Impact Of The Internet On Social Ties - Essay Example

Impact of The Internet on Social Ties Impact of The Internet on Social Ties Introduction The impact of the Internet on a person’s social and family life cannot be underestimated, considering the Internet having a vital place in one’s life. We do not have to look very far to see the drastic change in one’s social conduct and values, and the way one stays in touch with family, friends and colleagues. The influence of the Internet started getting visible and prominent from the era of the early 21st century, when the outlook of the community bonds and ties started to change (Pingdom, 2010). Several researches show that in the last decade, the Internet usage has grown by almost 3 times, compared to to its usage in the 1990s. This increase is in terms of time of usage and the population using the Internet, which has grown to an immense level since the last decade (Pingdom, 2010). So it can be considered as a period of social change and development, when mass public adopted a common ground to be connected and linked with others, irrespective of their religion or place where they live (Wellman and Haythornthwaite, 2002, pp. 3–4). The Internet Strengthening Social Ties Social networking platforms and instant messaging on the Internet have allowed people to communicate with their friends, family and people who are anonymous. The frequent use of the Internet is the sending and receiving of messages and emails with no barriers, which accounted for millions of young users sharing their information and ideas. The Internet enhances social experience as it provides opportunity for people to express their feelings of intimacy with their friends and overall community (Lee, 2006). The Pew the Internet and American Life project revealed a research in which they examined the impact of the Internet on social ties. The study identified that the Internet has been the main factor in bringing people together and strengthening their ties. 45% of Internet users, which comprises 60 million people, suggests that through the Internet they have managed to take major decisions in life, which have helped them in maintaining a balanced life (Lifestyle News, 2006). In the 21st century, excessive use of the Internet has not solely rested upon browsing web pages and sending emails but has also provided opportunities for business in engaging effectively with their consumers. The power and reach of social media are also resulting in social ties with its consumers and are adding benefits to small and large businesses. The social networking helps in meeting resources and in finding a right job through different business people and increasing their social relationship with the same platform (Lawler et al., 2009). The excessive use of the Internet by younger generations has also influenced boomer parents in keeping in touch with their children living far away from their country. This influence is reducing the generation gap as boomer parents find themselves attracted to the Internet which is increasing family ties. The main factor of developing a social community is essential for their members’ participation and collaborating with each other (Lawler et al., 2009). The Internet has ensured that their participation would remain in full consent and sharing their views online, which has resulted in better participation in making decisions. Networking through the Internet has allowed teamwork to play its part more efficiently and prudently as it helps them in sharing their ideas in rather a comfortable manner. The increase in technology has favored the use of the Internet that has also helped people in increasing their ties, which has been the leading factor for its success. Moreover, it has made all channels decentralized as every person is included in decision making and providing their views, which had never been so easy in the previous era (Lawler et al., 2009). The Internet Undermining Community and Social Development In the 21st century, the growing need of the Internet has brought changes in human distinction, such as changes in human life, society and social development situations (Tyler, 2002). There are influences with the changing aspect of time, which the Internet has brought on the mass user of the World Wide Web. The forum is massive and so are its trends where definitions of community and social relationships have continuously been modified from one decade to another (Tyler, 2002). Overall, the scenario in the 21st century is totally different from the past centuries, where community development and social relationships were kept on the highest place in the entire human notion (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). Today where community perception is changed, the idea of social development has also been modified. In this respect, the Internet has come out as the core factor of influence, as the majority of spokespeople and literati state that the Internet has modernized the cultures but has not provided the ideal (moral) method of social engagement and development. It is considered as a forum where people interact just to share information or to build personal relationships based on personal attainments or conditions and not more than that (Das and Sahoo, 2010). This, in an overall way, has dissolved the actual sense of social interaction, bondage and linking (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). Advancements on the Internet such as the emerging social media groups and websites have brought new trends for the societies, cultures and human life situations (Das and Sahoo, 2010). People with mobile Internet phones and packages interact on numbers, as they are found busy in creating friend lists ignoring the methods of their forefathers, who used to interact on a genuine basis, e.g. on moral grounds, esteems and on the highest sentimental levels. The