The development of the new technologies of communication coupled with the rapid increase in the access of internet globally has led the popular growth, spread, and use of social media. Today, more than 900 million people worldwide use social networks sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter among others (Walther, 2018). The users of social media use it mainly for the fulfilment of interpersonal social communication need. However, though social media is a good platform for communication, this does mean that its use is not faced with any pitfalls. The ironical situation that applies in the use of social media is that it is both a blessing and a curse in equal measure. The use of social media brings those far away closer but takes those closer far away, and this is the prevailing problem that the users face. The aspect of taking those close far way is the occurrence that erodes social interaction in real-life situations.
Presently, there is a habit developed in the addiction to the use of technology such as mobile phones that make people prefer spending almost their entire time of social sites to engaging in physical communications. People are no longer interested in talking verbally with each other and instead opt to instead send short messages or chat online via such social media platforms as WhatsApp. The tragedy we are faced with due to the prevalent use of social media is that social interaction is fading away and people are beginning to live a life of lies (Baym, Zhang, " Lin, 2014). Many people, if not all, nowadays go online and use social media to make themselves look good and make their lives sound amazing when in reality their lives are very different. Therefore, this synthesis essay seeks to provide answers to three important questions.
- What is the Influence of Social Media on Social communication?
- What is the influence of Social Media on Social Interaction?
- How is the use of Social Media and Virtual Reality related?
The Influence of Social Media on Social communication
The use of social media facilitates social communication. The social networking sites, as reported by Nicole, Ellison, " Lampe (2008), enable people to find friends, share videos, music, pictures, ideas, and photographs. The users make the most of these social media features to expand their social capital. The users are, therefore, able to continue connecting with their friend and sharing information. Slater (2007) agrees with the report by Nicole, Ellison, " Lampe that the users try to adopt the simulation of the social media practices to their daily life practices. For example, they send the pictures of hearts, flowers, beverages, and food on the special days to their friends. These pictures depict the symbols of the sent gifts. Therefore, social media has become preferred as the best avenue for interpersonal social communication over the face-to-face communication.
According to the findings of the studies conducted by both Baym et al. (2014) and Walther (2018), the usage of social media is a computer-mediated method of communication-related to the diverse characters and caters for the different needs and preferences of all the users. For instance, the people with communication difficulties and those that are introverted can use the sites of social networking to express their feelings much easily. They can share and write anything they want in any manner that they desire. The situation enables them to reflect themselves differently as they so wish, and this enhances social communication.
Contrary to the findings in the studies by Baym et al. (2014) and Walther (2018), Zhang, Johnson, Seltzer, " Bichard (2010) argue that the use of social media brings those far from us closer. Therefore, those to whom we are far much distant from and could have met physically are possible for us to share information and experience through the use of social media. The situation means that it becomes easy for us to communicate with those whom we have been separated from due to the geographical difference. Ellison, Steinfield, " Lampe (2010) validates the explanation of Zhang et al. (2010) and posit that through use of social media, the world is made to look to look like a “global village in one space of location, and this location is the social networking site.” In this context, we can reach any person with whom we so wish to communicate regardless of how far they are from us. The ability to communicate with any person in spite of their geographical location is an element of social media use that makes it enhance the interpersonal social communication. The process of communicating with another person who is far away from where one is via social media causes a situation referred to as the virtual proximity.
The virtual proximity boasts the features of social communication via social media that can be seen in the modern world as advantageous for the good reason of bringing us closer to those who are far. On the contrary, Katz, Lazarsfeld, " Roper (2017) fails to agree with the arguments of Zhang et al (2010). Katz, Lazarsfeld, " Roper (2017) determined the virtual proximity, though it brings those far from us closer, in reality, it cannot be obtained easily under the conditions that are not virtual since such communication only takes place in virtual/unreal world (social media). In the real world, however, the use of social media cannot make us feel the real social connection that we might experience when such people with whom we communicate via the social sites were close to us.
The influence of Social Media on Social Interaction
As argued by Baym, Zhang, " Lin (2014), the conflicting occurrence is that in spite of social media increasing the process of social communication, on the contrary, social interaction suffers that the expense of improved social communication. It is important that note that regardless of social interaction and social communication being interrelated, they are independent processes and the influence of the use of social media on them is unique and different. The relationship that exists between social communication and social interaction in relation to social media use is inverse in nature. The inverse relationship implies that an improved social communication is of a consequent meaning that the social interaction decreases, and the vice versa is true. Katz, Lazarsfeld, " Roper (2017) report that today, many people prefer to be lonely behind the closed doors of private rooms with their mobile phones within reach to communicate with their friends online over spending time with these same friends so as have some real face-to-face conversations. In this context, the use of social media inhibits social interaction. The use of social media reduces social interaction because it constrains the real activities of socializing with those whom we can reach physically.
