Does the Internet strengthens Social Connections - Research Paper Example

Alongside its benefits are its shortcomings. It is widely believed that the internet has alienated people from their surroundings. It has led many people to stay home and chat with their friends online rather than going out with them in person. Other than that the internet has been exploited by the sex industry. Free pornographic images are put up online which corrupt people’s mind and children often become the main target of such an action. On an overall basis, the internet has given us a lot to gain from it and social networking without any doubt has bridged distances between people and brought them together.

There aren’t many people who wouldn’t know about Facebook. It has been the most famous social networking site of all time as it allows almost 600 million people across the globe to be socially connected to each other. Famous social networking forums on the internet do not only allow people to talk to each other, rather it enables them to share a lot of vital and important information. The creation of organization wide pages on Facebook allows workers to socially reach with each other – something that they don’t really get much time for while they’re at work.

Facebook has gained so much popularity that many people think that Facebook is like a new worldwide telephone network; only difference being it carries personal connections and profiles instead of voice (Feenberg, pp. 222-240). Another famous social connection tool is Skype. This software allows its user to make free Skype to Skype audio as well as video calls. Internet technology has no doubt reached great extremes as soft wares like Skype allow two people from across the globe to be socially connected to each other by making calls without even paying a single penny.

This software has also enabled businessmen to schedule important business meetings online and thereby save on important time and costs. With technologies like Skype, parents worry less before sending their kids to study abroad knowing they can see them and talk to them whenever they want (Stadler, pp. 29-42). Social connectivity has without doubt reached great extremes with the advent of internet related software. There aren’t many people who say they know they know all about social networking and don’t know about MSN Messenger.

Not only does this software provide a common platform to chat with relatives and mates throughout the world, but it also comes with a lot of other exciting options for entertainment. It allows its users to play games with each other, do voice and video chat and set common backgrounds. In this fast paced world, the internet has done a lot to keep people close to each other and software like MSN, Facebook and Skype have defined what we call the twenty first century social connectivity. Had it not been for the internet, it would take the current world company CEO and presidents ages till they get to meet their family, given the fact that they’re always engrosses with tons and tons of workload.

The critics of internet as a means of social networking come up with many arguments. One study available regarding the negative effects of internet on teenagers states, (Web) “The proliferation of pornographic materials is undeniably one of the alarming things that has brought about by the Internet. It does not only corrupt the minds of the young people that are exposed to them but also it paves the way for the degradation of human dignity. It also strains the moral make up of society. The Internet