The Impact of Online Friendships on Modern Society
The Impact of Online Friendships
A friendship is defined as a shared connection between two individuals who place effort together to better understand, trust, and support each other’s values. Friendships are based on common interests amongst two or more people who share mutual reverence and appreciation. The main goal of this kind of relationship is to provide and receive attention in a voluntary way. A friend must be someone who you can trust, seek advice from, and accept no matter the flaws one holds. Over the years, the advances of technology have given us the opportunity to build and maintain this category of relationships through the internet. Social media is changing our perception of friendship. Today, even if you travel halfway around the world, it is easy to keep in touch with your friends and family with social networking sites.
People around the world use the internet every day, giving us the capacity to design a virtual life. A significant benefit of online connections is their ability to permit friendships to succeed through electronic networks with no difficulty. “Facebook is the fastest way to disseminate important information” (Dailey). She claims that through Facebook, people are able to transmit an important message more rapidly than by any other method of communication. One example of a message circulated on Facebook is when someone’s birthday is pending, and their friends have the opportunity to organize a surprise party via Facebook. The organizer could choose between a private or public event, and guests who are invited to participate. Online networking is one of the best methods of communication between families and friends who are divided across cities or countries.
Facebook lets people feel closer when sharing experiences like pictures or videos when one cannot have face-to-face contact with someone close. Yet, even though online friendships connect people who are separated for different reasons, it is also making us more isolated from one another. “There are experts who worry that too much time online keeps us from living satisfying lives in the real world” (Dailey). She explains that the internet is causing a significant rupture of reality with our everyday activities. For example, teens are connected to their cellphones all the time without talking with their parents or paying attention in school. Nowadays in society, the idea of spending a day without the use of the internet and social media is almost impossible.
Year after year, social networks continue to consume our identities more than before, to the point of us not wanting to move from home. People use online services for everyday routines like buying groceries or studying for a degree from their bed, which in the end could cause obesity in future generations. In 25 years, cars will most likely become fully electric, like a phone or a computer. Children start from a young age using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and all other social networks that humans will innovate. In 50 years, our homes will become smart. A famous innovation from Amazon called “Alexa” has shown us how far we can go with technology. In 100 years, everything will be at the reach of our hands or voice command. This has its benefits, but may also see a decline in human interaction. Online friendships have altered the way people transmit their thoughts and emotions with their surroundings.