Social media has a negative effect on personal relationships

 Before the development of social media, people used face-to-face communication and real life interaction in creating and maintaining relationship. However, inventions and innovation of social media has changed everything in that people do not communicate face-to-face but rather they exchange information online (Baym, 2010).  In other word, real life interaction is limited and social media has become the medium of communication in building and maintaining relationship.  Scholars and researchers are found that young adults have eradicated face-to-face communication and this has negatively affected the interpersonal communication skills.  Ineffective communication has affected family relationship, skill development and more (Baym, 2010).  In addition, it is found that the excessive use of social media has decreased the quality of friendship between adolescents and lack of real life interaction and growth of relationship has been associated with depression and anxiety. The point is that social media affects the interpersonal skill development and folks involved in relationships are unable to apply problem solving skills (Baym, 2010).  In other words, people are unable to address real-life conflicts   due to the excessive reliance on technology. People’s life has been affected in that they do not understand the relationships and they do not comprehend how digital media has brought negative changes in their lives (Baym, 2010). 

 Farrugia (2013) introduces the term computer mediated communication (CMC) and asserts that individuals exchange information through technological devices. People use texts, emails and more on computers and cell phones. Due to the increase of social media, relationships have deteriorated especially in families. For example, online communication decreases the creations of social circles and interaction with extended families. The author goes on to assert that   social media affect relationship negatively due to the increase of online couple surveillance (Farrugia, 2013). There is an issue on internal trust and people now have developed partner monitoring especially in Facebook. Though monitoring is socially acceptable, it affects relationship in that when monitoring is done in daily routine, the romantic relationship is not maintained. The relationship may not last long due to the fact that functional relationship is diminished and a partner may decide to end up relationship to free from surveillance (Farrugia, 2013).   

Surveillance also contributed to jealousy which is driven by the need to discover private information with other partner. Monitoring creates relationship threats, conflicts and disagreements and finally affects the relationship in a negative way.  Online communication develops low self-esteem and feeling of jealousy due to the feeling that a partner may be unfaithful (Farrugia, 2013).  In other words, social media creates romantic jealousy where partner are not satisfied with relationship due to the use of social networking sites. For example, a partner may monitor Facebook activities of a lover in daily basis and may find a picture of his partner with an opposite sex. The partner develops jealous reaction and feel betrayed despite the fact the picture are innocent. These are type of cyber infidelity where partners develop the feeling of distrust toward their loves ones. Personal relationship is affected by excessive use of social media since partner decrease their commitment and this affects the self-esteem of partners (Farrugia, 2013). The author introduces the social penetration theory and states that social media allows partners to know each other better and to disclose private information. In relationship, couples increases monitoring and jealous due to the feelings that a partner may be involved in other relationship (Farrugia, 2013). The author asserts that social media or Internet communication produce negative outcomes which weakness the bonds that units neighborhood and communities. Note that social Internet communication lacks facial expression and tones or in other words it lack non-verbal cues. This weakness loose ‘richness’ of information and affects the interaction (Farrugia, 2013).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Farrugia C. Rianne (2013). Facebook and Relationships: A Study of How Social Media Use is Affecting

Long-Term Relationships. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)  Scholar Works.

Retrieved from; http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=theses

 

Baym, N. K. (2010). Personal connections in the digital age. Cambridge, UK: Polity.