Social networking sites and their effects on emotional development

Social Networking Sites

'People are critical of social networking sites, noting that they promote self-centeredness, reduce our ability to cope with emotions, and cheapen what it means to be a friend.' I do totally agree with this statement and in this essay I will be providing information to support the above statement. The above statement contends to the fact that there are more potential dangers to the use of social networking sites which overshadow the benefits.

Due to the availability of the internet which is becoming the way of life due its broad coverage and access provisions to millions of users worldwide, the online media has evolved and in the process eliminated boundaries and setbacks that may hinder people from interacting. Internet has opened the door to networking social sites which have become the new mode of communicating in the 21st century. Social networking sites simply refer to the platforms that focus on building and reflecting on social relations among people who for instance may share interests, hobbies, business relations and/or activities.

Social networking sites provide for many opportunities especially to connect and meet new people but it has been known to promote the issue of "about me," which is self-centeredness. It is quite evident that most people in social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Netlog and others are in the business of self-promotional- where you paint yourself o the world to be exceptional good. There has been an argument that majority of those who are hooked up to the sites have a problem with self-esteem and they mainly used the sites to promote themselves and thus created a situation of self-centeredness (where it is all about me). A survey carried out on 100 college students found that instead of getting to meet and know people in the social networks, their activities on face book was distinctly more of self-promotional. For example, people display more of their physical attractiveness, intelligence with the main aim of creating a need for admiral hence just exaggerating their self-importance and other qualities that promote themselves with no regard of others. This is because the sites give the user a great deal of control to present themselves to others and from this the user is likely to become self-centered

Majority of users have been known to run to social networks to express themselves in a bid to relieve stress and problems of life. Instead of people dealing with their emotions, they use the sites as a scapegoat to talk to people who may offer consolation. For example, sites like Facebook and twitter are being used as platforms and it is not surprising to find people running to these sites to cope with life issues. From minor problems to complex people are now using social sites to seek consolation and sympathy and because this is not the best platform to help us cope with our emotions, the solution is only temporary and sometime things become even worse. For example, it is very common to see someone who is having marriage problems bring his/her issues to these social networks hoping that people will assist her instead of going to a marriage counselor. What happens in this case, is that he/she gets temporary relieve (especially from the advice she receives) from the sites but the problem is not solved.

Simply using the word "friend" to describe a network-to-network connection effectively cheapens the notion of friendship. Social networks have devalued the currency of what really constitutes friendship. Before the on set of social networking sites, friendship would be developed through a personal contact than through online where there is no personal contact. For example, people would develop friendship from meeting in shopping malls, grocery shops, in places of work, in church etc. And these friendships had a lot of value because they developed on a personal level where you got to see the person face-to-face and you get to really know who they truly are. The situation has changed and meeting friends online is becoming very popular given even our busy schedule that leaves no room for our interaction. Some of these friends we do not even get the chance to interact from face-to-face level and the friendship is only carried out online hence devaluing the true meaning of friendship. Genuine conversation are now lacking because we are hiding behind the shell of our true identity. It is for this case, that we have made friends and as time goes on we realize that they are truly not what we thought. Besides the friends do not interact with us at a personal/physical level and this has devalued what really true friendship is all about. It is good for us to remember what real friendship involves. Genuine conversations (not false status updates), trust (not just putting someone as a trusted friend in your list- where else that is not the case), providing support (and not just of the tech) is what true friendship is all about and that is what lacks in social networks sites.