A Family Connected through Social Media

For my family social media has affected our forms of personal intimacy in a positive way. I have family all over the world that I am very close with, and probably would not be as close with if it wasn't for social media. With the help of social media I am able to communicate with my family not only here in Pennsylvania, but also Florida, Alaska, Washington State, Georgia, Germany, and my cousins who are in the military and stationed all over. Social media allows us all to communicate at a much faster level than it would be to write letters. Thanks to social media platforms such as Facebook I am able to see my cousins babies and their new homes. Thanks to social media I was able to get in touch with my cousins in Germany that my mom had met but I had never met and they flew out last summer for my 21st birthday. It meant so much to me getting to communicate with them every day leading up to them coming to America. Now that they are back over in Germany I can still see pictures of the villages they live in and it is beautiful. One thing I like most about social media is thanks to Skype I can see my cousins in Germany as I'm talking to them. I can also Skype with my cousins in the military depending on where they are stationed. It means so much to me to be able to communicate with them and see their faces and hear their voices because I miss them so much. Overall social media has improved my families communication and intimacy. Also thanks to social media platforms people in general are able to take online classes and for this class as an example we can communicate with our Professor who is all the way on the other side of the United States.

Life in a world of unknown

While there are times that I think that the internet has ruined this world and it's only going to get worse, overall I believe that the development in technology is the greatest thing to happen to our world. One thing that I found interesting while watching a documentary was growing up online was that a game called world of war craft there are many good things about it. One of which being that people are able to connect and play with these people that are playing the same game as them and that have the same interests. They are able to be themselves without being judged and this makes them feel secure. Facebook has become the biggest social networking site to date and it just keeps growing with the people that it attracts. Through Facebook you are able to see friends of friends and meet many new people. Say you meet a girl in person and are too afraid to approach her and talk to her in person. You may go home and find her on Facebook and talk to her though Facebook so that you can get to know her and work your way up to talking to them in person. This gives people and ability to talk to others that they would not talk to in person. I believe that social networking has allowed for a new level of communication with others and this benefits many people in many different ways. It allows for a new level of intimacy that this world has never seen before. 

Social Media

In today’s world, people rely on social media now more than we have ever done so before.  It is an easier alternative to communicating rather than actually talking face to face.  This alone has both its pro and cons.  I never have actually used Facebook or any other social media to try and talk to girls but instead it is a great tool to communicate with people you have lost touch with.  My parents even have a Facebook account too!  They like it because they can talk to the people they have grown up with as kids and see how things are going.  Unlike the olden days, when a boy and girl meet at a social environment and talk there, nowadays people can try and communicate with others without the potential awkwardness of the time you first meet with them in person.  Instead you can build a background with the person first so it seems as though you know each other a little bit before actually meeting for the first time.  Even though I do not use Facebook anymore, instead I use my Twitter and Instagram as forms of social media. With Twitter and Instagram I can follow friends, family and celebrities and see what is new with all of them.  The negative to social media is that of cyber bullying.  People are now more capable of hurting people’s feelings through social media. They have the ability to hide behind their phone or computer without having to actually face any consequences.  Even though social media has its benefits by communicating instantly, it also has its downfalls. 

The Road to Personal Intimacy:Self-Disclosure within Online Relationships

Electronic social networking has been a pivotal tool for different forms of personal intimacy. It has been found that users of social media platforms often have a higher level of self-disclosure. This means that more often by utilizing social media, people are more willing to share deep levels of personal information to individuals they’ve met using an online platform at a rapid rate. More often than not, personal and intimate relationships are formed quicker online than in person. There are many interesting studies done on this topic. Being a communication major, I have spent a lot of time analyzing data that displays personal and intimate relationships formed online and how the level of self-disclosure expands exponentially faster than relationships formed face to face. I think this is most interesting because most individuals who form relationships are perceived as being more stable and reliable. In reality this is not always the case. There is an awful stigma attached to couples and relationships that were formed using social media. This is a common misperception within intimate relationships. Intimate relationships are often gauged around their levels of intimacy and self-disclosure. Based upon several years of research, it has been found that self-disclosure can make or break a relationship. It is very important to know things about your significant other whether it be a face to face relationship or an online relationship. There is a certain comfort in being able to share things with other individuals online without being able to see their nonverbal communication and then feeling odd about sharing some things. Overall, online relationships tend to develop at a more rapid rate than those that are formed face to face due to an increased level of self-disclosure.