Bachman (2009) supports the findings of Katz, Lazarsfeld, " Roper (2017). Bachman (2009) explains that there is a delicate imbalance between the rate at which we use social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter and the frequency with we engage in face-to-face communication. In the modern world, there is a disease of “social media addiction” where we would rather remain introvert in our houses and spend the whole while visiting the social sites than to be extroverts and go out to visit our friends and relatives. It is indeed quite a worrying trend because life has been deemed to both and start and end in social media. Once we have communicated with our friends and relatives via the social media sites, we feel no need to either visit or meet them physically. Even those who are times closer to us, we have developed the habit whereby we see that it is more convenient to talk with them on the social media sites than to look for them physically and have some real conversations. It gets much shocking because nowadays, we tell people who are even around within our same physical environment residence to send us their photos online instead of seeing them in the physical shape (Zhang et al., 2010).
For instance, a husband might be in the same house with his wife, and surprisingly enough, he tells her to send him some of her photos that she might have taken while she had gone out. the questions that one is compelled to ask is that: what is so good in the photos sent online than seeing the real person? Unfortunately, these are just but some of the few kinds of slavery that the use of social media has chained us down to at the expense of social interaction within the physical environment. Both Boyd " Ellison (2014) and Katz et al. (2017) agree that the preference of communicating via the social media platforms over the physical communication is the contributing factor to the reduced social interactions. In fact, social interaction is currently being viewed as a waste of time if not a bother. The findings by Walther (2018) confirm the reports of Boyd " Ellison (2014) and Katz et al. (2017) and elucidates that, currently, those who are chatting and sharing photos via the social media only enjoy communicating via Facebook or WhatsApp. What is funny is that none of them will rarely show any interest in making an effort to meet one another. In other words, the use of social media has been considered to be more appealing, satisfying, and convenient method of social connection on the online sites than interacting socially in the physical environment, hence, causing reduced social interactions.
The Relationship between Social Media use and Virtual Reality
The creation of virtual reality is one of the biggest problems in the use of social media as determined by Goffman (2009). Slater (2007) agrees with the argument of Goffman (2009) and clarifies that the images and pictures that people post of themselves are not the reality in their real-life situations. Therefore, it can be argued that social media enables the users to spread lies about themselves. One has the liberty to post whatever he or she wishes whether it is real or not because he or she has the freedom to do so with no refrain. An individual can also provide false information about him/herself because there is no avenue or method to prove their authenticity. As a result, it has become a common phenomenon for people to nowadays go online and make themselves look good than they are in reality. Similarly, the situation even gets worse because people can further make themselves sound amazing when in reality their lives are very different.
Bachman (2009) conducted a research to determine how the use of social media is related to the problem of virtual reality. In the study, Bachman found out that social media influences social interpersonal communication through the creation of a virtual world of communication. The increased coverage of internet network developed with the help of technological advancement enhances the use of social media. Therefore, the virtual world of communication created by the increased use of social media not only helps in the access to information but also promotes social communication.
Boyd " Ellison (2014) posit that the social media not only allow people to share, receive, and post messages but also allow them to interact with each other. Both the literature in the two studies by Ellison, Steinfield, " Lampe (2010) and Goffman (2009) provide a backing to the arguments of Boyd " Ellison (2014) by explaining that the increased use of social media; such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; facilitated by the improved access to the internet provides a social communication environment where the respective users are not real but rather anonymous. The users can login to these social network sites with their nicknames. The use of anonymous identities is not a reflection of the users’ real information and characteristics. Without the real identities, the social media users have the ability to share false personal information that does not reflect their lives in reality. The sharing of the false personal information makes it possible for the social media users to get the opportunity of making themselves look good and sound amazing online, yet, in reality, they are different.
Conclusion
The use of social media has positive and negative influences on social interaction and social communication and propagates the sharing of false information that rarely reflects the real identity of many people. In the use of social media, users can only express themselves using the internet when accompanied by the telecommunication devices in private rooms. When the users are not feeling safe, then, it is possible for them to simply end the process of communication, and this creates the occurrence of insincere interaction. Compared to the face-to-face communication, this does not apply and cannot be the case. Therefore, it can be justified that the use of social media can either destroy or improve the potential quality of sincerities in the social communication, social interaction, and real identity. The reason being, the social media are concerned with the roles and performance because the users are not visible physically. In this regard, depending on the moderation with which a person uses the social media, he or she can either enhance or derail his or her interpersonal social communications with others which consequently either increase or reduce the processes of social interactions.
References
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