The Quality of Online Social Relationships - Literature review Example

Social Media and Communication Name Class Unit Introduction Social networking refers to use of web based communication tools to exchange information over the internet. There are various web based communication tools which include MySpace, facebook and YouTube. In 2011, the number of facebook users had reached 526 million (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). At the moment, social networks are very famous among the adolescents and young adults and the number of users continues to grow every day. Social network communication involves interacting with those we know and others who we have never met. The advancement of technology has made a large group in the population to own computers and phones which enables social networking more easily. Over the 20th century, communication was mostly through face to face and use of landline telephones (DiMaggio et al. 2001). At the moment, use of internet for communication has been in use than the rest of communication methods. The modern communication invention has made it more convenient to communicate online which may hinder effective communication among young adults. Studies have shown that use of online communication can affect family relationships, employment and school performance (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). This essay will look at social networks as a way of connecting people and discouraging people to speak. To be able to address the thesis statement, the essay will look into social networking activities, the quality of social networking relationships, communication and conflict resolution, effects of social network in communication and social network and workplace and effects of social media on communication. Through invention of cell phones and computers, face to face interaction has reduced significantly. The devices have replaced the conventional means of communication and users have been enabled into the virtual world. The devices have acted as the mediators with the users engaging in social networking as a means to communicate. Internet surfing have increased where users engage in non commercial activities online. Internet surfing have been labeled as addictive since the users are able to receive gratification when they engage in online activities (DiMaggio et al. 2001). This has led to addicted users spending more time online at the expense of face to face communication. The habit of online surfing can lead to the user becoming addicted. It has been proved that users who become addicted lose vital skills in communication and conflict resolution which is contributed by isolation. Excessive use of internet has been associated with poor friendship and inhibits the user from exploring their immediate environment. Instant messaging involves sending real time messages to users in a conversation (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). With recent invention, the number of online users engaging in real-time communication has increased. Study done have proved instant messages can lead to depression and isolation among the users. It has been proved by several studies that texting lead to user texting things which they cannot be able to say in face to face communication. This has led to a situation where users give their true feelings using social network rather than face to face communication (Gross, Juvonen & Gable, 2002). Interaction among people is one of the most important aspects in human beings. Prior to invention of internet, face to face communication was the main form of interaction. Information age has led to people exchanging information using technology. Changes in mode of communication have thus affected the society in a great way. If the medium of communication used is impersonal, the message delivered becomes impersonal. Despite the negative aspects of social media communication, they can help in making a relationship strong which makes it possible to bridge between online and offline relationship (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Verbal and non-verbal communications are the two categories that characterise communication. Use of facial gestures in communication plays a very vital role in communicating. The authenticity of a message is improved through use of these gestures. Using social media, these effects are hidden and are replaced by smiley and symbols (Gross, Juvonen & Gable, 2002). This makes it hard to communicate effectively as in verbal communication. It has been proved that body says what the words cannot say. Non-verbal communication plays a major part in communicating and are both required to deliver a message effectively. A research done proved that during communication, 93% of it comes from non verbal sources (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). For most of the online users, they feel a strong connection between themselves and online communities. Those who have online relationships consider them as strong as the actual relationships. In most of the online communities, the friendship is considered meaningful and trusting. This has led to some of the internet users handling their conflicts through these communities. High internet use among the adolescence and young adults has been associated with reduced communicating in their families (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). During development, one is supposed to get the skills on communicating and resolving conflicts. With an increase in use of social networks as a means of communication, there are higher chances that users will not be able to develop adequate skills to solve real life situations (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2002). In a study done with adolescents who had high internet usage, it was found that they had low levels of communication and were most likely to have conflict with their parents. It was also found that being used to social networks can lead to the users not communicating when in trouble. Use of special networks lacks the required interpersonal behaviors required in a normal communication. This makes online communications and relationships to be unpredictable (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Use of social network has enabled the users to mask their identities. The user can use different identity cues which are not possible in face to face communication. The user can take identity of someone else and use it. The users change the identity in order to benefit from anonymity during communication. This has made communication to be less trustworthy over the social sites. Use of fake identities has increased chances of unreliable communication as opposed to face to face communication. The users can be able to conceal any flaw that they have using social media unlike in real life communication (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Internet can connect users from different parts of the globe. Despite this, social networking has been associated with ills which make it hard to communicate. Users may get addicted to pornographic sites where they may spend a lot of time surfing (Gross, Juvonen & Gable, 2002). This results in the user wasting a lot of time which they can communicate with friends and family. Poor communication with others can lead to depression and loneliness. This has made social network communication to be branded as sterile as compared to real life face to face communication (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). With social network, there are no non verbal cues and the user just text words. This means that the communication is devoid of facial expressions which make it hard to communicate effectively. It is important to understand that most of communication is carried out through non verbal means of body language. By seeing how other persons behave while communicating, it becomes easier to avoid misinterpretation. Without being engaged in verbal communication, the ability to understand non verbal cues becomes hard. Those who are used to social networking communication rather than verbal communication may find it hard to look into the eyes of the speaker. Addiction to social network can lead to one forsaking verbal communication altogether (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Existence of different personalities is another problem with social networking sites. This leads to this means of communication making users to become more vindictive than they really are. Social network sites provide a means of communication which gives the user more freedom than they really have. Social networking thus provides the users with unreal and fantasy world which is not possible in verbal communication. For the young people, they may feel lack of interest in establishing friendship with real life people while they have