Double Edge Sword

Electronic social media has certainly affected personal intimacy. This does not just include the relationships of the romantic variety either. All forms of relationships have been affected by the Internet. Let’s start with the obvious starting point: Facebook. Most people have a Facebook account in our time and this, in of itself, is not really a good or bad thing. Facebook accounts allow families that live in different states to stay close by letting the members see current events of their loved ones. It allows old High School friends to reconnect or stay connected. Facebook allows clubs to get information out to each other without going crazy with trying to find all of the members’ numbers. But Facebook is not a God-sent entity: it can be down-right terrible for relationships on every level. Heaven forbid you’re cheating on your wife with her ditsy best friend that posts a picture of you two together! Facebook can be damaging beyond scandals as well. With Facebook, a person can have hundreds of friends! But most of those friends aren’t real friends, there really is no relationship beyond ‘liking’ each other’s pictures or stats.

Shifting gears to a romantic intimacy, the Internet can be great or terrible as well. There are hundreds of dating sites now-a-days. Hundreds of people us them too. Loads of people have, honest to God, met their soulmates on these kind of websites, but the same amount have probably met their stalkers too. When it comes to trying to find a mate online, it can be really dangerous since you DO NOT have the face to face interaction. You cannot see the good in someone’s eyes, or the evil, without ever seeing them until you decide to hook-up in reality.

            To sum it up, the Internet is not good or bad. We come down to choice here: what do I post on this website? Who do I friend? Who do I get into a relationship with? Are these really my friends? It can be great, but it can also be terrible. 

Being Connected

I feel social networking hasn't hurt personal intimacy, at least not completely.  It all depends how each individual decides how they are going to use our technology today.  For example some find social networking as a way to escape "the real world", they feel more confident portraying themselves as someone different than who they really are.
But for others they use social networks to connect to others that on a day to day bases they normally wouldn't be able to reach.  In this way social networks are a wonderful tool to use. So many people have great talents and offer usual knowledge that they can then share with the rest of the world, the connections they can make are limitless!
I personally think it has made the world much better. Everyday I am able to go onto Youtube or Instagram and follow people that inspire me. It is a beautiful thing that people are willing to share their lives and open up to complete strangers, just for the chance to inspire someone.
Too many people today I feel are quick to blame social networking for a lack in personal connection, things for sure have changed dramatically through technology but we all need to adjust and learn to be responsible and know when to disconnect sometimes.  Social networking should help us explore life in other ways we normally wouldn't, it shouldn't become our life though. Like mentioned in The Social Network, " it can get so addictive".

Intimacy

When you think of intimacy and computers, you think negative for the most part. That is not the case at all, in fact the internet has increased intimacy. When you think of intimacy, you think of boyfriend, girlfriend, wife husband. This is not always the case; you can have friendships that are intimate, because that person knows everything about you. Sometimes your job takes you away from home and makes you move places that are far away , but the internet lets you stay close with that friend. There are computer programs out there that let you see the other person through the computer, like Skype, Facebook and so on. This is the same with family numbers that have to move away  for some reason or another . You can use the internet to stay intimate  with them. Now you see a big push in online dating. This leads to people starting intimate relationships over the internet, which we have not really seen ever before. One out of every five relationships that are being started were started on the internet.You can become Intimate with people all around the world now. This is linking people together, that if it wasn’t for the internet would have never met. Next time you think of the internet and intimacy, you should look at it in a positive note.

Disconnect to Reconnect

I was never too obsessed with social media.  In my middle school days, I had good ol' AIM and would chat with my friends for a little while after school. And even though I was pretty early to the Facebook party, I only posted from time to time.  Around my junior and senior year of high school, I found myself putting up more statuses, commenting on more pictures, liking this, sharing that, etc.  Around that same time, my girlfriend and I began dating, so we were both putting pictures up and posting about each other.  

The summer before we went off to college, I worked two jobs at about 60 hours a week.  Needless to say, a few things had to be cut.  Social media was one of the first.  On my lunch break, I may have scrolled through my Instagram feed and see what's happening on Twitter, but I also had to respond to e-mails for work and catch up on things for my other job.  I practically vanished from the digital realm.  Not long after, I realized something: the little time I did spend with my girlfriend, family, and friends, was so much more meaningful then it had been before.  I had always preferred face-to-face interaction, but for some reason I had a whole new perspective on it.  

When I finally left for college, I did not add everyone I met on Facebook, nor did I follow my hall-mates.  Instead, I simply went out with people.  My girlfriend had gotten used to this, and almost got annoyed with our friends who would stare at their phone most of the time we were with them.  I feel backing away from social media strengthened our relationship, and strengthens the new ones we make.

