Exploring the Dual Impact of Social Media on Relationships. Essay Sample

Setting up a social media account requires a user to fill in different personal data. Fields such as age, sex, hobbies and location are available. Providing this information helps users to meet people who have the same interests. From a study done by researchers seeking to find how social media helps relationships, participants noted the fact that technology helps them to "Meet new people," allowing "those with similar beliefs, hobbies, and habits to find each other more easily" (Hertlein et al., 2014). Strong relationships are built on having similar interests. Therefore, by providing this aspect, social media proves to help establish relationships hence providing support to the first premise of the argument.
In the current world, many people are forced to be in long-distance relationships as a result of the difference in jobs, schools and living locations. From the survey, a participant stated that “In long distance relationships, technology is the medium through which the relationship can be maintained. If it wasn’t for technologies such as texts, Skype, email, and social networks, these relationships wouldn’t be so feasible” (Hertlein et al., 2014). Social media makes communicating faster and easier when you cannot be with your partner in person (Tosun, 2012).

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The last two premises show how social media helps couples to manage conflict and show they are committed to each other. Results from a study show that a major factor which leads to the separation of couples is lack apologizing to each other whenever there is a conflict (Braithwaite et al., 2016). Social media has successfully managed to fix this since apologies could be exchanged through these platforms. A participant from a survey stated, "It helps to text when trying to make up from a fight, people apologize easier" (Hertlein et al., 2014).

The Argument that Social Media Does Not Establish Relationships

The argument provides evidence of how social media affects relationships negatively and results in separations and breakups among couples.

• Premise 1: Social media causes a couple to be distant from each partner since one does not pay attention to the other (Irani et al., 2018).
• Premise 2: Social media is the major cause of individuals not trusting each other in a relationship (Nongpong et al., 2016).
• Premise 3: Personal boundaries in relationships are not respected because of social media.
• Premise 4: The intentions of a user on social media are not clear and may endanger relationships.
• Conclusion: Social media does not establish relationships

Support for the Argument that Social Media Does Not Establish Relationships

The first premise is supported by results from research that showed that spending too much time on social media derails a romantic relationship since an individual may feel unimportant (Irani et al., 2018). When one partner is addicted to social media, they may fail to appreciate the presence of the other, therefore making their spouse feel unimportant to them.

Social media websites enable users to keep certain information private. Such information may include a user’s location, age, sex and even relationship status. As a result, this ability to privatize certain information has led to mistrust among couples. Research shows that a partner who keeps his relationship status as ‘private’ on Facebook is viewed as untrustworthy by the other (Nongpong et al., 2016). Also, people tend to present false personalities of themselves on social media hence further supporting this premise.

The ability to view and see someone’s profile on social media platforms has raised the question of invasion of privacy and personal boundaries. Some researchers have proved cases where a user account is hacked, and their vital personal information leaked to individuals or exposed to other social media platforms. It is a clear violation of privacy, and doing so puts people’s relationships at risk because the exposed information may be damaging to both or an individual partner. Also, the intentions of social media users are not known. Some people use these platforms to bully other users which have resulted in shaming and even self-harming. Research shows that social media plays a major role in the number of suicide cases across the globe (Pourmand et al., 2019).

Analysis of the Reasoning on Both Sides

From the arguments, it is clear that both claims provide a solid support for their conclusions. Data from extensive scholarly research support the arguments. However, the conclusions of these arguments contradict each other resulting in the question of how which of the two arguments mostly seems true.

Researchers, like any other human, have fallacies and biases. They too may have biased points of view when approaching such issues. For example, a scholar whose research backs the argument that social media is helpful in relationships may concentrate more on the importance and positive impacts of social media in marriages. Researchers opposing this argument will emphasize the disadvantages of social media and how it breaks up marriages. As a result, it is challenging to support only one argument of whether social media benefits relationships or is damaging. However, careful study of scholarly sources on both sides of the arguments enables one to be aware of the impacts, both positive and negative, of social media on relationships.

From my research of both arguments, I have discovered that getting addicted to social media has a damaging effect on relationships. However, controlled social media use has numerous advantages making it effective in establishing relationships. Comparing the risks of social media and how it helps relationships, the rewards outweigh the risks.

Conclusion

People tend to research for evidence that supports their point of view. For one to be a critical thinker, you have to seek the truth by understanding the best arguments of both sides of an issue. Doing so enables you to be fair and open to changing your perspective, depending on which side provides the strongest evidence. Researching the effects of social media in relationships, I have discovered solid support for conflicting positions. One side shows strong support that social media damages human relationships, and the other proves how controlled social media use helps to build and establish relationships.

References

Braithwaite, S. R., Doxey, R. A., Dowdle, K. K., & Fincham, F. D. (2016). The unique influences of parental divorce and parental conflict on emerging adults in romantic relationships. Journal of Adult Development, 23(4), 214-225.

Hertlein, K. M., & Ancheta, K. (2014). Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in Relationships: Findings from an Open-Ended Survey. Qualitative Report, 19(11).

Irani, Z. B. & Rezaei, T. (2018). The Effects of Social Networking on Marital Relationships and Couples Quality of Life (Case Study: Couples of Social Networking Members in Shiraz). Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 6(04), 72-78.

Nongpong, S., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2016). I don’t care much as long as I am also on Facebook: Impacts of social media use of both partners on romantic relationship problems. The Family Journal, 24(4), 351-358.

Pourmand, A., Roberson, J., Caggiula, A., Monsalve, N., Rahimi, M., & Torres-Llenza, V. (2019). Social media and suicide: a review of technology-based epidemiology and risk assessment. Telemedicine and e-Health, 25(10), 880-888.

Tosun, L. P. (2012). Motives for Facebook use and expressing “true self” on the Internet. Computers in human behavior, 28(4), 1510-1517.