The Internet and Social Media’s Influence on Relationships

The Internet plays mays many roles in our busy technology driven lives today, without it many streamlined tasks would once again become mundane and bothersome. Since our lives have become so technology driven and Internet based it is no surprise that social media websites have become increasingly popular, first among young adults but now across the entire age spectrum. It is estimated that 30% of the world has Internet access and uses it in a daily manner. Of this 30% it is estimated that 72% of them use social media or networking sites (Brenner). All of this Internet usage almost most certainly has had an effect of interpersonal relationships, the absolute fact that at any given moment you can send a quick picture or write a fast phrase that all your friends and family can see is utterly bizarre. There is a great deal of research done on this topic because it is an ever increasing phenomenon because more and more people are getting access to the internet and in turn signing up for social medial websites. Has all this technology come at a price? With this huge social media frenzy will there ever be time for strong face-to-face relationships anymore, or would we rather communicate online where we can reach countless people with one simple stroke of the keyboard? Ultimately what effect has dependence on the Internet and social media had on our stable interpersonal relationships that we have been forming ever since we learned to speak?

With the fast advancement of the Internet in recent years, it hosts a more and more diverse and convenient channels for social communication than ever before. Social Media has become more and more prominent in the last ten years. The internet is fast becoming a just a background part of o...

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...e development of problematic Internet use (Milani, Osuldella & Blasio).” According to some research it has shown that there are very large negative connections between Internet use and interpersonal relationships. One researcher claimed that the time spent on social interaction was replaced by Internet usage, meaning that the more time spent on the Internet, the less time they spend on physical social interaction. The reduction of actual exchanges with others slowly led to the decline of the problematic Internet user’s interpersonal relationships (Lai & Gwung). Excessive Internet usage is considered to decrease social involvement, especially on face-to-face interaction, and increase loneliness and isolation, the heavy Internet usage is also associated with interpersonal rejection, unrealistic relationship expectations, depression, and anxiety (Lai & Gwung).