To me it seems that Facebook killed real relationships. All Over the world but nobody to hold. I find it unacceptable. Yet here I am….
The dopamine hit that several (dozen, hundred, thousand) likes gives someone is really something that should be studied. Followed by the instant access to nearly any information within a moment. Maybe it was the Internet that killed relationships. Sucks because it is such a powerful tool.
Social media or internet didn't kill relationships it's people's lack of self control and self moderation of those tools.
I don't think that's really true. I think that there as many real relationships as there ever were. Whats different, it that social media has now enabled so many (of what you would call) not-real relationships, that the number of them completely dwarfed the number of real relationships.
Additionally, some of those not-real relationships sometimes transform into real ones. For example, 4 months ago, I got into one of those not-real relationships with a woman who I met here on CC. She's about 250 miles away from me, so it didn't seem likely that we would ever actually meet. Never the less, after about 2 weeks, we took our communications off site. Initially we were using email, but soon added in phone calls. Last night, we had absolutely nothing significant to talk about, but we started talking about 10:30 p.m. The next time I looked at a clock, it was just after 3:00 a.m. here, and 4:00 a.m. for her. At this point, we are planning a meeting in the not too distant future.
To me, this certainly looks like (at least the beginning of a "real" relationship. You won't find me complaining about social media.
Social media and its algorithms have broadened my relationships immensely. I travel to places very unlike where I live and unearth entire sub-cultures close to home. I now hang out with a much wider variety of people that share the parts of life I treasure. I find it to be the most amazing things ever.
Born into a world where everything we do seems backwards and upsidedown. Can we make our way back together again or from the war between masculinity and feminine energy ✌🏿❤️🤞🏿
Many relationships such as friend groups are strengthened through social media.
In my case, social media can't kill what doesn't exist
Social media is just a tool, to be used for good or ill by people. It's up to us to decide how we use it. For some of us, social media has strengthened and broadened our relationships because we prioritized utilizing social media as a relationship tool. For others, who perhaps prioritize other methods or who never learned the how to use the tool skillfully, they only see the negative consequences. Then there's personal communication preferences, and the influence of media portrayals and how much stock we put into those portrayals.
Basically - ask 100 people if a tool is good or bad and you'll get 100 different answers based off the combination of their unique experiences, skills, beliefs, and preferences. But a tool is not inherently morally good or bad, instead how we choose to use it changes its impact.
I can't agree, personally, only because I only use Facebook to communicate with people I already have established offline relationships with. I don't "friend" strangers. And I'm not sure how you meet determines the future of the relationship -- people were ruining their relationships just fine long before the Internet.
Hmm, I suppose it depends on how you balance your online vs in-person life. I know some people are very introverted so establishing friendships online is very meaningful to them. And you have some extroverts that simply use social media for the high of likes and followers.
I've connected with some amazing people through different sites recently and I'm grateful we were able to do so. Without the sites, we never would've crossed paths.
But I equally value in-person connections and see my in-life friends as much as possible. I wouldn't want social media to become a crutch for me in terms of me being unable to pursue in-person friendships. All about balance ☺️
I dont do social media. Hsve never had an account. No Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Myspace, snapchat. Never appealed to me . So CC is the closest thing i have to social media, and I'd say that without it I would not have met and know so many beautiful humans. I'd not even know that they existed .
I can say with 100% certainty that social media played a role in destroying my marriage
I just agree. I've made some strong connections because of social media. Especially when I had to get my knees replaced. I connected via an app called friended. Some of the people I've actually met outside in real life. Some I talk to on the app still and some I talk to via text.
Plus it's been a great tool to connect with people with events and such. I haven't been to one of the cuddle meet ups that you're having in New York soon, because of social media, everybody has a chance to go if they want because they are notified.
I had a friend way back in the bad old AOL days whose wife left him for someone she met online. But even he acknowledged if the marriage had been healthy, she wouldn't have been open to cheating on him. But blaming online is like blaming the candy store because you eat too much chocolate.
@WriterGF ok, but I know a certain candy store with a kind old lady that makes chocolates that are way too delicious for me to not at least partially blame (I’m kidding 😂)
The question is too broad and it depends on several factors, but there are several indicators that it can have severe affects on our youthful citizens. Articles such as these from reputable scientific journals could be posted all day long:
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/02/social-media-body-image
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/02/harms-benefits-social-media-kids
@FunCartel but long before there was social media, TV and print media was doing a fine job of shaping negative body image. And for all the bad effects social media can have on body image, it's also the propagator of the body neutrality and body positivity movements, self confidence and self care, mental resiliency, and many other topics that might not have otherwise made it into the public forum as easily and accessibly.
It's not that negativity is on the rise - it's that our awareness of it is because of increased access and consumption. The negative issues existed long before social media and the internet, we just adapted them to our new tools.
Social media has helped me to reach people that share common interests (e.g., and previously mentioned, CC), as well as finding/keeping in touch with old friends. So, the distance factor is a lot more manageable with instant messaging and video calls instead of letters and the old telephone calls. However, IMO the social contact with people in every place I go - gym, airport, grocery store, my kid's school, etc., has decreased significantly; everyone is just looking at their phones.
@cuddlefaery Yes negative body image has always been around but the research is bearing out the ills of social media regarding its impact on the youth—specifically young females. The research is there and the fact that there is a looming mental health crisis building in this country I would not be so quick to dismiss the science behind it. As a single parent of a teenage girl social media in the teenage years is a cesspool of the worst of high school behavior. No one said there aren’t some positives but the fact is bullying, sexual pressure, and general nastiness is worse than it ever was when I was in high school because the bullies and a-holes no longer look you in the eye.
I would say this is the most blunt piece of research out there regarding teens and social media:
https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2022/09/social-media-teen-mental-health.php
@FunCartel Agree with you there regarding the keyboard warriors - especially the teens. I never even used a computer regularly until high school and don't think I was on a social site like Facebook until ohhhh, 2008?
So I had the benefit of in-person interaction before FB and the like took off. Now, it's par for the course to attack each other from behind a screen. Adults certainly do it as well but, I'd hope they at least have a sense of remorse about it at some point 🤦
@FunCartel you misunderstand I think - I am not at all dismissing the research, though I would also point out how little research was done on teen female body image prior to the advent of social media for comparison.
My point is that the research doesn't show that social media in and of itself is harmful - it shows how we are using it is. It is entirely up to us to change that narrative. We can set the boundaries, change the laws and rules, talk to our children, and teach ourselves and them the social and tech skills necessary to navigate using the internet more safely.
The internet killed the radio star. I put myself on time out. I'll save the mods the trouble.
Social media is the go-to scapegoat for our society's ills.
I'd say it did. I remember when My Space was a thing but didn't know many people that used it. 2004 Facebook came out & suddenly everybody but me was on it. Friends were hooking up with chix & guys left & right. It was pathetic. Only social media site I use is Discord for talking with gaming buddies. It's led to people not knowing how to communicate & understand context.
If you can give those devices a break, get outside, and make a positive difference in your community. Make a positive difference in someone's life. Leave social media to the shut-ins and those who cannot get out daily and has speech impairments.
Back in the day, in the 1960s, '70s, and early 1980s, I was around people whose families paid thousands of dollars on devices just so their son or daughter could communicate their thoughts and feelings. They would have loved what we have today.
Humans are social beings, don't spend too must time in front of a screen unless you have to.
It's led to people not knowing how to communicate & understand context.
Exactly. And the drop-off has been precipitous.
Social media definitely killed something. But tik tok wont give me the hack on what it was.