Social Media: helpful or harmful to our relationships

Does social media make our relationships more fulfilling or does it harm them?

It's an important question considering the vast implications social media and technology have been having on our society and our every day lives. Our face to face interactions are dwindling as we replace them with Facebook chats, text messages, tweets, and other social media communication tools. With so many ways to communicate the level of closeness in our relationships seem to be lessening. Superficial almost. The term "Friends" on facebook is very vague taking into consideration how many of those people are actually just 'people you know' 'people who go to the same school as you' or 'mild acquaintances.' All of these relationships are very superficial, and in context with social media you think you have more friends then you actually do.

Social media can also create more casual relationships. You message a friend when you want to see if they are free, or you comment on the picture they just posted because it popped up on your news feed or you re-tweeted their tweet because you thought it was interesting. People aren't going out of their way anymore to call friends up or stop by their houses or dorm rooms; we replace the old, yet normal, ways of interacting with friends, with social media interactions. These social media mediated relationships are not as deep as friendships pre-social media when to talk to a friend you needed to put in actual effort-- not just type a 160 character text message or a quick "hey what's up" instant chat message.

However social media can have positive affects for our relationships. For one, social media can help improve relationships that are affected by distance. For example, after graduating from high school all my friends and I went separate directions: West Coast, the South, the Midwest and the East Coast-- literally scattered all over the United States. Physical distance has obviously posed a challenge when trying to keep in touch. No longer could we drive and meet up at a local restaurant or stop by each others houses to hangout. We needed to utilize social media sites and technology even more than we previously had to keep up to speed with each others lives. In this sense, social media has provided us with a way to maintain some sort of connection with each other despite our busy lives. I would not have time to write my friends letters every week detailing my life, like my Mom had to do when she and her friends moved apart decades ago (pre-social media and much of our technology). Me and my friends, and everyone else, have the luxury of utilizing social media to positively improve relationships that physical distance affects.

Social media has its plus sides and its downsides, depending on how we use it. It will be easy for society to slip into the routine of allowing social media to cheapen our relationships, but if we are aware of its implications I think we can for the most part use it in a way that connects people more positively and enhances our relationships.