Familiarity can occur in a new way todaywe can get to know each other through electronic mall and computer chat rooms. computer-mediated communication offers a new twist on the propinquity effect: the fact that someone is thousands of miles away no longer means you can't meet him or her are computer-based relationships the same as ones formed in everyday life? do computer relationships survive when they move from computer screen to facetoface interactions? current research is beginning to explore these questions

according to the passage, the role of the computer in the propinquity effect is

a. surprisingly strong. b. weak.
c. somewhat harmful. d. being studied.