In the ever-developing world, social media has become deep-rooted into the systems of many relationships. The ever-increasing use of social media has numerous benefits to the users. Individuals can access most information about their spouses or friends on social media. However, social media has brought along some problems, particularly for couples, such as lack of satisfaction. This paper summarizes two articles regarding the benefits and shortcomings of social networking on couples, critiques the beneficial and adverse effects it has on couples.
Articles Summary
The article “Helpful or harmful? Exploring the Impact of Social Media Usage on Intimate Relationships” by Whiteside, N. et al. studied how social networks impact couples in Australia. Despite previous studies indicating that social media use adversely impacted couples, the researchers noted that its usage also has some benefits on relationships. The researchers used Facebook as the case study and used a sample size of 518 individuals, where they were asked about the effects of Facebook usage on relationship satisfaction (Whiteside, Aleti, & Pallant, 2018) . The findings suggested that relationship satisfaction depended on usage when controlled for the family income. In addition, social media usage lacked a negative impact on the relationship, and satisfaction levels were high, where partners connected on Facebook.
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Another research, "Consequences of Online Social Networks on the Life of Couples" by Yarahmadi, S. et al., explored the adverse impacts of social media on marital life. The research was done in Zanjan, where 20 individuals were involved. Information obtained from the research was collected and stored as semi-structured interviews and later analyzed using the Graneheim Lundman technique (Yarahmadi et al., 2019). The findings indicated that individuals perceived social media to have a few benefits compared to the many negative impacts, such as threatened marital life, affairs, and individualization of marital life. Yarahmadi et al. concluded that, like any technological advancement, social media has several negative impacts on couples. Marital literacy could be employed to reduce social media’s adverse impacts on couples.
Critique
A lot of research has been carried out over the years to identify the effects social media has on couples. Some researchers have pointed out that social media contributes to strengthening relationships, while others indicate that social media use increases instability in relationships. On the positive side, using social networks has greatly contributed to better relationships. One major benefit is reducing physical distance and helping couples stay in touch, particularly in a long-distance relationship. According to House et al. (2017), social media has enabled couples far apart to keep in touch through texting, calling; these elements work together to develop an interactive relationship. In addition, social media provides stability in relationships depending on individual usage. When couples are connected via social media, whether living together or apart, the satisfaction levels are high (Whiteside et al., 2018). This is because couples can share moments of love with a friend on social media. Overall, social media usage positively impacts relationships by creating a connection, which helps couples remain in touch and share moments of love, regardless of the distance.
On the negative side, social media usage has been found to have numerous adverse impacts on couples. According to Yarahmadi et al. (2019), social media usage among couples increases the chances of conflicts through secret affairs. Gull et al. identified that social media has become a major problem through addiction, taking time from relationships (Uusiautti & Maatta, 2017) . Also , addiction strains relationships through insecurities by couples (Gull et al., 2019). Generally, social media usage affects couples negatively by increasing insecurities, conflicts, and addiction, which affects the development of relationships.
My Opinion
Despite the research showing that social media adversely affects relationships, I believe it is beneficial to couples. First, social media provides a platform where couples can connect regardless of the distance (Herrera, 2018) . Couples could interact while one hundred thousand miles apart and feel connected, particularly through video calls, and freq uent messages. Social media also provides couples with a platform to advance their happiness through sharing their moments of love with their friends by sharing photos and videos. In addition, the negative aspects of social media use depend on individuals, making it a personal choice to use it wisely or misuse it to destroy the relationship (Whiteside et al., 2018). Individuals should use social media wisely to reduce harming their relationships.
References
Gull, H., Iqbal, S. Z., Al-Qahtani, S. H., Alassaf, R. A., & Kamaleldin, M. M. (2019). Impact of Social Media Usage on Married Couple Behavior: A Pilot Study in Middle East. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 14 (6), 1368-1378.
Herrera, P. S. (2018). The Use of Media Technologies in Long-Distance Relationships. New York: Rochester Institute of Technology.
House, B., McGinty, M., & Heim, L. (2017). Can You Handle the Distance? A Look Into Social Media and the Effects on Long-Distance. Concordia Journal of Communication Research, 4 (3). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/comjournal/vol4/iss1/3
Uusiautti, S., & Maatta, K. (2017). Will social media strengthen or threaten romantic love? Journal of Social Sciences, 6 (4). doi:10.25255/jss.2017.6.4.709.725
Whiteside, N., Aleti, T., & Pallant, J. (2018). Helpful or harmful? Exploring the impact of social media usage on intimate relationships. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 22 , 1-23.
Yarahmadi, S., Zarei, F., & Jafari, F. (2019). Consequences of Online Social Networks on the Life of Couples: A Qualitative Study Social Online Network Consequences. Iranian Journal of Health Education and Health Promotion, 7 (1), 30-45. doi:10.30699/ijhehp.7.1.30
