Effects of Social Networking on Social/Personal Relationships

Social networking has become a huge part of everyone's lives in the past decade. Although people have their own opinions, it is actually proven that social networking has an affect on many social relationships. Everything we do today, involves social networking sites. You don't need to talk to someone to even be friends with them; all you have to do is click a button.

People are not forced to use these sites such as twitter, face book, etc. but with how many people use them and how important they are to everyone, it is expected that people do participate in these sites. Online sights ruin people's experiences. People are too tied up with trying to document a special experience on social networking sites that sometimes they don't get to actually enjoy and take in the moment. 24% of respondents to one survey said they've missed out on enjoying special moments because they've been too busy documenting it on a social networking site.

A social site called Badoo found that 39% of Americans spend more time socializing online than in real person. Facebook users worldwide spend a total of 10.5 billion minutes on the website each day. 33% of Americans said they are more likely to talk to someone new online rather than in person. Also, according to a study conducted by the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 80% of the divorce attorneys polled have seen an increase in the number of divorce cases reported caused from social networking. According to a 2102 Pew Internet report, 15% of adult social networks users had an experience on a social networking site that caused a friendship to end. 12% of adults had

an experience online that resulted in a face to face argument and 3% of adults reported a physical confrontation as the result of a social networking argument.

Isolation is an affect of social networking also. The Internet keeps us away from reality. Interactions over the media and interactions with people in person are two huge different things. People start to mistake electronic relationships for real ones. People start to feel like they are really connecting with the person on the other end but they're not. People alienate those people who are in their every day lives and start to only talk to the ones of the internet. Too many social relationships can lead to real world isolation. People say things over sites that they wouldn't be comfortable saying in person. People, especially teenagers, find it as an easy way out of actually confronting the person in a mature way.

Many people do find the good in social networking relationships. Kids can gain social confidence from interacting on websites. In one survey, it says that social networking helps 83% of shy and lonely people make new friends. 76% of people said that it helps them find old friends. Also, people can learn to make social media good. You can limit your time on social media. Monitor your own reactions and emotions. And maintain a balance from your social life to your offline life.

From my experience, social media has ruined many friendships. When people have the advantage of social media sites and not having to be face to face to you, they can do cruel things they would never do in person and also from the peer pressure of all the other kids on that social networking site. It also puts a lot of pressure on you from other



girls. You will look at one girl's pictures and tell yourself "I wish I was her" or think you're not pretty enough. Also, ever since social media sites have been established, I am on my phone more than ever. If it wasn't for social networking, I would barely be on my phone but since there is, you get addicted to them and they can consume so much of your life. You become way too interested on what is going on in everyone else's lives that you can't even focus on your own. I have heard stories of people deleting their Instagram because it was too much pressure between taking the right picture, with the right people and looking just right. It causes me to over think my appearance as well.

It is proven social media has many affects on social relationships. It should be a goal for more people to limit themselves from the Internet and enjoy their real world relationships more. People need to worry less about what's going on in other people's lives and more of what's going on in theirs. Social media just creates more pressure and relationship problems than necessary. That being said, everyone should try to limit themselves to time on these sites and try to communicate more with people face to face.