Social media is one of the most talked about topics in recent years, as it has grown to the point of impacting every single aspect of our lives. Long gone are the days of social media working as just a place to chat and share pictures of your kids or cats – nowadays, we use social media for news, hobby groups, shopping, dating, work, entertainment, and pretty much for everything else.
With social media growing so all-encompassing, it’s no surprise that it has also started to affect the way people think, act, and communicate with each other. Part of that is social media working as intended – it was supposed to make us more interconnected and to make communication easier. But it has also had unintended consequences, such as changing the ways we interact in person in our day-to-day lives.
So, what exactly is the impact of social media on communication and relationships? Let’s try to examine this by first going over the clear-cut negative impact of social media and the positives it has also had on our lives.
Negative impact of social media on communication and relationships
1. Text communication equals no non-verbal cues equals miscommunication
One of the big drawbacks of social media is that people predominantly use it for text-based communication. And, unless you’re an excellent writer, which most of us aren’t, text-based communication isn’t great for accurately demonstrating people’s intent and emotion.
Yes, there are emojis and gifs, but the lack of body language and non-verbal cues is still detrimental to people’s ability to communicate. It’s impossible to estimate how many countless millions of relationships have had problems or have outright ended because of miscommunications that could have been avoided if people talked in person more.
2. Social media creates unrealistic body and relationship expectations
Yes, social media isn’t the only culprit in this regard – Hollywood, the fashion industry, the adult movie niche, the music scene, and pop culture in general are all guilty of setting borderline impossible beauty standards for men and women alike. Social media is especially bad in this case, however, as it doesn’t just generate content that worsens such trends, but it makes all other culprits even more accessible and widespread.
What’s more, social media is guilty of a whole other related problem – unrealistic relationships and lifestyle expectations. Because social media incentivizes people to only share the best parts of their lives, this creates the impression of everyone else’s lives being wonderful and perfect, while yours isn’t. This is often credited as a key contributing factor to the skyrocketing depression rates in most of the developed world.
3. Online hate, bullying, surveillance, doxing, and stalking are huge problems for many
Quite a few people see online harassment, such as hate posts and bullying, as minor problems. At the same time, many of those same people cry out about “being canceled” every time someone criticizes them online.
What is clear to all, however, is that the online space can be a conduit to hateful content that can hurt people’s mental wellbeing – whether we call that hateful content “bullying” or “cancelation.” What’s more, there are many more significant problems one can encounter online – surveillance, stalking, and doxing are all things that can and do have real-world physical implications for people, and in many cases can be life-threatening.
Positive impact of social media on communication and relationships
1. Social media is phenomenal for meeting and communicating with new people
As much as we like to demonize it, social media is accomplishing its main stated goal quite effectively – it’s fantastic for meeting new people who share your interests and preferences, for interacting with them, and even for starting relationships.
Not only are dating apps revolutionizing the way people meet and date, but there are even international dating websites and mail bride sites, such as BridesUniverse that can help you meet people from across the globe who are looking for the exact type of relationship you are too. No longer are shady international marriage brokers the only recourse for men looking for the best foreign brides or for women looking for an awesome foreign husband.
Even just in the more Platonic realm, social media sites are just a fast and effective way to meet the exact types of people you are looking for. Are you starting a new hobby, and do you have no one around you who shares that new interest of yours? Not to worry, there are millions of people online who share that same hobby, and thousands of them live nearby too.
2. Long-distance relationships are more viable than they ever have been before
Most everyone would agree that a long-distance relationship is tricky to deal with and can be very challenging, especially in the long run. What this often ignores, however, is the fact that long-distance relationships are even possible nowadays – something that pretty much has never been the case before.
Social media allows us to interact with our significant others when they are away studying or on business trips, it allows us to do video chats and generally stay in-touch for hours a day every day.
3. Social media strengthens relationships by helping us stay in contact at any moment we need to
Before social media and mobile phones, it was perfectly normal for couples to have no practical way of contacting each other for hours at a time, and often for entire days or weeks when working or traveling. When you wanted to ask your significant other for something or check something with them before you make a major decision, you either had to wait for hours or days until you see each other again or you had to make that decision without them.
Social media has all but eliminated such relationship drama, as you can stay in contact with your loved ones any minute of any day now. Even when you or they are busy, even in the middle of important conference calls sometimes – you can always drop them a DM and they will either reply right away or at least see it immediately and reply as soon as possible.
In conclusion – is social media a net negative or a net positive influence on modern relationships?
This is the type of question that is practically impossible to answer with any actual accuracy, as a lot of the factors that come into play here aren’t things we can calculate. By and large, most people agree that social media is a net negative, but this might be people’s bias toward focusing on dangers and drawbacks and taking positives for granted.
All in all, it’s important to remember that social media is a tool, and it’s up to us how to use it. Arguments can be made whether and how to regulate social media for the betterment of society at large, but as far as individual people and relationships are concerned, it’s up to every one of us to figure out how we’re affected by social media, and how best to use it to maximize its benefits and minimize its negatives.
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