While the idea of being able to connect to a friend or family member at anytime or place may sound great, it might not be as helpful as you’d expect.
Social media has made the exchange of information and ideas much easier than it previously had been. While such media such as posting on Twitter and Facebook can update loved ones on your life, it also can create the illusion that human contact is unnecessary. An Australian study from 2014 showed that three in five people were getting in touch with family and friends less since the invention of Facebook.
Interesting to see how @EthanZ shows that the internet is simultaneously connecting us and enabling us to avoid all human contact #NHsmc
— Josh Schoch (@JoshSchoch) February 1, 2016
Sharing online can be very beneficial. When an exciting new development happens in your life, it’s common to post online and let hundreds—or thousands—of people know at once. However, that does not necessarily mean that you should avoid telling people in person or connecting with them in real life as well.
There also comes a point where a person shares too much on Facebook. And while that person may think that they’re enticing an audience or trying to connect, it gets to a point where they turn the audience off. This is the class ‘oversharer.’
the #socialmedia oversharing exhibitionist and confessional journalists or Facebook users prone to reach out https://t.co/4UL5D0sbep
— Juan Daniel Zamora (@zamorinix) February 1, 2016
While sharing online can certainly help relationships, it’s important not to abuse social media or rely solely on them.
It is interesting to see that “three in five people were getting in touch with family and friends less since the invention of Facebook.” I wonder how modern social media contrast with writing letters. In my opinion they have very similar qualities and when I was a child writing letters was commonplace. Fast forward a decade and writing letters have essentially been phased out with email and direct messaging services in social media. Yet they serve the same purpose. A key difference is social media has the ability to reach millions where as a letter might only reach a handful.