How Has Friendship Changed Because of Social Networking - Essay Example

In terms of reach, social networking has made communication easier and cheaper (ScienceDaily web). When friends are connected through a social media site, it is easy to find out the whereabouts of one another. It is also easy to find out what the other people are up to over the weekends, upcoming events, relationships and their current location. One can have as much time on social media as they want since the only charges that apply are those of internet connections.
Friendship has changed from physical meetings and contact to internet sites. This means that one does not have to go through the hustle of arranging for a meeting when all the information required can be communicated through web platforms. It is easier and convenient to communicate through social networking because it is done at the convenience of the two parties involved. This element is useful; however, friends lose touch with one another in terms of physical approach. There is not much effort placed in making eye-to-eye contact with friends. The physical boundary has become independent. Friendship has become casual (Farah web).
Friendships and how individuals make friends have changed ever since the invention of social media. Individuals prefer to be in a virtual world where one cannot be known fully but only at the superficial level. Social media has the option of adding individuals as friends.
However, this definition of a friend is an online one. The two people may not even know each other but are friends on Facebook because one of them added the other. This kind of friendship is only superficial and shallow and exists in the virtual world. The two people, who call themselves “friends”, have no real-life experiences (Barett web). On the other hand, social media has led to mistrust and deception among individuals. Some people have put a vetting mechanism for all people who add others as friends to avoid misleading characters in the name of “friends”.
Social media can lead to the breaking of good relationships (Parrack). The information available on a site can make a spouse mistrust the other and even break up. Flirting in the name of making friends is on the increase on social sites. People think that since they can be anonymous, with a fake name and profile, it is easier to flirt with like-minded individuals. This has destroyed families and friendships.
Social media has led to rudeness in language. Since everything is in the virtual world, it makes it easier for individuals to be rude and not care about the kind of tone being used in language. Social sites give boldness and a lack of empathy. It makes it easier for one to insult another since they are not seeing each other eye to eye. The changes have more positive features than negative features. With the change in technology, the world also changes in terms of friendships. Read More