Social Media

There is no doubt that social media has really changed the game of how people interact with each other. There are a lot of pros and cons that come with social media. The negatives of social media is that it now allows people to stalk you and almost get to much into your life without even having to know you that well. There is also in a way a kind of negative peer pressure surrounding social media. I remember back a couple years ago when I didn't have social media and I really got hated on it. Once I got it I soon then realized that people really portray the way they want to be seen rather than who they really are. I also have seen relationships destroyed by social media just by people ranting about their relationships and then their partner seeing it later and getting upset. These arn't really negatives you can fix but I do believe that people should really simplify and learn that social media is a great tool but takes a lot of responsibility and respect. There are of course some positives. The biggest one being that  people now have access to others that they don't get to see everyday. Because of social media I personally have been able to talk and keep up with my friends and family. I also have met some girls that I have talked to for time with social media, so as you can see, if you take out the negatives, social media can be a tool of productivity.

Social media

In today's generation social media is the way to get around. Almost everybody around the world does it. It's not a bad thing but it has had some major changes. It's become easier for us just to text for communication. We no longer really do the face to face talking or write letters. When it comes to social media and personal intimacy it has it's pros and cons. I personally have never used it for personal intimacy when it comes to relationships. There are so many websites now that can help you find someone you have things in common with, instead of just going out and meeting all kinds of people and going on many dates to try to find your souls mate. I do have some friends that have done online dating and some found out it wasn't for them and one actually is getting married to the guy she got matched up with. The bad thing about social media is people can lie and make themselves sound like they are anything they want to be. You can't trust everyone you meet online. The good things about social media is it can help you keep in contact with your friends and family that aren't around you anymore and that's what I mainly use Facebook for is friends and family, mainly if it weren't for my family that doesn't live around here, I wouldn't have a Facebook. It's a simple way of communicating and that's why we use it, the down fall though is that you can easily misinterprete what people say because you can't get any emotions through text. Social media has done some major impact on today's generation and to me I don't think it will get any better, I am not saying social media is a bad thing but it's definitely an easy way to communicate any time of the day.

New Era: Romance Still Lives Here

After reading Amusing Ourselves and watching The Social Network I think it is pretty obvious that our use of technology can have a negative effect.  We have ventured away from hand written and face to face to a way of communicating that can have no name and no face which makes people feel less vulnerable even if they do choose to put a name on their postings on social media.  That lack of vulnerability has both a negative and positive effect.  The negative effect shown in The Social Network is the bullying that can occur because the instigator feels there is no way to have repercussions against them when it's posted online and not face to face.  Mark feels no threat of consequences when naming a girl and posting negative things about her on his page on the internet.  He then proceeds to set up a page that sets up girls in a "which on is better looking" website on campus.  It's a real wonder why women have so many insecurities when we are being evaluated by how we look on such a physical basis.  With that being said, I feel that electronic social networking has actually improved forms of personal intimacy.  People who are best friends can be in close contact without even being in the same state or country.  I think it mostly has effected relationships for people who have had a lot of relationship struggles.  When people are hurt in their life they can be hesitant to think they will ever be able to be happy again or find someone who has similar interests, similar lifestyles, and similar goals in life.  Dating websites have come a long way and I think they have opened up the door for people who don't have the confidence in the dating world and who feel like no one they meet is ready for what they are offering.  This way people can be matched based on what they both want rather than that person having to struggle through the dating world.  I think this actually makes for many more successful marriages and partnerships.  People meet people and like them despite their differing end goals where this way you can get to know and like someone who you already know wants the same end goal you do. 

I'm so much cooler online

Has electronic social networking helped or hurt personal intimacy? Today, intimacy and social networking go hand in hand. We are constantly hearing about new dating sites such as farmersonly.com and match.com. When it comes to online dating, the options are endless. I think there are several pros and several cons when it comes to social networking. I, personally have never used an online dating site, but I know people who have. For a friend of mine, match.com was great. She was constantly finding men at bars and ended up dating a few here and there but they were never too serious. Then she joined match.com and found men that had similar interests and wanted a relationship too. This is just one example of how social networking has helped out. Online dating and any other social network can be a scary thing too. When you create that profile you can be anyone you want. You may say that you are athletic and live in Montana, but really you might weigh 500 pounds and live in Arizona. The song "So Much Cooler Online" by Brad Paisley does a great job portraying how people can lie about who they really are. The list of pros and cons go on and on.

