Social media allows people to contact others from all over the world. Some of today’s most popular networks such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have billions of users from countries all over the globe. In today’s society it is expected of the current generation for one to use one or all types of social media. The increased use of social media has had drastic effects on the way relationships are conducted. As the use of social media increases, people become more isolated from society and depressed. To begin, many people become too obsessed with social media, and their conversations with other people suffer as a result.
Often times, no matter where we are, we are almost always on our phones adding photos to Instagram, or seeing what people posted on Snapchat. While we continue to look at our tiny pocket screens, we cause otherwise meaningful conversations to fall flat. Relationships struggle because people focus more on social media than they do their real friends and family.
When a cell phone is present while two or more people are talking, it interferes with certain feeling such as closeness and connection. While one is busy looking at their cell phones, they miss important moments in their lives and those around them. This obsessive behavior can result in loss of loved ones or worse. By engaging in social media, one is disconnecting from reality and everyone around them. When one engages in social media, they are constantly trying to refine themselves for public consumption, which keeps them detached from their reality.
Next, many social media websites/applications give the person little to no privacy. A website such as Facebook allows for easy access to anyone and everyone’s profiles that contain personal information. This results in people feeling a lack of independence and can make a person feel trapped. Facebook also allows for a person to constantly monitor their partners, which can cause anyone to feel like they are being stalked and or harassed. If one or both partners in a relationship feel untrusting or anxious, it becomes very tempting for one or more of the people to resort to stalking tactics online such as global positioning technology and other forms of harassment or bullying.
In addition, people who have high levels of Facebook usage have also caused people to cheat, or even break up with their partners. People are able to connect with anyone and everyone on Facebook, including people you might not want to talk to in person. Social media allows for people to flirt excessively over messaging programs, which allow you to meet random people from all over the world. The dangers that come along with this is that people only share the best part of their lives online, which can cause destructive comparisons. Posting one’s best life on social media can affect another person or couple because they want to be like them, or have their partner be similar. People posting only the positive things in their lives creates unrealistic expectations for everyone else, which can cause a rift in a relationship or friendship.
Social media often hinders people’s ability to focus on what truly matters in a relationship. Whether it is a photo of themselves or a statement people search for validation online in today’s society more than in the real world. Often times, people only share positive things in their lives, and leave the negative things on the side.
People often mask their true persona, which can cause problems for many people including their friends and family. If one finds themselves with this problem, they should meet with a mental-health professional in regards to social-media addiction. They should talk to them about setting boundaries in regards to when to use their phone and to not.
This can help bring the relationships back and have more lively conversations. Moving on, social media affects how we speak to one another, and how others perceive our messages. When we type something on social media, people cannot hear what tone of voice we use and this can affect how a person perceives the meaning of a message whether the user typing it intended it to be positive or negative. When someone cannot hear your tone of voice it often leads to misunderstandings and regrets, which can leave us with feelings that are opposite of the feelings we originally wanted. Furthermore, social media causes people to become more depressed, anxious, and have lower levels of self-esteem. Clarissa Silva is a behavioral scientist, and she conducted interviews with men and women that use social media often.
The results were that 50% of the people reported that social media had negative effects on their relationships. This is most likely caused by their partners having prolonged use on social media and or being overly obsessed with it. This is not surprising as we often use social media to compare our lives to the seemingly perfect ones on social media.As a matter of fact, excessive use of social media affects how close the family is and starves them of learning social cues, interpersonal relationship skills, as well as any bonding between them. As humans, we rely on bonding with others, as well as verbal communication. With the increased use of social media, we no longer achieve the level of connection with our family members because we choose a tiny screen over human contact. (fix) In regards to family, when parents spend a lot of time on social media, so do their children.
As children, we mimic what we see our parents or those around us do. When children see their parents using their cell phones while at the park, they were more likely to engage in risky behaviors as they grew up. In addition to this, children often felt less support from their parents while they were on social media. In conclusion, social media has a lot of negative effects on people and their relationships with others around them. Excessive usage of social media
