The Impact of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication 

Jack Lawrence 

Subramanian, K .R. “Influence of Social Media in Interpersonal Communication.” Researchgate, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS AND RESEARCH , 2017, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kalpathy-Subramanian/publication/319422885_Influence_of_Social_Media_in_Interpersonal_Communication/links/59a96d950f7e9b2790120fea/Influence-of-Social-Media-in-Interpersonal-Communication.pdf?origin=publication_detail.

Overview: Social Media has impacted the role of how we as human beings communicate with each other as society emerges into the digital age and the results have been simultaneously unifying and isolating. It is important for people to consider how social media will impact the next generation as they will born into a society taken over by social media over traditional discourse.


    Reference: Psychological Impact of Social Media


How Social Media Impacts How People Communicate


  1. We tend to be more open to self-disclosure when communicating with people over social media; thus, we tend to trust them more. 


  1. Our relationships aren’t as intimate through social media as they are face-to-face, so we tend to conform to the expectations of traditional dialogue.


  1. Social media invites users to interact with content that confirms their pre-existing biases so people are not being exposed to the same diversity of viewpoints that they’ve had in the past.


”Social media will continue to become increasingly integrated into the normal human experience like most of the communication technologies that preceded it. They will continue to increase the volume of the human communication process, and we will continue to learn how to use them for good and for bad.”
- K.R. Subramarian 


 Reference: How Social Media Changes How We Interact 


How has Social Media Changed Dialogue: 

Digital Discourse: People are more likely to transition discourse to be more digitally oriented as people converge into the world of social media.


Simplified Discourse: Writing has become reduced to anecdotes and abbreviations because of the convergence of social media. Thus, people are entering a new world of communication because of the rise of social media during the digital age.


Social Skills: Social media has contributed to changing how people socialize as they’ve normalized communication through digital technology over traditional discourse. In some instances, people have been able to develop relationships that are incapable of happening in person whereas other people are completely incapable of carrying on a normal conversation or interacting with people in person because of their dependency on social media. 


    ReferenceSocial Media's Impact on Social Skills


            Positive Impacts of Social Media 

Speed and Distance: People are now able to communicate with people across the world nearly instantly which was not possible with traditional communication mediums.  


Mass Media Outlet: Social media networks have opened up the ability for people to interact with a large number of people at once. 


Networking: People now have the freedom to express themselves to anybody across social media platforms so people can connect with like-minded people and those with shared interests conveniently. This way people don’t have to directly interact with people in search of someone who has a similar opinion. 


Marketing:  Because of social media businesses can connect with their targeted customers for free. \

During an interview with one of the philanthropy directors of social media for Zeta Tau Alpha at CNU, Katherine Curtis stated:

 

“With social media, we have been able to reach out and involve other organizations as well as get involved with their philanthropy activities. In our recent event, Bras for a Cause, we had a social media competition which quite literally allowed us to use social media to involve all of campus as well as raise money for our philanthropy”


“We have been able to reach out to other organizations to inform them about the events we are having. It would have been a lot harder to locate them in person and inform them fully of our event”

    Reference: Positive Impacts of Social Media on Business and Marketing

 

Negative Impacts of Social Media 

Online Bullying: although the person being bullied can remove themselves from a situation temporarily in comparison to physical situations, social media allows for more communication that builds up more persistently over time. 

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Information Overload: Social media provides large, multifaceted amounts of stimuli that have overwhelmed people’s capacity to take in information.


Technology Addiction: Addiction to technology can lead people to emotionally shut down, lose concentration, and develop withdrawal symptoms. As people become more addicted to technology, people have become increasingly disconnected from real life. 


Lack of Privacy: Regardless of what settings they’re on, social media’s access trades personal privacy for unlimited access to information. 


Self Image: It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to distinguish one’s online identity from their in-person identity which has impacted one’s sense of self-worth.

 Reference: Impacts of Social Media on Teenager's Mental Health.           


"when individuals spend more time with their smart phone than interacting with the people around them, to the detriment of those face-to-face relationships"
- K.R. Subramanian





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