Social media has without a doubt changed the way we make and
maintain friendships. The question is,
is this change positive, negative, or perhaps a mix of both?
In my opinion, it is a mix of both. Lisa Reichelt, a user experience consultant,
created the expression, “ambient
intimacy.” According to Reichelt,
ambient intimacy describes how social media allows us “to keep in touch with
people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have
access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.” I’m sure you can think of an example of how
social media has improved your connection with someone that you can’t see or
speak with on a regular basis.
Personally, I know that social media has helped me to improve my
relationship with long distance relatives as well as maintain contact with some
of my friends from high school.
Though social media undeniably has its benefits, it also has
negative aspects. In the clip below, the
changing definition of “friend” is discussed.
Though circles of friends are growing, they are becoming segmented into
separate groups, which can make it difficult to integrate all groups into “real-life.”
The news clip also discusses how to tell true friends from fake friends in a
world where the definition of “friend.”
Social media has also changed the way we present ourselves
to the world. In the movie, “He’s
Just Not That Into You,” Mary (Drew
Barrymore) discusses her frustration with how social media has changed the
dating scene. She says: “Things have
changed. People don’t just meet organically anymore. If I want to make myself more attractive to
the opposite sex, I don’t go get a new haircut, I update my profile. That’s just how it is.” Though this is especially true for dating
websites, it is also true in other forms of social media.
The bottom line is that social media has changed the world,
for better or worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment