Pusan National University Student A (Dept. of International Trade, 21) felt embarrassed while talking with her friends recently. This is because other friends found out her private Instagram account, which was shared only with a few people. Usually, she shares news with most of her acquaintances through her public Instagram account, but she also runs a private version to communicate with friends with whom she is very close to. Then, as friends with whom she did not share her personal account found out about its existence, they felt sad.

Student A said that she also uploads Instagram Stories separately. She said, "I usually post daily life stuff that can be disclosed to everyone on Instagram Stories without any other restrictions, but daily life with my boyfriend or personal content are only open to a few acquaintances through a close friends list on Instagram." 

As the use of social media and community is activated, a new "human relationship management method" is emerging. As the paths to meet people diversify and the range of relationships expands, a new way to manage human relationships has emerged. According to “Trend Korea 2023,” written by Seoul National University's Consumption Trend Analysis Center, this "Index Relationship" method refers to forming numerous human relationships and strategically managing them by adding an index to them. It is different from when we built a deep friendship with a few people. 

According to “Trend Korea 2023”, index relationships go through three stages. The beginning is the "Creation" stage. It simultaneously creates new human relationships that suit one's purpose through social media and various online platforms. In the subsequent "classification" step, the relationships formed are labeled. It is to classify the degree of "closeness" according to one's standards and distinguish the methods of communication. In the last 'management' stage, unnecessary relationships are sorted out, and the level of "closeness" is adjusted. To manage the relationships, labels are repeatedly removed and attached. 

Student B (Dept. of Social Welfare, 22), who uses the "Index Relationship" method, classifies communication media depending on intimacy. He communicates with most of his acquaintances through Instagram DM (Direct Message), and KakaoTalk is mainly used for departmental group communication or only with a few friends with very high intimacy. Communication related to hobbies other than daily life is done through Twitter. People create an account that mainly deals with your favorite idols or anime and share information with Twitter friends with the same interests. Student B said, "It is convenient to communicate with many people by classifying the communication media according to the characteristics of the relationship, I think." 

The cause of this index relationship is the activation of social media due to the prolonged COVID-19. As the proportion of interpersonal communication plummeted due to COVID-19, opportunities to experience social media naturally increased. Student C (Economics, 20) said, " I rarely took face-to-face classes during COVID-19, so I did not have opportunities to meet people naturally. During that time, I got used to meeting people non-face-to-face and started meeting people with the same interests online."

There is also a view that is natural in human psychology to build a classification for each relationship and control "Self-Exposure." Seol Seon-Hye (Prof. of Psychology, PNU) said, "Through the social media function, "Self-Exposure" has become easier to control, and people can only share superficial images to achieve their goals. The sense of unity in which sincerity, the element of happiness, touches and exchanges can be reduced." 

The advantages of index relationships include the expansion of human resources of social capital. It can expand human relationships with less time and money than before. Kim Beom-Soo (Prof. Media & Communication, PNU) said, "The broader spectrum of relationships can have opportunities to form various social capitals. Communication with various people can also enhance a sense of social efficacy. It is now possible to easily expand human resources suitable for one's purpose." 

Problems can arise due to index relationships. This is because each relationship has its purpose and classification, so it is not easy to establish a close human connection and can create a sense of skepticism. Student A said, "Since we have our own “intimacy," sometimes I feel that my friend and I classified relationships differently." 

According to Prof. Kim, "selective avoidance" occurs relatively frequently in relationships characterized by weak links. In particular, people deliberately avoid talking about social and political topics that are somewhat controversial. Prof. Kim said, "In the digital media environment, there are cases where you are easily exposed to disparate messages and intentionally try to communicate with people who have similar thoughts to your own. There may be a lack of opportunities to think deeply about opinions different from your own, so we should consider this.” 

Furthermore, selective avoidance due to index relationships can even cause social problems. In other words, the proportion of 'transaction' relationships, in which exchanging is precise, has increased rather than 'sharing' relationships. Regarding transactional relationships, Prof. Seol said, "Self-efficacy may increase, but the phenomenon of easily breaking off the relationship if it causes immediate harm to oneself will also increase." Prof. Kim, concerned about the society's polarization, said, "When selective avoidance occurs frequently, a communication structure is created that reinforces "Birds of a feather.""

Reporter Sim Se-Hee

Translated by Choi Ye-Won