypothesis.
- The findings did not support the social compensation theory.
- The study was a cross-sectional study.
- The authors call for replication with more diverse, larger samples and multiple time points.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Online support appears to add to, not replace, in-person support
- Authors:
- Ruthie Liang, Ariel Pollock Star, Nofar Tsur, Moshe Shmueli, Norm O'Rourke
- Institutions:
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-05
- DOI:
- 10.2196/90751
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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