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
I love how you used Brad Paisley's hit song. I'm a big fan of his. It definitely relates to your statement. I can certainly agree that online dating has changed the way people meet. My mother-in-law signed up on OurTime.com and found the man she is currently dating and they are happy together. Even though there were a few bumps in the road to find her match. I also think that it works for some, but not for others. Facebook is definitely a huge part of my life and even sort of an addiction. I can totally relate with the creeping on other's Facebook pages, to see what's going on in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI too also liked how you used brad paisleys song as an example because it definitely speaks the truth about how your can make yourself sound so much better in text than actually physically showing it. I don't use social media for personal intimacy either. Never really had the desire too but I have some friends that have used it and my cousins best friend actually found her soon to be husband on match.com. Everything you stated is 100% true in my opinion. Very good!
ReplyDeleteReally good response and I liked the the song example. I also like how you exposed the whole creeping concept social media has brought out of a lot of people. I think it is funny and unusual that people find themselves doing these things, but I too am also guilty of this behavior. I feel like its just human nature to get caught up with comparing ourselves to others and social media has definitely given us the opportunity to do so.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I think you were spot on with your Facebook example. I know a lot of my friends spend the majority of their time online looking at people they fell out of touch with or were never too close with - whether its making fun of them, or just checking on them. Like you, I know a few people that have successful relationships via Facebook. They admitted that it was very weird at first, but quickly became used to it, and are glad they took the first step
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I agree there are many pros and cons of on line dating. It has probably been helpful to people who tend to be shy or find it hard to talk by helping them" break the ice" on line rather in person for the first time. However, as you said it people can unfortunately lie about themselves too.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Facebook goes, I enjoy keeping in touch with family and seeing the next generation grow up with their own families. We are also planning a class reunion and it has been very helpful in finding classmates. I am using it to learn about what they have been doing with their lives in order to make conversation easier when it come time for the reunion.
This was an interesting read for me because I have to agree with you on the online dating especially. I have not used it myself but I know a couple people who have met their now husband and wife's on dating websites and through social networking in general. Social networking does give people courage and more confidence in themselves to do things they wouldn't always do and I think that can be good or bad because it could give people the courage to be a bully online. Although I agree with most of what you said I think what you said about checking up on people to see how many kids people have and if they've gotten fat since high school shows some of the negative sides to social networking. Sometimes people get to know way too much about people they aren't even close with.
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