`` The Bright Stuff `` By President Woodrow Wilson : The Only Cement That Will Ever Hold The World

In “The Limits of Friendship” by Maria Konnikova, social media has significantly changed the way we interact with friends and family. Everybody thinks that using social media is the best way to talk to friends and family, however, in my opinion, they are wrong because it doesn’t give you the face-to-face connections we need as humans for social interaction. On the other hand, the great thing about using social media is you can connect with more people, but in a superficial kind of way. Therefore, we do not get the face-to-face interactions with our friends and family. We, the people that are addicted to social media, learn that without face-to-face conversations we wouldn’t have a normal “social” life outside of social media. The question

Maria Konnikova's essay "The Limits of Friendship," analyzes the impact of social media on close relationships, addressing the people impacted by social media use. This essay published in The New Yorker, a weekly magazine with scholarly authors, to inform the public on social media's impact on our lives. She finds that social media has created a dependency on technology and online interactions. Konnikova strives to inform that social media is decreasing close relationships, and persuades that it will impact our future. She argues on the impact of increased dependency on social media on the Dunbar number, hindering the development of future generations. Konnikova succeeds using strong logic and scientific reason as well as appealing to emotions; however, she fails to prove her credibility over the topic and instead relies on the credibility of Robin Dunbar.

The article “I’m So Totally, Digitally, Close To You (Brave New World of Digital Intimacy)” (2002) is written by Clive Thompson, who is also a blogger and columnist. The author aims to explain the users’ attraction of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of “incessant online contact” through his text. Since social networking has become a nearly ubiquitous aspect of human contemporary life, Thomson has effectively illustrated the invasion of the social media into human daily lives, how people are commanded by it. He later goes on to explore the benefits of social networking sites and a few challenges of the usage assumptions.

In “Faux Friendship,” Deresiewicz discusses current relationships, including social media, in relation to “classical friendships.” Similar to Emerson’s qualities of friendship, classical friendship contains components of “goodness and truth” (Faux Friendship pg. 2). Many modern relationships fail to own this sort of design. On social media, people can be “friends” with someone they have never met in real life. For instance, my brother owns an Instagram account.

In the article, “The Quagmire of Social Media Friendships”, Curtis Silver opens with his social evolution through social media. He begins by saying how he once had solid, quality friendships but later found himself with thousands of obsolete ones. Although he makes many direct points of the communal effects that social media has on society, his argument lacks valid analysis of how people's personal lives are actually affected. Social media connects us to many different people that we are forced to call our friends online by the social network, however, these people cannot be considered actual friends on this basis.

Social media constantly bombards individuals with new people who are called friends. Through creating these new relationships, social media tries to make the world smaller. However, these relationships are impersonal and do not allow the people to truly understand or know each other. Another example from society that shows how important relationships are to humans is the countless number of websites that help individuals meet potential relationship partners. These websites attempt to match individuals who have similar personalities.

According to Steve Mathews and Dean Cocking, the formation of mediated friendship through the internet cannot be achieved. Such ‘friendships’ are can increase or displace some offline aspects of real friendship with the adoption of the digital media. According to them, individuals might be trading in actual thing for something of a lesser value. According to Cocking and Mathews, the internet dictates a structural constraint on the communicative interaction hence, enhancing as well as predisposing

With this, online friendships are a self-seeking prophecy. This idea diverges from the original studies of online relationships, which discovered that internet users are lonelier than those with less access to the internet (Tufecki 7). The more recent study of the hyperpersonal nature of today’s society online, known as “Seek and Ye Shall Find”, found the opposite to be true, emphasizing that individuals who believe that online friendships and strong relationships can be gained through those networks have much higher odds (52%) of acquiring new friends (Tufecki 7) and benefit most from online interactions. The hyperpersonal nature of the cyberspace comes to be seen as a space for people to be freer of social judgment due to the mediated communication deemphasizing appearance and shifting its focus towards

In Curtis Silver’s essay titled “The Quagmire of Social Media Friendships,” He describes the realization of what a true friend is. With millions of people on social media, anyone can feel as though they have achieved rock star status. This is the ruse social networking sites like Facebook and twitter cause. Having thousands of “friends” on social media accounts has changed the true meaning on how people connect on a personal level. The question is, is it even possible for people to believe they have that many friends? Let alone being able to manage a real relationship that actually embodies the meaning of friendship.

The accessibility of the new information technology has led that social structures change, and with it the ways of relating to others. With this process of change has created what is known as "virtual communities", Rheingold defined the virtual communities as a group of social aggregates which arises from internet when a group of people create public discussions long enough to create networks of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Rheingold, 1993, The Virtual Community,). Thus individuals create new social networks where they can exchange information anytime, anywhere, depending on their needs and desires. Issues such as that new information technologies can interfere interpersonal relationships are increasingly questioned by several studies that analyze the impact positive and negative to the use and abuse leads. The aim of this essay is to discuss the pros and cons of the effects that are producing social networks.

In order for humanity to exist, people need to interact with others. Though it is not a requirement for one to like his partner, one’s life is easier, finds purpose, and is filled with joy when spent with a true friend. This is not always apparent for it has been said, “the more the merrier” and in this current society, many have accepted this phrase in regards to their friendships. Social media has been used a tool to keep in touch with the multitude of friends one may have but, an excess of friends does not necessarily mean one has true friends. The renowned ancient philosopher, Aristotle, wrote about friendship in books eight and nine in his Nicomachean Ethics.

Throughout the life, some influences have shaped people the way they live their lives today. Impact of a virtual connection, and go beyond the brain’s ability, is rising in an eyesight bling, which is a cause of socialization— brain’s ability to multitask and their consequences itself. The usage of the internet is creating conflict upon individuals that they have become modern in today’s world. In the essay “The Limit Of Friendship” by Maria Konnikova, who is a psychologist and a creative writer from the Columbia University explores the Dunbar’s theoretical number of a friend that one could have in their life. Konnikova informs people about her colleague Robin Dunbar’s research how social networking

In modern society, the demand for new technology is at a steady rate and everyday millions of social media profiles are being created. Virtual profiles have allowed for people to believe in unrealistic thought that the power of a virtual communities, in which ideas are shared and thoughts are heard, result in long lasting relationships and undeniable happy results. It is relatively easy to fool internet users to follow the “social revolution” into creating their own personal “happy” story through social media, in turn, they are supposed to experience happiness and create strong social bonds; thus, when the reality of being interconnected is put on a spotlight it is evident that the negative effects of being interconnected are present.

In today’s culture, it’s a rare occurrence to find people that are willing and able to connect with others on a deep, personal level. It seems that many “friends” are just acquaintances that know only the most superficial details about one another. American culture has defined friendship as exchanging phone numbers, texting once in awhile, and maybe even posting a “happy birthday” on social media when that time of year rolls around. It’s not that humans fear meaningful connections and relationships; we crave them. It’s the process of establishing and nurturing these bonds that truly terrifies us. And that’s understandable. It can be daunting to even think about truly getting to know other people outside of my immediate family. Maybe, I often think, it’s just easier to follow somebody on Twitter and forget about the whole “connection” thing.

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.