Social networking sites are a manifestation of the technological and communication advancements that have been realized in the recent century. This has been made possible by globalization which has allowed people across the world to interact and conduct transactions despite the distance between them. Initially the system was closed due to the tradition of territorial control and the question of sovereignty.
However, social networks have eroded these territorial barriers so that people of different walks of life can interact. This paper argues that participating in social network sites is important because it increases cultural understanding across participants. Social networks are also a test of the reliability of person in maintaining self-discipline in terms of safeguarding current relationships. In addition this paper intends to argue that increased participation in social networking sites reduces the vulnerability of people to vices within society because one is able to get more experience and advice across the social spectrum.
First of all, I would consider participating in social network because it would help get to familiarize myself with the world better. This is because I would get to understand the cultures of other people not only in my vicinity but also in other parts of the world. One thing that is important to understand is that social networks provide exposure to participants. Those who participate in social networks get to understand that different parts of the world are different in term of their values and morals. In the process of learning these values one acquires a sense of direction about what is important to preserve in life and that which is not worth keeping. In fact, participating in social networks has been a major cause of cross-cultural marriages. This can be attributed to the fact that when people from different cultures interact via social networks like Face-book, some people get to appreciate other people’s cultures. This breaks the culture of foreignness that might result due to the lack of understanding across cultures. This appreciation for other cultures has resulted in situation where people are actually attracted to other cultures and have the urge to learn more about the culture. This urge has caused people to build strong relationships with people from those cultures. These bonds often result to long-term relations like marriages (Stevenson, 2002, p.41). Therefore, as much as many people would suggest that social networks are a result of break-ups within many relations, the fact remains that these social networks are a source of many relationship across the world and a wide-spread appreciation of cultures across the world.
Second, it is important to realize that true relationships are not vulnerable to pressures. Therefore, the only way that a person can put his or her relationship to test is my participating in social networks. This is because the pressures within these networks put the integrity and self-discipline of relationship partners to test. This test cannot be available in a life that is closed from the rest of the world. In fact, the more a relationship is closed from the rest of the world the greater the risk of breaking up if the relationship is subjected to pressure in real-life. This means that unless relationship partners are exposed to the pressures offered by social networks, relationship partners cannot claim of their relationships as being strong and reliable. This is because each of the partners does not understand how their partners react or behave when they are under pressure. Therefore, the idea that many people fail to participate in social network sites is caused by the fact that these people do not believe that their partners are strong enough to be able to withstand the pressures that are within social networks. One thing that many people forget is the fact that keeping away from social networks is not a solution. This is because relationship partners will still find alternative ways of doing what they believe to be best. There true identity is going to be manifested in other ways. Therefore, for one to be able to truly know the kind of relationship partners that they are living or working with, it is important that they give them the freedom to participate in social networking sites. In this way people can be able to determine whether their relationship partners are dependable or not. Failure to do so might lead to unexpected results that might heart relationship at late stages while the problems might have been identified at an earlier stage.
Third, social networks are a source of information and knowledge. Though social networks, one can keep oneself updated about what is happening across the world. In fact, not many people seat in front of television screens today to listen to world news. Many of that information are already available on social networks because some of the participants are directly affected by some of the issues. For instance, the recent Arab Spring in North Africa is as a result of increased use of social network sites by participants in those countries (Noueihed, 2012, p.55).Through social networks people in those countries have discovered that democracy has worked in other nations and it was therefore paramount for them to actively participate in the termination of authoritarianism in their own countries. Therefore people who actively participate in social networks have more knowledge and experience because they can share ideas with other people. In the same way that ideas about democracy has been shared between the West and the East, ideas about better relationships is also shared via social network sites.
In conclusion, it is important to participate in social networks because they provide a better understanding of other cultures across the world. Secondly, social networks are a test to the strength of relationships in that self-discipline and honesty among relationship partners is put to test. Third, social networks are a source of knowledge on all the three facets of life which include the political sphere, economic welfare, and the social spectrum which involves relationships.
References
Noueihed, L. (2012). The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution,
Counter-Revolution and the making of a new era. Washington DC. Library of
Congress.
Stevenson, N. (2002). Understanding media cultures: social theory and mass
communication. London: Sage Publications.
