Within
a short period of time, the technology of social network sites has quickly
become popular and widely disseminated across the world. From SixDegrees.com in 1997 to sites like Facebook,
Twitter, and MySpace today, online social networking has seen many changes, and
as a result, these sites have greatly proliferated the ways people can
communicate with one another. People
no longer need to speak to each other face to face in order to communicate a
message, but rather, people can use social network sites to create
relationships with friends and family in much easier ways than before. It can
be argued that humans are naturally social creatures, and in addition, social
network sites have made humans more social as they dislike being alone for long
periods of time. These sites have redefined relationships and friendships to
the point where people can have 400 plus friends or followers online. People
can meet old friends, find new relationships, and expand their unlimited
networks anywhere at any time. As stated by Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison in
their article, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship,”
“the term ‘Friends’ can be misleading, because the connection does not
necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense” (Boyd and
Ellison). It is uncertain how social network sites have affected the quality of
everyday friendships and relationships. However, it is significant to point out that the
increasing number of friends and relationships people maintain on these sites
has increased people’s desires to communicate and to be social creatures, and
at the same time, these sites have positively impacted communication skills of
children and adults worldwide.
The
rapid advancement of social network sites in the last ten years or so has
caused people to be more open to sharing and communicating information with a
greater network of people. Disregarding the content and quality of this information,
social network sites have made individuals more connected with diverse groups
of people and less culturally arrogant or self-absorbed. Post Secret is the perfect example of how social network sites
build positive, diverse communities of people where sharing information online
is encouraged and desired. People not only amplify their own online identities
to share with friends and family, but they also share information via video,
text, email, or postcards that gets spread around and allows people to always
be connected on a more global level. An excellent example that illustrates the
power to share information with others is Twitter. It is true that some people
use Twitter for personal gain and for personal identity creation like Facebook.
However, the main idea behind Twitter is to create and respond to “tweets,” and
thus, a member of Twitter can find any news or information from almost any part
of the world depending on who he or she follows. Businesses, celebrities,
politicians, and average citizens utilize Twitter on a daily basis as an
efficient platform for disseminating information to the most people in the
quickest manner. Even though sites like Facebook are more focused on ongoing,
personal identity production and sites like MySpace are generally geared
towards musical groups and their fans, these sites still create relevant,
important conversations that open up to a broader audience. This benefit of online social networking is
especially true with Facebook’s new timeline feature that allows instant
communication and conversation of information and news. There can be negative
consequences of oversharing like privacy issues, but in the end, social network
sites, in general, have led to a new, faster way of spreading information
around the world, and thus, they have contributed to a powerful global
interconnectedness that would not be possible without these sites.
Since
people have become so open to sharing, producing, and creating information and
other content on social network sites, people in today’s society have become
more social, but more important, these sites allow less social individuals to
learn valuable, real-world communication skills that help them to overcome
shyness or antisocial behavior. The term “friendship” has taken on an expanded,
broader meaning because of online social networking. According to Hilary Stout
in her article, “Antisocial Networking,” “for today’s teenagers and preteens,
the give and take of friendship seems to be conducted increasingly in the
abbreviated snatches of cellphone texts and instant messages, or through the
very public forum of Facebook walls and MySpace bulletins” (Stout). It may be
true that young people’s relationships with friends are more mediated through
technology than through face-to-face contact, but at the same time, online social
network technology has given young people the advantage of communicating more
thoughts, ideas, opinions, and information with more friends than ever before.
Having
400 plus friends seems like a lot of people to manage in today’s rapidly
changing and advancing society. Thus, there are people like Hilary Stout who
appear worried about what sites like Facebook are doing to teens’ relationships
with friends, but overall, these sites have and will continue to have a positive
impact on the friendships young people build online and offline. Particularly,
these sites will be a greater benefit to shy children and teens than to those
who are already very outgoing and active because online social networking does
not replace offline communication, real-life experiences and situations, or
face-to-face interaction, but rather, these sites enhance communication,
experience, and interaction with others. Stout argues that “today’s youth may
be missing out on experiences that help them develop empathy, understand
emotional nuances and read social cues like facial expressions and body
language” because of social network sites (Stout). However, on the contrary,
shy youth have much to gain from utilizing these sites because they have given
youth constant access to friendships and 24/7 communication with others. It is
much easier for a shy person to make friends and form relationships first
through the Internet where the social environment is more open, accepting, less
nerve-racking, and less threatening than to push a young kid out the door of
the house and tell him or her to make a few friends
off the streets. In other words, “technology is merely a facilitator for
an active social life” (Stout). Technology does not replace in-person, intimate
communication, but rather, it makes interaction more comfortable, and it acts
as a starting conversation point for young people to form valuable
relationships now and in the future.
So,
why are social network sites so significant in the development of social and
communication skills in young people and in society today? Consider the
following example that I have personally witnessed with my friend, Austin. Austin
is a normal male teenager in the United States. A person cannot tell what is
different about him just by looking at him, but he does have autism. Thus, it
is extremely difficult for him to communicate, build relationships, and start friendships
with other people face to face. He does not have the same, developed
communication skills as his peers, but he does have a Facebook profile that he
created a few years ago. Even though he may not sign in every single day, he
does utilize the site just like any other typical teenager would by playing
games, sharing links, chatting with friends, and connecting with family. Hence,
it seems like technology has made it a lot easier for him to connect with
people. Plus, the interesting phenomenon about Facebook is that his autism and his
shyness do not exist online in the first place because a person’s shyness is
only visible in face-to-face interaction. So, social network sites are
important to the development of many children’s (and even adults’) social
skills that are necessary in society because these sites allow youth to
practice communicating information to many people without feeling the heavy
burdens of shyness in the present so that they can effectively communicate and
interact without much shyness and social anxiety in the future as adults. Thus,
with the power to share information and communicate with others, social network
sites will always have their consequences just like any other technology, but
at the same time, these sites have already proven (in such a short time period)
to play a valuable role in today’s society.
To read and learn more about this topic, read these articles:
Boyd,
Danah and Nicole Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2007): n. pag.
Web. 4 April 2012.
Stout,
Hilary. “Antisocial Networking?” The New
York Times. The New York Times, 30 April 2010. Web. 4 April 2012.
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