How Technology Affects Interpersonal Relationships

Our society is constantly changing. Our human nature drives us to look for changes and to develop new things. As technology advances at a fast pace, a lot of things common to society change. What we used to know as social interaction has taken a completely different meaning now. Technology is allowing us to communicate with others in a faster way, depriving us from having one to one interactions with others. This virtual world tendency taking over the interpersonal relationships is changing the way society is developing, especially the adolescents. The use of social networks has negative effects in the adolescents’ interpersonal relationships and their interaction with society.

The ways of communication not too long ago depended of wires and

Today’s technology allows social networks to offer a great variety of services to the users, including sharing photos, chatting with others, sharing posts and thoughts, adding friends to a person’s social circle, or even be reminded of friend’s birthdays and others. These characteristics are defining the new way to socialize and interact virtually with others. Because of the fast expansion of these social networks, it is inevitable that adolescents will be highly exposed to this kind of interaction; social networks will become a more important part of their lives as time goes by, leaving them with no choice to whether or not they want to use these networks or be part of them, but on rather to learn how to use them

A great part of their interactions is made through social networks. This “virtual space” often becomes their world of interaction by being able to have “control” over their virtual surroundings. Social networks and media offer the options of creating groups (people that have the same likes for an specific thing), joining groups of fans, following famous people, subscribing to specific channels and many other options.

Joining these virtual societies allow adolescents to have the feeling of belonging to something, to be able to relate to people with the same interests and likes and to develop and form their identity based on the group’s values. It helps them to be able to express their selves in an environment where they can feel comfortable and relate to others. Being involved in these virtual communities where a common interest or like for an activity is shared, is a great advantage for teenagers since they can learn and improve. This way of community learning helps the teenager acquire experience on these topics by talking about them and by being surrounded with other people that are knowledgeable about them. And with proper guidance from parents and others, they can receive positive influence from these societies to help them form their