Social networking on social media sites involves individuals viewing videos, photos, and posting experiences. Therefore, one would definitely feel like they are aware of what is going in other peoples’ lives, therefore, it beats the logic to involve themselves personally. Social media creates an illusion of closeness and companionship. Eventually, there is little social interaction and individuals become isolated, and this may lead to depression. One may turn to social media when this happens, but it should be noted that the relationship and companionship gotten when people are together physically cannot be compared to that of social media. Suddenly, there is no need to meet up physically with friends, family, and acquaintances over coffee or dinner to catch up over lost time. One feels that texting someone that they miss them will suffice. Social media networks end up denying individuals the need for social interaction, therefore, dehumanizing them.
According to Haythornthwaite (2005), i t is important that one visit people have a meal and a conversation with them other than sending them a text. Having a phone call is even much better as you get to hear each other’s voice and connect as well as relate to issues being talked of. It is vital that people put down their gadgets such as computers and phone to have conversations with people. Individuals should pay keen attention to each other’s lives. One would find themselves being on social media to talk to someone who is far away but when they are together physically there is not much conversation and social interaction going on, but once again they are on phone with people who are far away yet they are now close (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012)
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One of the major setbacks of social media is that individuals can only present what they want to be seen. One may choose to showcase only but the good things going on in their lives. Once one sees their ‘friend’ posting good and great things, there is constant pressure to do the same. Therefore, individuals end up being in a competition even when they did not mean to. This then leads individuals to avoid being vulnerable which a physical, social interaction would allow. There is little or no genuineness left in a relationship a factor that hinders emotional interaction and closeness between friends and family. As people are in control of what the other person sees, bonds are not shared between individuals. People are not truly aware of what is going on in the other person’s life. Individuals on social media then suffer from FOMO which is Fear of Missing Out. Individuals are now posting content on social media to compete amongst one another with the fear of being irrelevant (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012).
Another aspect that social media networks have brought about is cyber bullying. When individuals want to eliminate the feeling of feeling distant from others, they end up picking on one individual and ridicule them, therefore, finding power in the same. Although the prime purpose of social media networks is to breed relationships and eliminate loneliness, for others, they remain isolated. One of the workings of methods of reducing loneliness is to do away with negative thoughts. Individuals should be encouraged to meet up physically and develop thorough social skills in order to kill and destroy the feeling of loneliness and alienation. Actually, help should be offered to people that need help with the condition of social media anxiety and loneliness (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
In conclusion, social interaction is very vital for the well-being of an individual. Notably, loneliness is on the rise. Individuals are now not meeting as often, not talking to each other as often, and even when they meet, they are constantly on their phones instead of paying attention to the people and the events going on around them. Over the past 25 years, there has been a rapid decrease of social connection and interaction. Even though social media is supposed to remedy the situation, it is playing a role in deteriorating the same. Individuals are advised to put a clear cut line on when they should stop using social media networks. More attention should be paid to physical meetings and interactions. As a matter of fact, we should strive to meet the people we meet on social media physically (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
References
Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and higher education , 15 (1), 3-8.
(Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012)
Fischer, E., & Reuber, A. R. (2011). Social interaction via new social media :( How) can interactions on Twitter affect effectual thinking and behavior? Journal of business venturing , 26 (1), 1-18.
Gilbert, E., & Karahalios, K. (2009, April). Predicting tie strength with social media. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 211-220). ACM.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information, Community & Society , 8 (2), 125-147.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons , 53 (1), 59-68.
O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics , 127 (4), 800-804.
