Introduction
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have become staple applications in the workplace and at home. Because of this, more of our friendships are developed and nurtured online. While social media gives the individual a sense of autonomy, and allows for freedom of expression, there are implications for those who use social media as a way of abusing, and terrorising others.
The consequences of such behaviour can lead to the breakdown of face to face communication and the dissolution of relationships. On the extreme end, legal consequences can ensue for those who use social media to break the law.
This essay will discuss what social networking is. It will discover who the key players are, and how social media has become so prevalent in our society. It will investigate the if, and how social media impacts our relationships.
It will discover whether those impacts are negative or positive. This essay will conclude by summarising its findings and offering any potential solutions, or other areas of further study related to this topic.
Thesis
Friendships on the Web
How are our friendships are affected by social media?
Social networking sites are designed to bring people together. They are online communities where people can interact with one another in real time. Social networking sites are beneficial as they can be an effective, and efficient way of communicating over long distances.
Social networking began in 1995 with a website called classmates.com. Classmates.com was so successful that it attracted some 40 million members. The success of this site, prompted similar sites to pop up such as, Sixdegrees.com, Cyberworld.com, Freindster.com, Myspace.com, and Beebo.com. In the year of 2006, Facebook.com was launched, and unlike its earlier ancestors, is still successful on the web today.
The number of internet users using social networking sites increase each year. With that increase, key questions involving their impacts on our relationships have emerged. A relationship can be defined as, the state of connection that exists between two people. An academic study about social networking sites and the impacts it has on interpersonal relationships by Rogationist College, found that social media impacts relationships both in negative, and positive ways.
The study discovered that social media users may come into contact with deviant individuals who could harm their lives. Deviant individuals may use social networking sites to masquerade their real identities, by creating false personas so they can manipulate others. The impacts of online manipulation cause by deviant behaviour can have devastating consequences for both parties. Moreover, on the positive side, social media can be an effective way of communicating with friends, and loved ones over long distances. The study found that while social networking sites can be useful, over-dependency on them can harm face-to-face relationships, which are seen as more fruitful than online relationships.
Several real life examples of how social networking can impact working relationships have been discussed in the public arena. There are documented cases where individuals have used social media to rant about their employment situations, only to discover that they were fired over the rant. A waitress named Ashley Johnson, was fired as a result of an online rant about a couple who only tipped her five dollars. When her boss read it, she was fired for breaching the terms of her employment – a fact Ashley did not understand until the incident had occurred.
On the flip side, social media can also strengthen our relationships. A positive response to a Facebook post from a Californian resident interested in connecting with others lead to a community get together, which resulted in people from different cultures, races, and classes, connecting for the first time. This event strengthened ties in the community and helped bring about resolutions to its many long-term social problems.
In addition to this, links between internet addiction and depression have been found in those who use social media sites regularly. Academic research has found that, forming relationships online, rather than strengthening face to face relationships tend to cause people to suffer from significant psychological illnesses, and social isolation. Furthermore, social networking sites may lead people believe that online communication is more effective and fruitful than face-to-face communication, when the contrary has been documented.
A sense of belonging and connectedness is a felt need that is prevalent across humanity. So it is no surprise that more people are turning to social media in order to have those needs fulfilled. However, since social networking is still relatively new, the long term impacts have not yet been documented, or tested. In the meantime, it is up to each individual to determine the length of daily use on these sites, and the depth of use for their own personal situations.
Conclusion
This essay has found that, social networking sites were created to bridge the gap between distances. Social networking started off in a select group of people, mainly the youth. But it has since spread and is now impacting workplaces, and people who did not have the internet when they were at school.
Because social networking has become more than an effective tool to communicate, they are being used to fill the void in our everyday social interaction.
While for some social networking is used as a means for strengthening existing relationships, for others, social networking is their only form of social interaction. There are positive and negatives when it comes to the use of social media.
On the down side, the abuse of social media can lead to job loss, and the dissolution of relationships. On the positive side, social networking can bring peace and unity. It can act as a tool to build bridges where no other tools were capable of performing such feats.
While the use of social networking can lead to addiction and heartache, for others it has become a saving grace.
Regardless of the downsides to using social networking sites, society has become more, and more dependent on social networking. Therefore, it cannot be ignored. In order to implement the safe use of these sites, users must be aware of the potential pitfalls and utilize critical thinking and analysis when determine whether an online relationship is viable or not.
Overall, the effects social networking sites have on relationships depends on how the individual utilises the technology. Proper safeguards should be put in place on the individual sites to protect the interests of not only the owners, but of the members as well.
For further research in this area, this essay recommends that a study into the effectiveness of teaching youth in school about social media should be implemented.
Works Cited
Asilo, J., M., C., Manlapig, J., A., P., Rementilla, J., J., R. 2010, The influence of Social Networking Sites: ‘On the interpersonal relationships of Rogationist college students”, Philippines.
Henderson, S., Holland, S., Mc Grellis, S., Sharpe, S., Thompson, R. 2007, Inventing Adulthoods: “Inventing adulthoods a biographical approach to youth transitions”, pp. 12-13, Introduction: time, place and method, sage, London.
Randerson, J., S.C. 2007, “Social Networking Sites don’t deepen friendships”, British Association Festival of Science 2007, The Guardian Newspaper, London, United Kingdom.
Sweeny, R. 2011, “Social Networking Sites: “More harm than good?”, online conference on networks and communities, Department of Internet studies Curtin University of Technology, NSW Australia.
Wheeldon, E. 2010, A Social Society: “The Positive Effects of Communicating through Social Networking Sites”, online conference on networks and communities, Department of Internet studies Curtin University of Technology, NSW Australia.
Young, K., S. Psy. D., Rodgers, R., C. 1998, Cyber Psychology & Behaviour: “The relationship between depression and Internet addiction”, Vol.1, Issue, 1, pp.25, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
