Most people have become social media addicts. Social media tends to affect the way of interacting and communicating with people. Due to the introduction and prevalence of social media application in the world today, there has been a shift in the communication styles. Most individuals prefer mediated communication. According to Yuan, Kim, & Kim, (2016), most people would rather communicate via e-mail instead of text and talk through face-face interactions. Besides that, people are becoming more interactive and social since the emergence of the social media applications. However, the style in which people communicate has changed significantly since people rarely meet as often as it was done in the past.
First, people should avoid over-reliance of the social media relationships but instead, plan and meet for face-to-face discussions because it reduces the long-term relationships. Additionally, it plays a significant role in inhibiting social interaction. Finally, the most important reason people should avoid over-reliance of the social media relationships but instead plan and meet for face-to-face discussions is the fact that it negatively affects the interpersonal relationships. Indeed, while some relationships generated in the social media networks are sustainable, people should avoid over-reliance of the social media relationships but instead, plan and meet for face-to-face discussions. The argument stated above is deductive hence, it can be considered as valid. It provides a guarantee of the truth of the conclusions since the case assumptions are valid. The social media affects interpersonal relationships largely in a negative manner. Due to the reduced face-to-face discussions, most relationships have been ruined since they may not be as strong as they were before the advent of social networking sites.
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Social media plays a significant role in keeping people away from authentic relationships. According to Maecker, Barrot, & Becker, (2016), the excessive use of the social networking sites declines the social circle of the people. Thus, this shows that individuals tend to spend more time on the internet and less time with their families and friends. The term alienation is the drifting apart of a person from other people as per the sociology theory. Importantly, the increase of social media users leads to the decline in the face-to-face communication and interaction. Thus, this can deny a person the sense of awareness and personal contact needed for psychological, physical and social security of a person (Yuan, Kim, & Kim, 2016). Research has shown that the increased use of social media has resulted in social alienation since most people spend most of their time on the internet instead of the social comings and goings (Miranda, Young, & Yetgin, 2016). Kumar et al., (2016) studied on the quality nature of internet interaction whereby he found out that online communication may not be as valuable as the face-to-face interactions. Besides that, online communication lacks emotional connection while also lacking quality in the description of the day-to-day experiences. In addition to that, most people may view other people photos in the social networking sites, and they may be pleased in participating and experiencing the exciting experiences of their friends by seeing the images. However, some of the people have a strong emotional parody that could only be solved by the actual experiences with friends.
Contrary to that, the social media applications provide individuals with a platform for sharing their experiences and personal information. However, phishing, attempts of acquiring people’s passwords and usernames, hence posing a danger to the social media interaction. Phishing may lead to loss of trust among the social media users resulting in the regulation of the amounts of personal information transferred. Further, internet addiction may lead to poor interpersonal relationships since people who are addicted to then internet tends to spend most of their times on the social networking sites. As a result, there is a reduced interaction with friends thus leading to a destruction of the interpersonal relationships.
Besides that, social media poses a significant influence on the emotions and psychology of people. According to Hwang, & Kim, (2015), Loneliness can be transmitted via the social media since if a direct connection is lonely; an internet user is likely to be lonely as well. Moreover, if someone in a social network is angry, the emotions are liable to transmission to a web user. In addition to that, negative emotions can be generated while using the social networking sites whereby a person may share the success and career photos in the media leading to envy and jealousy among the viewers. In instances where people cannot compete with others effectively, they may feel upset and pressured. Thus, this may result in a contemptuous attitude that plays a vital role in the destruction of the interpersonal relationships.
Notably, social media leads to the loss of morals in society. Morals are often the basis of the setting up of interpersonal relationships. Social media has allowed most teenagers to access pornographic materials ate ease thus resulting in cyber sex. Such behaviors would not have been present without the advent of social media. Importantly, the social networking sites have considerably led to the reduction of the age of a teenager of indulging in their first sexual encounter. Therefore, this leads to the development of an unhealthy relationship. The unhealthy relationships may emanate from the exposure one is subjected to while using the social media sites. Lastly, social media reduces trust among the individuals resulting in broken relationships.
Some people claim that social media has positive effects on the interpersonal relationships. They argue that it provides a chance for people to communicate in a different way from the past media. The resources available in the social media may strengthen and broaden the social interactions. Moreover, people would also argue that the social networking sites communications allow people to overcome the barriers of long-distance relationships. Moreover, the content and the advertisements on social media reach billions of people in the world instantaneously. Social media is a platform in which people with similar interests meet leading the establishment of virtue groups used to share their interests and build up healthy relationships. New relationships are formed on the internet daily. The ability to share photos on the internet helps in sharing a significant part or event with other people in the social media. Thus, this plays a major role in keeping people together. Moreover, social media would help in knowing a person at an individual level hence leading to the formation of new relationships. In fact, some relationships in the social media eventually grow into marriage bonds. People may agree to meet after years of talking through the social networking sites. The relationships created may lead to marriage or even stronger friendships. Therefore, this is a counterargument made by people objecting the argument that indicates that social media is a platform that destroys interpersonal relationships.
The negative effects of social media on interpersonal relationships are many as compared to the positive results. In the external factor, the social networking sites fail to guarantee security in passing and sharing of personal information. In the internal sector, people experiencing social media may suffer from social alienation, moral decay, and negative emotional influence. Due to the introduction and prevalence of social media application in the world today, there has been a shift in the communication styles. Most individuals prefer mediated communication. People have no time to meet their friends and discuss matters affecting them, but instead, they prefer sharing it on the social media. Thus, this contributes to the destruction of the interpersonal relationships substantially. Excessive use of the social networking sites declines the social circle of the people. Thus, this shows that individuals tend to spend more time on the internet and less time with their families and friends.
In conclusion, while some relationships generated in the social media networks are sustainable, people should avoid over-reliance of the social media relationships but instead, plan and meet for face-to-face discussions. As seen in the paper, interpersonal relationships are destroyed due to the ways in which the social media has led to increased addiction. Importantly, the paper shows that despite the many objections demonstrating that social media is critical in building relationships; most of the daily interactions with the community, friends and families are ruined by the prevalence of social media sites.
References
Hwang, H., & Kim, K. (2015). Social media as a tool for social movements: the effect of social media use and social capital on intention to participate in social movements. International Journal Of Consumer Studies , 39 (5), 478-488. doi:10.1111/ijcs.12221
Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R., & Kannan, P. K. (2016). From Social to Sale: The Effects of Firm-Generated Content in Social Media on Customer Behavior. Journal Of Marketing , 80 (1), 7-25. doi:10.1509/jm.14.0249
Maecker, O., Barrot, C., & Becker, J. (2016). The effect of social media interactions on customer relationship management. Business Research , 9 (1), 133-155. doi:10.1007/s40685-016-0027-6
Miranda, S. M., Young, A., & Yetgin, E. (2016). Are Social Media Emancipatory Or Hegemonic? Societal Effects Of Mass Media Digitization In The Case Of The Sopa Discourse. MIS Quarterly , 40 (2), 303-A32.
Yuan, C. L., Kim, J., & Kim, S. J. (2016). Parasocial relationship effects on customer equity in the social media context. Journal Of Business Research , 69 (9), 3795-3803. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.12.071
