Research

Social networking and the facets that accompany this relatively new form of communication has been a popular topic and debate throughout society in recent years. The ongoing invitation to interact with people, businesses and specialty groups through online communication, has sparked the debate whether social networking, provides people with the opportunity to make stronger connections with others throughout the world; or whether it is isolating people from making real connections in the real world. This paper will discuss both sides of this debate, providing supporting material from societies point of view as well as opinions from experts who have thoroughly analyzed the impact social networking has had on personal relationships. 

A interesting article written by Jay Baer a marketing strategist, discusses why people use social media and the affects it has on relationships (2012). He questions how much we know about our social media friends and those people  we had relationships with before the social media boom; asking "Is that what we want – spending considerable time building large networks of shallow connections, potentially at the expense of deepening a few cherished friendships upon which we can truly rely?" (para. 10) Throughout his explanation, he comments about his experience  when a social media friend of his passes away and the realization he had that although he considered him a friend,  he in fact  knew nothing about him. (Baer, 2012) This analysis had me question my own "friends" I have on my social networking sites. In order to properly categorize and determine which people on Twitter and Facebook are considered friends; we should answer what makes a friend? If the answer is someone who communicates with you, follows what your doing, where you are and which photo you liked, then perhaps the 100+ friends on Facebook are truly friends. If the answer is something more detailed such as spending time with someone, sharing in personal experiences and relying on for things like advice, laughter and overall give and take personal connection; then maybe Baer has point when he concludes that technology is driving us further apart from one another not closer (2012). 

Baer, J. (2012). Social Media, Pretend Friends, and the Lie of False Intimacy [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-networks/social-media-pretend-friends-and-the-lie-of-false-intimacy/