online friends. This has made the social networks to lead to antisocial behaviours among the users. It also becomes hard for the users to pay attention to others while on social networks (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). Despite the social media being able to connect people globally, it has created new type of communication barriers. The quality of communication has been eroded. The use of social media has thus contributed to lack of authenticity in messages. For communication to be effective and accurate, all parties must be involved. In workplaces, verbal communication has been replaced by technology (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). The main reason for phasing out verbal communication have been due to rise in information technology and discomfort with traditional forms of communication. The current generations are more interested in use of technology for communication than the traditional means. At the moment, a lot of employees are new generation which is a fast growing segment. This is a segment that prefers use of social network to communicate rather than verbal communication (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). Social networks have altered the existing rules of communication (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). In business, one way communication through letters and landlines has been replaced by multidimensional communication. Social media have little or no traditional regulations. When people become addicted, there are high chances of breaking the family ties. The users become more hooked up in the sites. For the adolescents, they may feel more inclined to share their problems with online peers (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). This may eventually lead to breakdown of the bond between them and family members. Social network communication lacks accountability that is found in real life communication. Verbal communication is characterised by obligation and accountability which makes it trustworthy (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). Online communication can engage in deception and not detected easily. There are features in online communications that can never be present in real life communication. For example, real life communication involves touching and gestures which cannot be available in social networks. There are high chances of establishing a fake relationship online than through verbal communication (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Internet has been proved to diminish the quality of human interactions. The more a user engages in online communication, the less they communicate with others. It have been proved that the as the number of social network users continues increasing, their level of verbal communication deteriorates. Most of the users engage in social networks to communicate with family and friends while abandoning formal communication methods (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2002). Research has proved that on average, the time spent by youth on internet is more than an hour daily. This involves doing activities such as video games, internet surfing, texting and instant messaging. Some of the users started at a very young age such as 8 to 11 years in developed countries (Gross, Juvonen & Gable, 2002). This means that the social networking takes vital time which the child should be developing social communication skills. At this age, the child is required to interact with real life people. Being introduced to internet at an early age thus acts to inhibit development of social skills (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Most of the internet use spends their time alone than with other people. For example, a study proved that 72% of internet users spend their time surfing alone (Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimons, 2002). Also it has been proved that most of the internet activities are carried out at home in private spaces such as bedroom. This means that most of the internet users spend their time alone instead of enhancing their communication, internet makes them more isolated from the society. In developed countries, some of the young people spend almost two thirds of their time online. This means that two thirds of their time is spent on isolation. The trend is harmful to development of their social skills as they grow (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). At the moment, people may prefer texting or emailing a partner in the next room instead of talking to them in person. In most instances, friends prefer sending posts into others social network pages instead of direct communication (Gross, Juvonen & Gable, 2002). This has made it harder to have face to face contact. Though social networks have the power to connect, they are also capable to alienate people. It is possible to communicate for a long time without having visual contact. This makes it hard to develop social skills (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2002). Study done proved that friendships that are established through offline communication are stronger than online communication. This implies that online communication cannot replace offline communication (Turkle, 2011). Those who communicate online mostly have a tendency to maintain their circle of friends who are based online rather than offline friends. This means that most of the social network users tend to have fewer people to communicate without in the offline world. In this instance, social networking acts to inhibit communication rather than expanding it. It is common for social network addicted people to show less interest in normal relationships (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2002). Worldwide, people spend a lot of their time communicating with online friends than real life friends. This means that the time spend with family members and close friends is reduced. It is possible to find a family where most of their time together is spent online (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2011). This occurs in the presence of family members and friends. The implication is that there is little communication with the social media acting as a barrier to effective family interaction (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2002). Conclusion Social media have helped a lot in connecting people globally. Despite this, it has acted to discourage communication. Prior to invention of social media, face to face communication consisted to be the main mode of communication. There was use of telephones and letters which could connect business and also people. The rise of the internet helped the emerged of social media sites. At the moment, a large percentage of world adolescent and young adults spend a lot of their time online. It is estimated that almost two third of the world youth population time is spent in online activities. This means that there is less time to interact with the real world. In most cases, access of social networks is done on privacy. This means that social network users isolate themselves from the rest of the world while engaging in their online activities. Online communication lacks the body language which is vital for effective communication. Where children are introduced early into internet, they end up losing vital time which they are supposed to develop their social skills. Also, it has been proved that as one engages more in online activities, they lose interest in real life communication. Social media use is addictive and can lead to poor social skills if misused hence leading to poor communication among the users and real world. References Bargh, J.A., McKenna, K.Y.A & Fitzsimons, G.M 2002, ‘Can you see the real me? Activation and expression of the ‘trueself’ on the Internet’, J. Soc. Issues, Vol. 58, no.1, p.33-48. Cummings, J.N, Butler, B & Kraut, R 2002, ‘The quality of online social relationships’, Commun. ACM, Vol. 45, no.7, p.103-8. DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W.R & Robinson, J.P 2001, ‘Social implications of the internet’, Annu. Rev. Sociol. 27:307-36. Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C & Lampe, C 2011, ‘Connection Strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices’, New Media & Society, Vol.13,no.6, p.873-892. Gross, E.F, Juvonen J & Gable, S.L 2002, ‘Internet use and well-being in adolescence’, J. Soc. Issues Vol.58, no.1, p.75-90. Turkle, S 2011, Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other, New York, Basic Books. Appendix Social Media Examiner, 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014 from, http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2014.pdf Pew Research Canter’s Internet & American Life Project, 2014. Retrieved 19th September 2014 from, http://www.pewinternet.org/about/ Read More