Internet has become a facilitator to share information and to settle temporary relationships/short term relationships among people (Das and Sahoo, 2010). The trends are just to spread virtual textures (social media), which ire to be spread by all virtual means (the Internet). This has brought modifications in meeting, greeting and even in interacting concepts, influencing the overall situation of life of the World Wide Web population (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). In communication, distances are no more an issue, which is one of the major contributions of the Internet, but this is not what is actually required to bring the true development of societies and their social networks (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). Eventually the emphasis is just on the fast growing networks and easy communication, where quality interaction has gone disappeared (Bargh and McKenna, 2004). The websites are considered to be the fastest communication forums where millions of people interact on the pages to build relationships. All of this has not been so effective to fill the gap of social development status where people interact on the basis of morality, companionship, friendliness or camaraderie and not on the basis of temporality. Hence, the Internet has given the glimpse of only advanced or technological communication but still falls behind in bringing the true sense of communism, socialism, collectivism or social engagement (Tyler, 2002). Concepts: Many modern theorists believe that informal social bonds have become a need of one’s life (Wellman and Haythornthwaite, 2002). A man is surrounded by a web of social networks, which urge one to improve one’s work and the standard of living (Wellman and Haythornthwaite, 2002, pp. 45–48). Gilchrist (2004) illustrates the fact that having no territorial or cultural boundaries in the Internet world, a person can share cultural, ethical and social information with other people. This can help build a knowledge society, and people can be able to improve their norms and conduct by communicating with others, hailing from entirely different societies and backgrounds (Gilchrist, 2004). Moreover, the Internet has helped the businesses to spread in different regions and countries, and still be run effectively by having sound communication among all branches. This has opened doors for new online businesses to emerge, resulting increment of the employment ratio and business development of the country (Gilchrist, 2004). Supporting the use of the Internet for betterment of the community, many theorists, in their research, highlight the impact of the Internet communication in the development of rural areas. Communities at times failed to work for the upbringing of the people living in remote or rural areas. Their issues and problems mostly remain hidden from the people living in the urban areas, who have the potential to help in solving theses issues (Stern et al., 2011). This gap can be filled by the proper use of the Internet in building bridges between the urban and rural areas and giving a sense of voluntary service to the people. This would certainly be the true development of a community, where the less blessed can be taken along in the race of life (Stern et al., 2011, pp. 3–6). The other side of the high usage of the Internet has also been dealt by many of the theorists who believe that the more a person spends time on th Internet, the more one’s family relations suffer. The term ‘virtual bonds’ has been introduced for these informal or the Internet networks which a person makes on social websites, and it is argued that these bonds are one of the major reasons of family clashes due to not giving enough time and attention (Wellman and Haythornthwaite, 2002, pp. 405–406). Conclusion In the 21st century, the Internet has played its role in strengthening the social ties and helped in developing the social community. The Internet has allowed people to enhance their social ties and relationships in expressing their feelings of intimacy. However, it has also undermined some factors due to excessive use of the Internet. The original principles of sharing information have been changed and more dependency on the Internet has been created. The majority of different principles and theories suggest that the Internet has been the greatest tool for transference of information in the 21st century. References Bargh, J. and McKenna, K., 2004. The the Internet and social life. Research Report. New York: NY University. Das, B. and Sahoo, J., 2010. Social networking sites – a critical analysis of its impact on personal and social life. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2, pp. 222–27. Gilchrist, A., 2004. The well connected community. a networking approach to community development. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Lawler, E., Thye, S. and Yoon, E., 2009. Social commitments in a depersonalized world. 1st ed. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Lee, S.-J., 2006. The Internet and Adolescent social capital: who benefits more from the Internet use? 1st ed. New York: ProQuest. Lifestyle News, 2006. The Internet helps strengthen social ties. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 29 January 2006]. Pingdom, 2010. The incredible growth of the The Internet since 2000. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 6 November 2012]. Stern, M. J., Adams, A. E. and Boase, J., 2011. Rural community participation, social networks, and broadband use: examples from localized and national survey data. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 40 (2), pp.158–71. Tyler, T., 2002. Is the Internet changing social life? Journal of Social Issues, 58, pp.195–205. Wellman, B. and Haythornthwaite, C., 2002. The Internet in. Research Report. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Read More