It is hard to imagine our day-to-day activities and shared interactions without social media. The world of modern social media has interrupted and completely restructured the way in which we interact with others. I rarely choose to pick up the phone to call my family in Italy, because I can easily send them a Facebook message instead. We constantly know what people are doing based on their status posts, photos they upload and basic profile information they provide on these social networking sites.
It's incredible how the Internet has impacted modern medicine so much as to stopping a potentially fatal disease like SARS @EthanZ #NHsmc
— Cristina Pierleoni (@cnpierleoni) February 1, 2016
With this excessive access people give online to their daily life, we no longer need traditional platforms to interact. New generations are slowly losing the conventional interpersonal skills that were once the norm. Today, we are continuously finding ourselves hiding behind the digital screen and are losing the ability to approach others face-to-face. We conceal our insecurities and emotional weaknesses because it’s so convenient to do so. We underestimate the value of traditional networking because we would rather send an email or connect via LinkedIn. So much time is spent on our cellphones in hopes to avoid physical human interactions. We are losing the meaning of special moments because now, everything must be captured and posted online for our friends or followers to see. These online friendships are leading to a struggle to emotionally connect with others on a deep and intimate level. Social media are undeniably impacting the quality of our relationships with one another.
Bane of #technology? It impacts #relationships negatively. https://t.co/JguHxsaJRG
— WeAreLikeThisOnly (@JodiLogik) January 28, 2016
I definitely agree that social media have affected our ability to interact with people outside of the digital space. At my first internship freshman year, I had to do a few cold calls to people in the community. Picking up the phone and having a conversation with them scared me to death! It’s almost like digital communication and social media are a double-edged sword. It’s become more convenient for us to communicate with one another, but–as you pointed out–it negatively impacts our relationships.