Social Networking: The Destruction of Human Relationships
From Baruchnewmedia
Contents |
Introduction
- What is social networking?
- The new social networking sites that are taking over
- How it effects various relationships
Overview
Social Networking: The Destruction of Human Relationships
My paper will mainly focus on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and touch a little bit on Youtube. We see many people today losing contacts with friends and keeping the friendship alive through an occasional wallpost or poke, breaking up with their significant others by changing their relationship status, or by tweeting about every little thing that goes on in their lives.
Effects on Various Relationships
My question then goes back to if this ease of technology which allows users to speak to their “friends” at the convenience of a computer is destroying relationships and any future ones that they wish to have? Instead of asking someone out for coffee, is it possible that it might turn into “facebook me” instead? We see many people with thousands of friends on facebook but how well does that person know each individual? This new media fits well in this society since we live in a fast paced world where people are very time sensitive. Adding someone on these social networking sites seems to be the only way to keep in contact with one another on a day to day basis. We see what is going on in their lives through what they write, what pictures they post, or what they chatter on about everyday. I believe this can end relationships and the skill of forming relationships since our focus is on how well our page looks rather than how much we keep up with friends.
Destruction of Intimate Relationships
Going back to more intimate relationships, we can see from time to time if someone “ends their relationship” or begins a new one over facebook. However, there have articles (I plan to find these articles) where couples have broken up since their partners decided not to update their relationships over facebook. When we look closely at it, facebook is just a website and it plays such an important role in our intimate relationships. Also, it is a big thing nowadays to share your password for these sites with another person. If that person sees something they dislike, it can often turn into the tragic end of a relationship.
Links
Is Facebook Helping or Hurting Your Love Life?
Relationships on Facebook, Social Networks
Complexity in social network relationships
Social networking sites don't deepen friendships
Are Social Networks Destroying Offline Relationships?