I, myself, am a big Facebook user. I think it is an incredible thing. Let's be honest, it's a way to creep on your classmates from high school and see how many kids they have or if the skinny girls got fat. I think many of us use it as a dating site as well. I know that without Facebook, I wouldn't be dating my current boyfriend. I was going to school in Montana so I couldn't really talk to him face to face because of him living in PA. We had known each other before I left for school, but we didn't really "know each other." I'm sure many can agree that people are more courageous behind a computer screen. For me, Facebook gave me that nudge and some courage to talk to the guy I'm dating now. All in all, I think social networking has opened a huge world of options, although some of those option might not always be what they appear to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE6iAjEv9dQ

Relationships that Begin and Last a Lifetime.

                Personal Intimacy can come in many forms. It ranges from destined lovers to old friends reuniting and even branches out to family. Social networking has changed the way we view ourselves and the world. Back in the early 2000s Myspace was the most popular website to talk to friends and be original. This website allowed us as preteens to have a sense of independence and be ourselves. Myspace gave a person the courage to talk to someone they would normally avoid for different reasons, such as, different cliques, intimidation, and differences in societal views. A person could express themselves by choosing a layout that fit their personality and even choose music that they were interested in. On Myspace we could choose our top eight friends or family and put them together on our page. There was fun in sending each other messages that moved or would glitter and had smiley faces.  Myspace opened the door for meeting people and having a sense of freedom in our own life.
                 I have kept in contact with multiple friends through Myspace and now through Facebook. I even married one of those friends I started talking to on Myspace. Friendships and relationships can grow when you have even the smallest conversations with someone that you haven’t seen in years. It also helps to bring people closer to family even the ones that live far away, especially since you can’t visit them as much as you would like. These two sites also let a person post pictures of themselves that make them feel good. Although Myspace and Facebook are a step forward in time and a great beginning we need to further those actions with actually talking to our loved ones on the phone or going on a date and even visiting or hanging out with family and friends. Social networking helps to begin and begin again, but the relationship can’t grow if we don’t put in the effort to make it last.

It’s a Match!

I don’t have a lot of personal experience with electronic social networking except for using Facebook once in a while. I agree with Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death that it is important not to let the superficial replace what is real.  The Social Network is a film about the brilliant young man that developed Facebook.  What I found interesting about the film was not how the new Facebook brought people together, but how in the end, it couldn’t fill the void in Mark Zuckerberg’s life.  All he cared about was the intimacy that he had lost. I think that electronic social networking can be good as long as it is not a superficial replacement for real emotional closeness.

Two different friends of mine used online dating sites.  The first wanted a man that had a certain look, a successful profession, and liked the same things she did.  She dated several of her matches. One man in particular seemed to be perfect for her.  They got along really well and their relationship was great until she got busy at work and couldn’t spend as much time with him as usual.  He broke up with her.  When she asked him why, he said that he had so many other choices and matches that he didn’t need to waste time if things weren’t going to be perfect.  He knew he had a list of women to choose from. I guess if you are looking for the superficial in a person, that is what you get.

Another friend joined an online dating site when she was in her early thirties and hadn’t been able to find the right person to share her life with.  She wasn’t looking for the superficial.  She was more interested in his faith, values, and opinions on life.  She found a man who lived across the country. She began communicating online with him, met him, and continued to get to know him.  They shared a real intimacy and eventually got married.  She would never have met him if she hadn’t joined the site.  She was looking for a real person not some superficial ideal.  I think she used social media well and she is now very happy.

Social Networking: Acceptable Norm or Kindling Jackpot?

I'm not going to sit here and argue that social networking has completely destroyed intimacy. Intimacy in itself has several definitions as well as levels. For example one can feel intimate towards a sibling, not say they would engage in sexual activities with that sibling, merely that they have a strong degree of affection towards them. Much like how one could use dating sites like e-harmony to find the "true one", people use Facebook to keep in contact with family and friends. Incorporating social networking sites into our lives has certainly diminished and in some minds of individuals destroyed it, however, I believe that it has also aided as well. Some people aren't good at breaking that barrier, and just going across the room of the bar and talking to that sexy man. Social networking sites have opened a gateway of opportunity for introverts as well as some extroverts whom may happen to have busy lives or maybe aren't the greatest in person first time flirts. It's also opened up the door for family members and friends to rekindle friendships or find one's that they had lost contact with over the years. Much like okcupid could allow you to find the one you spend the rest of your life with, it can very well help you find that daughter, son, or cousin, whom you may have never met but wish to find, or simply lost contact with. For us to limit ourselves to just in person, I feel, atleast given my age and generation, that it's unwise. The threats of doing so can be quite risky, should one choose to abandon logic, and converse with sketchy online people, but that does not than mean that it should be ruled out completely due to the possibility of meeting a "catfish". If we stopped going on dates in person for fear of meeting the next huge serial killer, we would never leave the house much less go on dates. In this day and age, social networking has effected both our society, it's views, it's practices, it's people and their norms in many ways, but one way above all, is it's offering of a capabilities.

