How Social Networking Shapes Interpersonal Relationships (Essay Sample)

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How Social Networking Shapes Interpersonal Relationships
Introduction
Over the last two decade, the social media platforms have increased in number and in their level of influence. They have created a new way of interacting with people in one’s county, state and even globally. People find it much easier to chat and form relationships on social media that they do in real life. As such, the relationships on social media have taken a front row compared to the traditional relationships. Currently, there are more than 2 billion people that are on social media (Statista). Social trends in the last few years also indicate that this figure is bound to change as more people get internet access. The greater majority of the social media users are on Facebook and Twitter which are the leading social sites (Bennett). The impact of social media is immense as most people spend their time chatting with their friends and sharing content with their social media friends. To underline the importance that the social media platform has, most employers now look into the social media accounts of their potential staffs and even those that are already on the payroll (Hakami). This helps them to gauge the personality of the person as well as get some background information of the person. Businesses have also started flocking the social media, which indicates that even marketers understand the significance of the social media.The objective of the paper however, is to evaluate the significance, depth and the potential of building relationships on social networks (Nauert).
Benefits and potential of Social Media Interactions
The people that are on the social media networks spend an estimated 15 hours or more on social sites, every single month (Statisticbrain.com). For the heavy users the usage can easily translate to several days in a month of continuous use. There are a number of benefits that underline the significance of the relationships that are formed on the social media. One of the major benefits is that people on the social media have the ability to connect and form a relationship with other person who could be across the globe. This element of interacting with strangers from across the globe is enticing to many(Fouts, 7). However there is also the aspect of connecting with friends of people that one knows, thereby growing ones social network. Other than that through the social media sites, users are able to share information professionally or personally on social basis (Hakami). Social media platforms also help people to some extent to share their opinion, get to interact and learn to tolerate different personalities and generally expressing one’s ideas. Some of the users that interact on social media end connecting in real life. Additionally, before meeting with a new person, it is now possible to first get their background information from their online presence and vet them from a safe distance, thereby reducing the risk of harm from malicious people (Jain).
Development of strong relationships is mostly through development of positive qualities and ties, where users share common interests. The relationships that result in actual and prosperous relationships are not limited to personal circle, but also extend to the professional circles. Of late social media websites that connect like-minded personalities and professionals within different fields have been on the rise(Fouts, 31). Most of these sites support the community through different interventions and programs that are initiated and implemented purely through the social media interactions.Businesses also connect with other business and their clients on social media, thereby increasing their reach within the boundaries of the countries and without to get to the global clients. This therefore underpins the importance of social media in the digital age and the potential it has in revolutionizing how people interact and build on their relationships (Nauert).
Strength and Quality of Social Media Relationships
One of the foundations of the society and human experience is forming relationships on the basis of personal interaction. The social media networks are just an extension of this element of the human experience. Previously human interactions related on the element of face-to-face interaction and the ability to communicate. The digital age has since done away with the need to interact with only the people one can see and hear(Chambers, 200). This has also altered the aspect of bonding and specifically with reference to quality and the strength of the relationships formed.
Due to the fact that most of the people that users interact with on social media are not physically present, there is an element of using pseudo names and misleading information. As such, majority of the relationships that are formed on the social media websites are plutonic rather realistic (McKenna, Amie , and Marci). This is not to undermine the fact that some of the relationships have substance. In fact, connecting with people on social media can strengthen the real relationships that exist. However, there also concerns that relationships formed on social tend to be weak.
Over use of the social media has been found to lead to development of antisocial tendencies, whereby most people find easier to interact with users on social media rather than those actually around them(Fouts, 37).This is an aspect that created significant interest among researchers as most of the heavy users are found to have strong dependencies to the social media, sometime leading to addiction. This are is still under research as scholars try to determine the inherent element of this kind of dependency and addiction.In the past, aspects of bullying have also been perpetrated face-to-face. However, with the element of social media the boundaries have now been broken. Cyber-bullying is now one of the most terrifyingordeals that some of the people have to deal on a daily basis. The fact that the social media sites are globally interconnected means that users are open to attacks from uses virtually anywhere on the globe (MIT Technology Review).
Conclusion
The social media platforms have revolutionized the way people interact across the globe. Due to the fact thatthe platforms are based on the internet connectivity, the extent to which one person can connect with other users is unlimited. This creates a different level of interaction compared to the way people interact in the early nineties and beyond (MIT Technology Review). Using the social networks, users have the ...