Virtual Relationships Positive and Negative Impacts



Monica palazuelos 5/8/2015Virtual Relationships Positive and Negative Impacts COMM-2500As defined in the dictionary, relationship the way in which two or more concepts, or people are connected, or the state of being connected. The Earliest signs of relationship building and communication come from our ancestor the Homo Heideibergensis and modern human -Homo sapiens dating back billions of years. Artifacts left behind such as cave drawings and Figurines indicate that even back then people were interconnecting with each other. We have certainly come a long way since then and our relationships have become much more complex. Social networking sites have dramatically changed the way we communicate, transfer information and keep in touch with each other, inevitably having impacts on our personal relationships, business relationships and our mental health. Social Networking sites are more popular than ever over 65% of American adults have social media profiles as of 2011. CITATION Aug12 \l 1033 (Meadows).Social networking sites are most notably used for romantic connections, through sites like Facebook and twitter people can connect with others all over the world or in some cases stumble across a profile of an old acquaintance and rekindle that relationship immediately. Out of 50 couples married in the U.S in 2011, at least one met through a social networking site CITATION Man \l 1033 (Morgan). What makes connecting through social networking sites so appealing is the diversity in the functions of the sites; they allow people to engage others without the pressure and help people become more socially skilled. According to Jonah Berger, associate professor at University of Massachusetts, “Connecting with others is rewarding; it makes us feel like we’re not alone in the world,” and people do like to tell other people about themselves. Research shows talking about ourselves are rewarding; sharing things can be rewarding for the brain CITATION Man \l 1033 (Morgan).” Oddly enough many connections start off as platonic and evolve into something more. Some couples are consumed by social networking sites Twitter and Facebook are commonly used as a primary tool for communication; in some instances people are in the same room and communicating back and forth through messaging, this might seem unusual to some but for those who initially connected through social networking it’s very natural. In addition to romantic connections most find connecting with close and casual friends on social networking sites convenient and helps keep them socially active. Creating meaningful relationships is often about sharing our lives with others, and technology can allow us to do so through photos, videos, text, and music” CITATION Kin10 \l 1033 (Kinetics). In today’s world people have become increasingly mobile so being able to keep in touch with friends and family in other states and countries is important. What others also find beneficial through social networking is being able to connect with people who have similar interest and experiences. Many people may feel isolated and alone with no one to relate to so some of these sites help them feel like they fit in somewhere. Also gives people the opportunity to make connections through similar pursuits, hobbies and interests. Although there are obvious positive impacts from the use of social media there are certainly negative consequences that people do not realize, because they are sitting behind a computer or smartphone so it’s harder to see the consequences of what share or said on social sites. The word Facebook was included in more than a third of divorce filings last year according to a survey done by Divorce Online and reported on by Wall Street Journal CITATION Man \l 1033 (Morgan). Social sites certainly increase communication but people get so engrossed in social sites that they neglect real life relationships. They fail to maintain real life communication and that affects their relationships badly. “When we look at social media, I see it as changing relationships in a couple of key ways,” says Rachna Jain, a psychologist by training with clinical specialization in couple and marital therapy. “It is definitely another distraction from primary relationships. You see that when people are talking on Facebook, not to their partner, with them right there in the room. There is the possibility to go back in time. Facebook makes that really easy CITATION Man \l 1033 (Morgan).”The idea of social media is to enhance relationships so for those who are constantly on social media they should prioritize their time to focus more on real life communication and real life relationships. Staying connected with friends is also a very important aspect of life for most, but do social sites like Facebook provide valuable and meaningful relationships? It’s seems as though people use social sites to publicize their popularity to let everyone know how good looking they are and strive to gain a feeling of self-importance. “Many people involved in abundant number of relationships through technology, but sometimes the quality of these associations leaves people feeling qualitatively empty CITATION Kin10 \l 1033 (Kinetics).” Which is all so true in relationships through social media, other underlying issues to social relationships is when people spend so much time on these sites they get a sense that they really know the people they are connecting with. People put many details about themselves on their profiles some details may be fabricated essentially you are connecting with a made up character. Added consequences to the use of social media is cyber bullying when a relationship or friendship goes bad people use these sites as an opportunity to bully others. In 2010, cyberbullying researchers Samer Hinduja and Justin Patchin