Internet Friendship Impact On Adolescent Relationship

From these articles, I think that the basic argument that is being debated is psychologists Lauren Donchi and Susan Moore argued that online friendships hurt adolescent development. "It's a Boy Thing: The Role of the Internet in Young People's Psychological Wellbeing,” indicates the side effects to adolescents’ use of Internet. They conclude that "all well-being measures were negatively related to Internet focus." The article points out that time spent with online friends displaces offline relationships and time online negatively affected both emotional and social factors. However, Professors of Communication Patti M. Valkenburg and Jochen Peter affirms that online friends do no damage psychological wellbeing in the article"Online Communication and Adolescent Well-being: Testing the Stimulation Versus the Displacement Hypothesis." They even point out that online friendships can enhance offline relationships.

I personally believe that the internet does not socialize adolescents. The internet does not socialize adolescents, if anything it causes adolescents to become antisocial. Adolescents become antisocial, because the internet has many social sites which gives others the chance to hide behind a computer or cellphone screen. In person adolescents tend to be more into their electronic devices than getting to know others and socialize. Everything has become available through a cell phone or an other device, for instance if someone wanted to talk to their friends they can easily text or call a friend instead of having a face to face conversation. Nowadays adolescents are very antisocial because of their internet.

Without friends life is lonely and isolated. Friends are important to share enjoyable activities with, companions with whom to share worries, people to rescue you in difficulty and to be comforted at times of stress. Additionally friendships have enormous developmental implications (Murray 2009). It helps the socialising process. Also, it promotes the natural move towards “greater independence” in adolescence (Murray 2009). It does this because when you depend on someone for so long you start to branch off on our own and stop depending on others like you used to. Adolescent friendships also provide a connection to others who are at the same stage (Murray 2009).

In Melissa Healy’s article, published on May 18, 2010, Los Angeles Times, “Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such a Bad Idea,” she argues that social media and their social skills may not be such a catastrophe after all and that teenagers who use social media are psychologically healthiest. Healy supports this claim by first describing how, according to the research found by Amori Yee Mikami, social networking sites are mostly used to, not to converse with strangers online, but to interact with friends they already know and said, “So people of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It’s likely to be similarly positive behavior.” Then, she makes a connection

A recent study published in 2016 by a team of researchers found that in a survey of 1,787 adults, ages 19-32 there was a “strong and significant association between social media use and depression in a nationally representative sample of U.S. young adults” (Lindsey et al.). This is not the first study to confirm the hypothesis that social media use causes depression, but it is the most recent and largest study to date and it confirms the findings of other smaller studies done. Perhaps social media makes lonely people less lonely by allowing them to easily meet new people or rekindle old social bonds. However, a study lead by social psychologist Robert Kraut on depression and internet use found that users who were introverted were more likely to feel depressed and lonely using the internet that extroverted internet users (49-74). Social media has even given way to a new term, FOMO…or the fear of missing out which users can experience as they peruse Facebook. Not only does the internet hardwire us for depression, but its driving content can make us feel more lonely or

Teens feel as if social media has more positive effect on their relationships. These positive effects include confidence building and can also make them more unhibited. According to source, The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isn’t All Bad Kids, “One in five teens said social media makes them feel more confident, compared with 4% who said it makes them feel less so. When it comes to relationships with friends 52% of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships” (Wallace,1). With the data found in a survey taken by Common Sense Media group, more teens feel as if social media makes them more confident to make more friends rather than not. They will then, go out, find friends and try to connect with others to improve their overall relationship status with others. According to Kelly Wallace, ““On the whole, teens said they feel that social media has a more positive than negative impact on their social and emotional lives, they believe that social media helps their friendships, makes them feel more outgoing and gives them confidence” said Shira Lee Katz, Common Sense Media’s director of digital media” (Wallace,1). The director of Common Sense Media pulled information from her surveys and data and concluded that teens generally feel as if social media improves the relationships they have with other friends. When teens notice that social media improves relationships with friends, this feeling of accomplishment helps them come out of their shell which increases their confidence and encourages them to make more friends. For some people it’s difficult to make new friends, but social media is the starting point

Communication barriers are not the only issue that has been brought on by social media. Extensive social media use has also been known to affect a person’s self-esteem. Some individuals suffer from a low self-esteem and limit themselves to social media in hopes to create a different image of them. According to Charles Cooley, “The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves, but an imputed sentiment, the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind" (Morine, 2009). For some teens and young adults, social media may help them open up and achieve a higher self-esteem. On the other hand, social media on other teens and young adults may have a completely opposite effect. In an article titled, Is Facebook Making Your Child Depressed, it is stated that social media websites such as Facebook “can create a skewed reality that makes teens feel alienated” (PR, 2012). When a person, that is not completely happy with their life, goes onto social media and reads all about other people enjoying a multitude of activities and enjoying their lives this could

