Essay Sample on Social Media: Connecting Digital Worlds and Cheating Lives

According to Orben, Amy, and Robin (489), social media has turned to be common in people's everyday life as most of the social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, support interpersonal interaction methods. Currently, even a grandmother can see the activities of the grandchildren, even if the family is scattered all over the globe. Unfortunately, social media has also made some users cheat on their spouses. Although social media is majorly used to share information, it has a way of changing and leveraging relationships.

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Christensen (3), argues that uses and gratifications theory can be utilized in understanding why people use social media. The approach is utilized in studying motives behind using social media in gratifying their needs. Even though people decide on social media to use in satisfying their needs, the requirements are not customarily achieved (Christensen 3). The uses and gratification focus on psychological and social needs in establishing mass media expectations that result in a specific media exposure that leads to satisfaction and other consequences (Christensen 3). Therefore, social media plays a role in impacting people’s relationship in one way or the other.

Social media enhances new relationships through overcoming offline or traditional relationship limitations (Butler and Sabine 2). Over the decades, social media has been considered to be from a utopian view, which can be impossible or difficult. Through social media, people can meet, work, and befriend individuals from organizations and nations that would not have been accessible. Furthermore, online relationships result in new group formation and social links emergence among the existing communities (Butler and Sabine 2). Besides, the people who live in communities that are geographically isolated can establish social, collaborative, and learning relationships outside the direct area (Butler and Sabine 2). Social media can also foster genuine relationships through individuals to easily connect and further expanding their social circles. For instance, in one’s daily routine, he or she might not connect with people in similar circumstances. However, through social media, one can easily connect with individuals having similar challenges, celebrations, fears, and even worries. In short, it makes people feel that they are more connected to their friends.

Social media fosters romantic and kinship relationships (Butler and Sabine 5). Currently, most people are dating online, as it is a fast and convenient way. Also, social media has played a role in connecting families as it is through online dating that people evaluate, discover, and comfortably interact in informal and formal social contacts (Butler and Sabine 5). In such relationships, the way people present themselves and form impressions is essential as the features of social media systems establish rich individual profiles. It is the profiles that support the provision of opportunities and the establishment of long-term relationships (Butler and Sabine 5). Apart from dating, social media highly supports family relationships by offering additional ways for people to communicate and sharing information with each other (Butler and Sabine 5). Moreover, group communications, platforms for sharing photos, and social networking sites allow the members of a family to remain connected.

Social media has played a significant role in maintaining and developing relationships (Butler and Sabine 9). One of the ways in which relationships are established is by performing behaviors, which reduce in a way the distance that exists between them. Exchange-based relationship theories, including social comparison and social exchange theory, argue that positive rewards expectations are majorly the driving for the development of a relationship (Butler and Sabine 9). The rewards include sharing news, exchanging photos, and pleasant communications. Another way in which social media enhances the development of relationships is through sharing personal information gradually. Concerning generalized reciprocity, a rise in an individual’s self-disclosure can result in high self-disclosure by another individual through strengthening a relationship (Butler and Sabine 9-10). Social media users usually share their personal information because of enjoying the interpersonal relationship, convenience, and capacity of building relationships (Butler and Sabine 10). The impact that social media use brings in relationships is essential as these people are normally separated from their families, coworkers, and friends. Therefore, social media is vital to them since it offers increased social integration and feeling of self-belonging y continuing with physically cut relationships.

Apart from the positive or genuine impacts of social media in relationships, it has resulted in relationship dissolution (Butler and Sabine 9). Over time, relationships have grown closer, and they are characterized by sharing personal information and increased self-disclosure (Butler and Sabine 9). Unfortunately, face to face interaction absence has made it difficult for people to confirm the exchanged information (Butler and Sabine 9). Therefore, the issue has made people establish a particular representation of themselves through the provision of misleading and false information with the aim of gaining personal benefits. Also, ending a relationship using a social media environment is fast, as it can be done without personal involvement (Butler and Sabine 9). There are some features in social media platforms that can easily support withdrawing from certain people through changing visibility and security features, reducing the frequency of interaction, and blocking some people completely.

According to Christensen, the negative impact of social media utilization on interpersonal relationships is decreased quality time, irritation, and distraction (Christensen 9). It has affected the functionality of the offline relationship. The main reason is that people have currently been addicted to the use of different social media platforms. Misusing Facebook, when one is at home or rather with a spouse, can result in negative societal impacts, including distrust in relationships, low social cohesion, social isolation, and lastly, divorce (Christensen 9). For instance, one might be married but still use the social media platforms in flirting with other ladies, and the issue will have a negative impact on the initial relationship. Overdependency on cell phones can increase depression and decrease attention that results in a negative effect on the friends' social connections. Although people might hide their online relationships and addictions from their partners, sexual intimacy levels with the primary partners have decreased (Christensen 10).

Conclusion

In conclusion, although the relationship has played a significant role in maintaining relationships, enhancing new relationships, connecting people, and fostering romantic and kinship relations, it has resulted in relationship dissolution and decreased quality time in interpersonal relationships. Social media platforms have played an essential in connecting friends and families all over the world, which would not otherwise be possible. Also, it has made people easily share personal information and exchanging photos with other individuals. Apart from the benefits, it has destroyed some relationships as spouses spend more time online instead of having quality time while at home. It has also increased cheating in romantic relationships and resulted in divorce in some extreme cases.

Works Cited

Butler, Brian S., and Sabine Matook. "Social media and relationships." The international encyclopedia of digital communication and society, 2015, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118767771.wbiedcs097

Christensen, Spencer Palmer, "Social Media Use and Its Impact on Relationships and Emotions" 2018. Theses and Dissertations. 6927. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6927

Orben, Amy C., and Robin IM Dunbar. "Social media and relationship development: The effect of valence and intimacy of posts." Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 73, 2017, pp.489-498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.006