Friday, February 27, 2015

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. 

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