Is Social Networking Really That Necessary?

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. We've all heard of them.  Most of us use them on a daily basis.  Some of us even on an hourly basis.  I am just as convicted of it as more than half the population of the United States.  I believe it is safe to say Social Networking has taken over our every day lives and effected it in many ways.

I have different opinions about Social Networking; some are good and some are bad.  Social Networking is a good way to keep up with long distance family.  A lot of my family lives in different states and so my family uses Social Networking as a way of "keeping up" with them.  With that being said, it is sad that the world has come to that.  What is wrong with picking up the phone and calling a family member to catch up with them on what has happened in their lives and in yours rather than waiting for the next Facebook post.  I cannot even tell you the last time my aunts, uncles or cousins called me to wish me happy birthday.  And me with them.  Whenever my birthday rolls around they just "write on my wall" and vice versa.

A recent article stated that social networking may enrich the lives of people who struggle with a social life.  There is one cause for this judgement, social networking itself.  If social networking had never been invented and we as Americans had never made it as big of a part of our lives as it is, then people would be forced to be more social and it would eventually be comfortable for them.

In another article, a study was done to see why people used Facebook based on their gender.  The study found that men use Facebook more to get relationship information, whereas; women use Facebook more for relationship maintenance.  If face to face contact were more common, Facebook would not be a necessary tool to maintain a relationship or to get relationship information.

All in all, Social Networking has some good effects and some bad effects.  However, I think we can all agree that the good outweigh the bad.





http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563211001713
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/07/0956797611429709.abstract