Social Networking/the internet Influence on People Making them Unsocial - Research Paper Example

Social networking/the internet makes people unsocial and damages human relationships and/or communities In the present age, the significance of the Internet as the medium of communication cannot be overemphasized. Young generation spends a lot of time using the Internet in general and the social networking sites in particular. This behavior is reinforced by the modern gadgets with especial features facilitating the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Ranging from mobile phones to tablets, everything has been designed specifically to promote the use of social networking sites. Social networking sites are used to exchange views and opinions on all sorts of matters including personal, social, political, national and international. Social networking is generally considered a healthy sign given its role in advancing academically as well as professionally in the present age. While social networking sites are used to broaden the social network, know more about others, and help them know you more, the fact that socialization happens in the virtual world rather than the real world has many negative implications on the personal life of a user as well as on his/her relationship with others. Social networking over the Internet has tremendous potential to affect relationships in a negative way. Social networking sites show only the most beautiful colors of an individual’s personality to others. One of the most fundamental reasons of popularity of the social networking sites is that they provide their users with ways to establish an image before others that is hard to establish in real life. The social networking profile of an individual offers plenty of information regarding what kind of individual he/she is and what are his/her interests, hobbies, and activities. Realization of this quality of the social networking sites has encouraged users to start displaying such information that would help them establish their ideal self-image. “At the heart of the explosion in online communication is the desire to construct a valued representation of oneself which affirms and is affirmed by one’s peers” (Livingstone and Brake 76). With the passage of time, users of the social networking sites get so habitual to such a projection of personal image before others that difficulty of achieving it without such platforms and the associated tools and techniques in the real life becomes frustrating. Most of the friends made online over the social networking websites find unbelievable difference in the real self and the perceived self of their friends created by their manipulation of their photos and statuses on the social networking sites. To a considerable extent, the image created in the virtual world is fake and may have negative implications on the individual’s relationships when the process of online interaction transits to face-to-face interaction in real life. Communication in the virtual world has negative implications on communication in the real world. (Yen et al.) compared the social anxiety between real-life and online interaction among college students and tested the severity of social anxiety in online interaction as well as real-life interaction for associations with Internet addiction, depression, scores on Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), and Internet activity type. Their research led them to the conclusion that the college students experienced more social anxiety interacting offline than when they interacted online. This may, at least in part, be attributed to the fact that people tend to communicate online using the fake image they have built over their profiles in the social networking sites whereas real-life communication brings the hidden traits and realities to the surface, thus making communication difficult and increasing the level of social anxiety. Online communication, particularly chatting on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter is non-visual communication while real-life communication is visual communication. Body language is missing in the online communication while it affects communication in the real-life, thus conveying others more than what one would have wanted to in the ideal case. These days, many people gauge their friendship with others based on activities on the social networking sites. While adding someone as a “Friend” on Facebook does not necessarily mean that the added individual is a friend in real life, unfriending someone from the friends’ list certainly means termination of friendship in real life. Facebook unfriending is considered as a form of termination of relationship that has both negative cognitive and emotional consequences. (Bevan, Pfyl, and Barclay) examined the negative emotional responses in adult Facebook users upon being unfriended and found that “[p]articipants also responded with greater rumination and negative emotion when they knew who unfriended them, when they thought they were unfriended for Facebook-related reasons, and when participants initiated the Facebook friend request” (Bevan, Pfyl, and Barclay). An individual might have any reason for unfriending a previously added friend; it might not necessarily be negative but it is thought of as negative by the unfriended individual as soon as he/she discovers that he/she has been unfriended. In addition to these obvious adverse impacts of social networking over the Internet on human relationships, this practice also affects human relationships negatively in many indirect ways. Excessive use of the Internet draws people away from the social network in real life and the effects of social exclusion entail. Such effects include but are not limited to hesitation in making friends in real life situations, being able to work as a group, depression, and pessimism. “Cybercafe addiction may also present with depression, gambling and substance abuse” (Singh, Singh, and Goyal). These effects may occur because of the various online activities in addition to the social exclusion that results from the use of the Internet for several hours every day. Not having someone to talk to for so long, getting overweight and obese for lack of physical activity caused by being consistently static for long periods of time while using the Internet, and getting to learn about the cheating spouse through his/her Facebook profile are some examples of why people might get into depression. In some cases, use of social networking sites helps foster better relations with others both in the virtual world and in the real world. This happens when the users of social networking sites are honest in the display of their personal image before others and also have realistic expectations from others. (Kevin et al.) studied the role of Facebook use in the development and sustenance of social capital among the South African university students. (Kevin et al.) found a strong link between the intensity of use of Facebook and perceived bonding, bridging, and sustained social capital. “Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might be beneficial to students experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction” (Kevin et al.). Online social networking particularly helps people that remain reserved otherwise. Certain people are generally shy, introverted, and reserved. They cannot make friends very often in real life. Social networking provides them with a way to stay in touch with their friends and also make new friends that they might never have been friends with, had it not been for the social networking site. In spite of these benefits of online social networking, the disadvantages generally exceed the advantages in number, and many people’s relationships with others in real life are negatively affected by the use of the Internet and especially the social networking sites. Relationships formed online are deceptive since they foster false and manipulated image of the users of the social networking sites before others. This is one of the reasons why people are more socially anxious while communicating offline than when they communicate online. Adding someone as friend does not make him/her a friend in real life, but deleting someone from the status of a friend on Facebook does unfriend him/her in real life also. Consistent non-stop use of the Internet for several hours on daily basis has many negative implications on the life of an individual. The implications of this project are numerous given the massive use of the Internet in the contemporary age and its role in shaping the modern systems. People today are overly dependent upon the Internet and many are completely oblivious of the potential ways it affects their lives for the worse. Especially, when the Internet is used as a platform to make or break relationships using the perceptions formed through online activities, it gets alarming. Certain benefits of the use of social networking sites are undeniable, yet the demerits generally outnumber the merits of online social networking. The implications of this project are for all users of the Internet in general and young users in particular to be more honest and realistic both in their projection of personal image online and their expectation from others both in the virtual world and in the real world. People need to establish limits on their use of the Internet so that they are not deprived of a normal and healthy lifestyle because of excessive use of the Internet. Future research needs to explore the nature of friendship between the supposed “friends” on Facebook, relationship between the use of the Internet and substance abuse, the online channels used for drug smuggling and consumption. Works Cited: Bevan, Jennifer L.; Pfyl, Jeanette; and Barclay, Brett. “Negative emotional and cognitive responses to being unfriended on Facebook: An exploratory study.” Computers in Human Behavior. Vol. 28. Issue 4. (July, 2012): 1458-1464. Kevin, Johnston; Maureen, Tanner; Nishant, Lalla; and Dori, Kawalski. “Social capital: the benefit of Facebook ‘friends’.” Behaviour & Information Technology. Vol. 32. Issue 1. (Jan., 2013): 24-36. Livingstone, Sonia, and Brake, David, R. “On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications.” Children & Society. Vol. 24. (2010): 75-83. Singh, Swati; Singh, Anit; and Goyal, Gunjan. “Online and offline infidelity: impact on life.” Annals of General Psychiatry. Vol. 7, Supplement 1, Special section. (2008). p1-1. Yen, Ju-Yu; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Wang, Peng-Wei; Chang, Yi-Hsin; and Ko, Chih-Hung. “Social Anxiety in Online and Real-Life Interaction and Their Associated Factors.” CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking. Vol. 15. Issue 1. (Jan, 2012): 7-12. Read More