Unit Relfection

I think that electronic use through social media has influenced our personal intimacy in a good way. We can actually talk to people through video chat something that wasn't always done. I think just being able to see someone that's far away is a whole different experience than text and phone chat. Seeing all of our emotions just enhances the conversation and overall relationship with that person. We get to look forward to sharing our days with the person we miss, we get to see their reactions to our conversation. I think that's seeing people while we interact with them is something that  we all  can truly take for granted. Seeing the person laugh un video chat at the joke instead of seeing "lol" in a text is way more powerful.

Social media opens up doors for us to meet more people. More and more couples are saying they met their spouses or significant others through social media and chat. I myself have friends that I dearly love that I wouldn't have if not for social media.

Social media is great, but nothing compares to physically being with someone and sharing that time together. I thinks that's the overall message. I think Amusing Ourselves to Death could be a bit extreme at times but the overall message and point was given and seen.

I think if people can find a good balance between technology use and non-technology use then older generations wouldn't look at social media and other technological features as a  horrible thing.

The Generation Gap : In a Good Way

It has been interesting watching and learning about the history of social networking this past week.  As much as I hate to admit it I didn't know who Mark Zuckerberg was until this assignment was given to us.  I have enjoyed learning more about the way social media has come about.  Expanding my knowledge of this has given me something in common to talk with my children about. 

At first I wasn't interested in joining Facebook, but when my children went off to college, I found it was a great way to keep in touch with them.  They chose a school about three hours away and couldn't get home often as they were involved in a sport.  So, it forced me to learn how to text, Facebook, and skype in order to stay connected with them.  Family is very important to us and was an excellent motivational tool to keep us connected.  I must say though a good " old fashioned " phone call does everyone good as it is important to keep up on oral communication skills too.  

Also, I have found that showing interest in how various social media devices work, bridges the generation gap at the work place.  Where I work there is a big age difference among us. I have found I rely on the younger generation to teach me how to use these devices which in turn fosters working relationships.

Social media has been enjoyable to our family as it helps us stay in touch with siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren.  I especially enjoy seeing the pictures too.  This helps us stay close.  

Swipe Right Lol

     You can take your time on Facebook or move right along on Tinder. Either way, social media has changed the way people form relationships with each other. Matching apps like Tinder are quick and easy- just how some people like it. If you're a match, congratulations. If not, you'll never know-- no hard feelings. Swipe right for yes, swipe left for no. It's a judgment call, really. Based on a lineup of a couple of pictures linked from your Facebook account, can you really see yourself committing to a relationship with this man or woman? In my opinion, there's no way you can make that call on Tinder. In a relationship, true intimacy requires a deep understanding of each other, not a glance at someone's "assets." To me, as a person who has never used Tinder, it seems like more of a "Who's looking to hook up" type of thing.
     Millions of relationships start and end on Facebook each year. Facebook offers a slightly deeper mode of connection. Rather than a quick swipe to the right, you have to send a friend request. From there, usually the poking, liking, and messaging follows. I think that is more work than discovering someone's interests in person, so I'll stick with the "old-fashioned" way. I have used Facebook as a means to look people up, but I have not and will not start looking for personal intimacy.

I found Nathan on Tinder. Swipe right lol! 

A handy tool

I believe it is truly amazing what social networking has done for our society. It's not bad. It's just another tool that people can use to stay connected. I was amazed after watching The Social Network how Facebook was developed. Facebook helps me stay in touch with family and friends that I never see. I am not the best at keeping in touch so it has been a great way for me to stay in touch. I have found friends from high school that moved away and I had no idea where they went because of Facebook.  I am a Facebook frequent flier, checking it several times a day, but I also can go days without it if I am super busy. I will admit, that doesn't happen too often. Different generations react differently to technology and in today's world it is up to parents to monitor their own and their children's use and determine if it is negatively affecting their social development. Time spent unplugged is necessary, of course. I think social media is defiantly not for young children but is okay for older kids and mature adults. I would not blame social media at all for ruining intimacy. We all make personal choices and should not blame Facebook or any other social media for our actions or behavior. If anything, our society is always trying to blame something for the negatives in our lives. It’s time people stop placing blame and take self-responsibility for themselves and their actions. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it.