Children used to actually talk to their real life friends. For today’s teenagers and preteens, the give and take of friendship seems to be conducted increasingly in the abbreviated snatches of cell phones texts, or through social networking sites like Face book. The question on researcher’s minds is whether the quality of their interactions is being diminished without the intimacy and emotional give and take of regular, extended face-to face time. The ease of electronic communication may be making teens less interested in face-to-face conversations, which lead to bad consequences. People who study relationships believe that good friendships that we develop as a child show us how to have healthy and lasting adult relationships. (4)

The inauguration of online social spaces has influenced adolescents’ identity formation and development. Surfing on social networks, teens tend to use three main kinds of online identifications; true identity that is the same offline identity, pseudonymity which refers to the use of fake names, and anonymity which means full obscurity. (Donath, 1999) online social networking sites used among adolescents include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs, interactive computer games, and chat rooms. Adolescents think that online integration and acceptance in the previously mentioned online setting to be a sign of socialization and well being. (Slagter Van Tryon & Bishop, 2009) In a study conducted by Reich’s (2010) suggests that 25% of high school students and 21% of college students have experienced problems with friendships due to activity on social networking sites. The main

Even though social media isn’t only used for social interaction, it is an important aspect of adolescents’ lives. Social media provides an avenue for them to stay connected with peers they have met through school, sports teams, church, etc (Ito, 2008). Social networking can also help shy adolescents have a more non-threatening way to interact with peers because they aren’t interacting face-to-face (Rosen, 2011).

Young adults’ reliance on the internet has developed into an addiction, resulting in teenagers to feel isolated and disconnected from their peers. In an experiment conducted in “The Effect of Social Network Sites on Adolescents’ Social and Academic Development: Current Theories and Controversies” June Ahn “found that longer use of the Internet was related to increased depression, loneliness, and smaller social circles.” The younger generation lacks genuine socialization because of the extensive amount of time teenagers spend isolated in their own virtual world. The lack of physical interaction has taken a toll on youths’ ability to develop social skills and friendships. With a lack of these social skills, today’s youth will experience trouble socializing, affecting their ability to create and maintain friendships. Furthermore, in Keith Hampton’s article “Is Technology Making People Less Sociable?” he reveals today’s youth, “spend so much time maintaining superficial connections online

Social media improves the way people communicate with others. It allows them to meet new people. At the click of a button, millions of strangers all over the world who would have never met otherwise are able to connect with each other. Many people believe that internet friends are not as valuable as real life friendships. However with websites like “skype” and instant messaging sites, long distance friendships can be as intimate as real life friendships because social media allows friends to see each other face to face and spend quality time together whenever they want to. Because of this, internet friendships should no longer be considered taboo and should be seen as normal human relationships, “It’s entirely possible to have hundreds of

Loneliness and social depression are additional effects of social networks. Teenagers live to compare. The questions of “Whose smarter/prettier/thinner/more fun?” always seem to be in mind and social networking sites are making this worse. With the ability to view others changed profile pictures, status updates, and check ins. These online destinations have also been reported increase cyber bullying, and the feeling of rejection, Aaron Smith states. For example when a girl sees her ex change relationship statues, yet she clearly has not moved on yet, seeing it right there knowing all their friends can see it, only caused harm and sadness that could have been avoided. Also teenagers who are naturally outgoing start losing the distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances. People are spending time maintaining relationships with

As defined by Baron and Branscombe (2011), self-esteem refers to an individuals overall attitude toward themselves, or sense of self worth. A major influencer of self-esteem is social connectedness, or an individual’s sense of belongingness to his or her social environments and networks (Lee & Robbins, 1998). For example, being excluded or ignored by ones peers is said to be psychologically painful, therefore causing reduction in self-esteem (Baron & Branscombe, 2011). Thus, social connectedness and self-esteem can be considered to be positively associated. With this in mind, there has been on going debate since the end of the 20th century on the role that the Internet is playing in effecting the quality of social relationships among

True friendship is the foundation of a great and fruitful relationship. Some of the characteristics of a friendship include accepting each other despite physical or social shortcomings, being kind and considerate towards one another, and being honest and open with each other. Therefore, friendship is based on emotions and thrives on one’s unique passionate disposition. When the subject of friendship is considered, various social concepts come to mind including, but not limited to, trust, honesty, support, and giving without expecting anything in return. The formation of friends through an online platform is inherently difficult, and only a few friends are made virtually. Therefore, in this essay I will review some of the research related to strangers interaction with each other. Support this argument by reviewing various literature and evaluating how different authors perceive the subject of online communications on Facebook strangers “friendship”. It is notable that the works of literature under consideration have used empirical data and will be critically analyzed to make sure extrapolations by measuring various themes, including behavioral attitudes, false identities, and impression management.