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.
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ReplyDeleteI love how you put emphasis on the fact that someone, though they may have used online dating/social networks to do so, found someone that they were compatible with and eventually married. I also love that you talk about how the superficial parts of a person play a great deal in how you go about finding love, friendships, and relationships. Overall i absolutely loved your post!
ReplyDeleteI love how you put emphasis on the fact that someone, though they may have used online dating/social networks to do so, found someone that they were compatible with and eventually married. I also love that you talk about how the superficial parts of a person play a great deal in how you go about finding love, friendships, and relationships. when one is truly invested in finding a worth while friendship or relationship they put their all into it, and don't just focus on if he/she is a ten. For one whom isn't that good with socializing in person or like that guy are way too busy, sometimes, social networking is often better, more time efficient and preferable than the latter.
ReplyDeleteYour comment is very nicely balanced. You mention how social media is perfectly fine until you try to replace it with real social contact, but even after stating your stance you continued to defend it a little. You gave us an example of a time when social media was not the best thing since sliced bread by talking about your friend’s misfortune with using it. But you also gave us an example of when it was a good thing with another one of your friends. Your comment gives the readers two sides of the same coin, when social media fails and when it succeeds. Nice job!
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