conducted a random sample survey of 10-18 year olds school children in southern United States and found over 14% of respondents had been bullied online in the past 30 days CITATION Aug12 \l 1033 (Meadows).” There are bills in all 50 states that protect people from cyberbullying and it’s becoming more of a focus in schools as cyberbullying becomes more prevalent we’ll see more from our legislature. Now that we have discussed virtual relationships in the context of our personal lives we can switch perspective and look at how social networking is impacting our business relationships. Sites like Linked in help people make professional connections with the hopes of better job opportunities and better productivity; other social networking sites foster the same concept. “As of 2012 Linked in has over 135 million members worldwide and is leading the way in unique section that deals with strictly business relationships CITATION Aug12 \l 1033 (Meadows).” These sites have changed the landscape of how professionals communicate and do business, building relationships takes significant investment of time and effort. Businesses use social media to tap into communication with those that they may have weak ties with and are seeking to strengthen social networking makes this practicable. Through these connections they are able to exchange information for example if someone is working on a project they could seek assistance from someone that is specialized in that area. This also gives business professionals an opportunity to collaborate with each other discuss common issues of interest. Social capital and social analysis have driven the use of social networking, 70 percent of companies are using some form of social media CITATION Har13 \l 1033 (Schroeder).Unfortunately, being able to establish trust with business connections on social networking sites has its obstacles business partners and projects teams might have a hard time transferring information, there could be gaps in communication with different backgrounds, cultures and language. Palmatier found evidence that relationships between individual firm representatives have a greater impact on business performance than inter-organizational relationships CITATION Har13 \l 1033 (Schroeder). Additionally it’s difficult to identify “key influencers” there are so many people on networking sites you don’t know if you are connecting with the right person to meet your business objective goals. Outside the complications of building relationships, people have experienced loss of employment because they have shared information that has jeopardized there professional image, Companies have also banned the use of these sites stating that t employees are being unproductive. Outside of personal and business relationships there is significant impact to our mental health through the use of social networking sites. These sites allow users to express themselves and to be mentally stimulated, as observed by Pew, claim that genuine emotional support and well-being are provided by online social networks and these include advice, information and companionship CITATION Cha13 \l 1033 (Charita B Lasala). The sites also allow people to create a positive image letting them share the best qualities about themselves which helps those with low self-esteem. It’s also has been found that being able to socialize on these sites helps people who have depression and often feel lonely also for those who feel isolated from the world. According to The British Psychological Society, behavior and information technology has found out that a person’s psychological well-being can be constructively influenced though strong use of the social networking site. In addition, the study found an interaction between Facebook and psychological well-being measures CITATION Cha13 \l 1033 (Charita B Lasala). Others have observed that the sites have a negative impact on social skills, people who are often on the social networking sites don’t know how to act in social settings in the real world, they have also been especially know to increase stress and isolated. In general virtual relationships through social networking sites will impact all dynamics of our lives; we have control over the outcomes of how and when we use them and in which ways we use them. I think if we utilize social networking sites to our advantage we have many rewards to reap, but as with anything else I think using social networking sites sparingly will help us develop real world relationships resulting more well-rounded relationships. The impacts of virtual relationships affect our society as a whole and will continue to forecast the ways we communicate with each other the way we do business and connect with friends and family. Consequently we need to make sure not to overlook the effects on our mental wellbeing; fostering positive and inspiring connections through social networking will help our development but shouldn’t be used as a sol foundation of our existence. Building relationships is an art and social networking sites are just a tool to enhance those interactions, the industry is only growing and we will continue to see the impacts of these sites good or bad. Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY Charita B Lasala, Regina P. Galigao, Jufil F. Boquecosa. "Psychological impact of social networking sites A psychological theory ." Psychological theory . 2013.Kinetics, Human. Dimensions of Leisure for Life . 2010.Meadows, August E Grant Jennifer H. Communication Technology Update Fundamentals . Waltham: Focal Press , 2012.Morgan, Mandy. "Social Media Impacts Real Relationships." Social Media Impacts Real Relationships (2013): 1.Schroeder, Harold. "Ivy Business Jornal." The Art of Business Relationships Through Social Media 3 2013: 1. ................
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