Sunday, November 23, 2014

As the popularity of social media increases, the number of online relationships people have are increasing

Photo by Kate Knibbs
Popular social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter offer features where one can "add a friend" or "follow" another user online. 

While many users use social media as a way to connect with individuals that they know in "real life", many have used Social Media to create new, virtual
friendships.

According to Emarketer, about 2.55 billion people around the world are connected to social media in some way. This number is at an all time high and is increasing daily as new users join online communities. 

As the membership in online communities grow, the more people have the ability to connect with people that they have never met in a face- to - face situation.  People now are now faced with the task of balancing their 'cyber friends' (friends met on online forums) and 'real life friends' (friends met in face-to-face communication situations). 



Statistics for social media usage are increasing with time

Adolescent Internet Practices
There are now nearly 850 million active Facebook users, 465 million Twitter accounts and over 30 million Instagram accounts, according to these statistics.  

It is possible that a number of these users are adolescents may engage in communication with individuals on the internet who they do not know in offline life.

The numbers concerning teens internet usage from Toptenreviews.com suggest that teens are more likely to make themselves vulnerable online, even if it is unintentional. According to these numbers, 93% of teens are online, and 69% of those teens go online every day. 

These numbers are significant and show that the majority of teens are using the internet. Also, 73% of teens are on some form of social media, and have an average of 201 Facebook 'friends'.

The statistics regarding Facebook Friends is contradictory to something known as Dunbar's Number which states that humans can only maintain relationships and communication a maximum of 150 people. This means that many teens are sharing information with people that they essentially have no relationship to, which could be a potential threat to privacy online.

People tend to disclose more personal information online due to anonymity


While online, people have a deeper sense of anonymity than they do in face to face encounters. A study done by Samantha Henderson and Michael Gilding discusses how people tend to create more online friendships because they are more apt to disclose personal information over the web.


Henderson and Gilding described a phenomenon known as "Hyperpersonal Communication" which referred to the way in which people exchanged personal information through digital methods.

According to Dr. Jennifer Wessel, who has a PhD in organizational psychology and teaches social psychology at the University of Maryland, people tend to disclose more personal information online when they sense lower levels of risk. In this case, as she says, being anonymous online lowers risk factors for many people, allowing them to disclose more personal information.


This can either be a good thing for people who have a desire to open up to others, but may have trouble doing so in real life. The desire to connect with others is of psychological importance.
                                         

While people claim to be satisfied in their online relationships, they may not be very psychologically satisfying


Dr. Wessel also mentions that people should not have online friendships as replacements for real life realtionships, because online friendships lack the intimacy that people need.

Another study conducted by Duane Buhrmester found that, especially in adolescents, the intimacy of face-to-face friendships was important for positive psychological development.


This finding would mean that adolescents who are engaging more in online relationships than face to face relationships are not having their needs fully met for proper psychological development. 


Jim Taylor, PhD on Psychology Today agrees that online relationships, especially for adolescents are missing important factors. These are "Facial expressions, voice inflection, clear emotional messages, gestures, body language, physical contact and pheromones." Since these factors are missing from online communication, adolescents are deprived of real, solid social relationships.







Online relationships can have negative effects


While many people make friends online, there are some instances where people end up meeting people who are not who they say they are.

 There is a television series in which people work to find out who they are talking to online and many times the people they end up meeting are not who they described themselves to be.

 This show demonstrates that while the anonymity of the internet lowers perceived risk factors it may also increase vulnerability. Also explained by Dr. Taylor, the sender and receiver of messages in online communications do not always have clear or similar ideas of what their perceived relationship is.


Dr. Wessel says that if people were to completely replace 'real' friendships with online interactions, it could be considered negative. She claims that online relationships do not offer the same sort of social support as face to face relationships do.


Online relationships can also have positive effects


In contrast, she states that the positive effects could be if online relationships are used as supplements to real-life relationships. 

For example, social media can be used to keep in touch with friends or family that live far away and online interaction can be used as a tool to keep up communication.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) internet friendships can be especially beneficial to those who may be shy or socially anxious. A study was quoted that found that social awkward boys were able to communicate more freely with people online because they did not have to make eye contact. 

It is also noted by the APA that online profile and interactions can have temporary positive effects one peoples' self esteem. It was found that individuals felt better about themselves over all after viewing their Facebook Profiles than after looking at themselves in the mirror.


However, as suggested by Dr. Wessel, these interactions should just be additions to real- life communications and interaction so that perhaps individuals can learn to properly interact and make real friends. 


 Users should maintain a balance between face to face and online interactions


Experts such as Dr. Wessel do not suggest having a friends list comprised of all cyber friends but it is noted that they can still play a role in people's lives. As with many things, people should balance cyber life and real life. 

While committing only to online friends may deprive individuals of needed socialization, with the prevalence of technology today, people may miss a great deal of friends' lives if they are not connected to social media at all. We can use social media to stay connected with friends we may have already met or known in real life. 

People can reach out to others online who they may not be able to reach out to in the real world, and find people who are similar to them more easily. However, this should still remain as a supplement to regular social interaction than a replacement. 
                          

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