Influence of Social Networking Sites on Relationships - Essay Example

ANTHROPOLOGY OF KINSHIP: HOW DO SOCIAL NETWORK SITES AFFECT KINSHIP AND OTHER RELATIONSHIPS? by goes here] Presented to [your name goes here] [your class name goes here] [your university’s name] [due date of the paper] Influence of Social Networking Sites on Relationships 1. Introduction Before going into the discussion regarding influence of social networking sites on relationships, let us get a better understanding of what social networking sites actually are. A social networking site is a form of media of the digital age that helps people in the development of communities and networks. Some of the most popular examples of social networking website include Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut. Among all of these websites or networking channels, Facebook is the one which is being widely used all over the world. “Facebook is a social networking website intended to connect friends, family, and business associates” (Myers 2010). Social networking websites provide many benefits to people such as social interaction with people from different societies, information sharing, developing kinship and other relationships, and facility to find old friends. Along with these benefits, there also exist some concerns regarding the negative use of these websites. In this paper, we will discuss how social network websites affect kinship and other relationships. 2. What is Anthropology of Kinship? In we talk from anthropological point of view; we can say that the system of kinship includes people who have close relationships between each other or those who are living as a unit or family. We create our own definition of family. We can decide to add and not add people depending on whether we trust them or consider them family. In this way, we actually go beyond defining kinship as just blood relationships and add such relationships to the definition that leave great impact on our lives. Some people believe that close relationships fall into the definition of kinship whereas some people believe that only a blood relationship is real kinship. Today, anthropology is heading towards forming new forms of kinship. For example, we can find many people on Facebook who have their close friends or childhood friends as their sisters and brothers. On the other hand, many people present on Facebook have blood relationships between each other. 3. Formation of Communities Anderson (2006), in his book, states, “Communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined”. Social networking sites, such as, Facebook, also helps people in the formation of imagined communities and networks. People can form such communities where there are no boundaries, no nation states, but a place where they can find people with whom they feel good. Facebook has made people less individualistic (Miller, 2011, p. 190). Facebook enables interaction between people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries. Everyone above the age of 12 can join Facebook. There is no limitation of gender, class, race, or social status. Facebook provides facility to the people to know each other and develop healthy relationships. Facebook provides a platform to the people from different backgrounds to communicate with each other, form communities, exchange valuable information, spend leisure time in a more useful way, and share new experiences. “The site makes chatter faster and more public -- two aspects that may have an impact on interpersonal relations” (Hines 2008). Facebook also establishes long lasting relationships between people, such as marriages, friendships, and business relationships. People can find suitable life partners using Facebook who have similar thoughts and feelings over different issues. We can observe many people around us who have chosen their life partners through Facebook. Therefore, we can say that social networking websites not only helps people in the formation of communities but also helps them develop long lasting relationships. 4. Traditional Communication – Provisional and Territorial Social networking sites have changed traditional mode of communication. “Sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have revolutionized interpersonal relationships for the digital age” (Nauert 2009). In the past, communications used to be provisional and territorial as compared to today. People had to contact each other through telephones and letters. For the people living abroad for work, there was no concept of day-to-day communication. They had to send letters to their kin and had to wait for long for their replies. There was no way through which they could remain in continuous and free of cost contact with each other. To know the difference, which has come to our lives through social networking websites, we can contact such people who have been living abroad for the last 10 to 15 years and have observed both ways of communication, which include traditional and modern modes of communication. We will get to know that traditional communication used to be bounded and provisional as compared to today where we have far more convenient and reliable way to communicate with our kin. Today, people do not have to wait for long to know the conditions of their kin in their home countries. Rather they can remain in contact with every family member. Today’s communication is also playing a key role in strengthening relationships between people. Social networking websites provide a platform through which they can enhance the strength of their relationships. 5. A New Way of Communication Social networking sites have given many people a link and a new way of communicating with their extended family. For example, people working in foreign countries can remain in contact with their families who are in their home countries. Social websites do not let distant people feel alone or sad because of being far away from their loved ones. People can post on the walls of their loved ones but also can chat with each other whenever they want. Alba and Stay (2008, p. 24) state, “Facebook is a networking platform”. I personally interviewed a maid who said that without using Facebook, she had never ever been much close to her family. She is living with a family for nearly 24 years. She used to write letters to her family and the letters were usually sent to her close family members, such as, sisters and parents. Therefore, she lost communication with many of her family members. However, once she started using Facebook, she started feeling close to her other family members more than ever. Now she says that she is able to remain in contact with all of her family members and close friends. She can send messages to them and can also see their pictures. She had never seen her niece but now she is able to see her pictures and share her feelings with her whenever she wants. Now she has no time management problem as she can hook up to the social website anytime to watch her family’s activities. Now she has day to day information of all of her family members and friends. She does not feel alone now because she has developed her interest in using Facebook. I also interviewed a friend of mine who is from Mauritania. She does not get the chance to be with her family because she has a big family and her family members are spread in different parts of the world for educational or job issues. Before using Facebook, she used to feel disconnected from her kin both physically and emotionally. However, after knowing and using Facebook, she has started feeling very good because now she is connected to all of her cousins and younger aunts. Now, she even knows their music choice and habits. She listens to the songs that they share on Facebook, watches Youtube clips sent by them, and sends comments. She can read their personal information and can know their daily activities. Therefore, we can say that it was Facebook, which helped her connect to her kin and know them personally. 6. Face To Face Interaction Vs Internet Interactions Wheeldon (2010) states, “The main use of social networking sites is interaction and communicating with others”. Facebook and other social networking websites have decreased face-to-face communications by promoting virtual communication system. However, they have increased interpersonal communication. Computer mediated communication enhances interpersonal communication (Walther 1996). People are more attracted to this virtual mode of communication as compared to the traditional one. Face-to-face interactions are more result-oriented and focused as compared to internet interactions. The reason is that in face-to-face interactions, we can observe the emotions, gestures, and feelings of other people whereas in internet-based interactions, the case is different. We can just read the message but cannot read the feelings or emotions behind the message. Apart from this difference, use of internet-based interactions is on rise because it facilitates people in sending messages from any part of the world. We often see such cases in which people even living under the same roof interact with each other using social networking websites. 7. Negative Impact on Nuclear Families Although there are a number of positive effects of using social networking websites on relationships within the extended family, there also exist some negative aspects for the nuclear families. In many households, most of the siblings stay on their computers (mostly on social networking sites), which causes less face to face interactions between the people living under the same roof. A lot of people feel more comfortable being behind a computer screen whether they are just browsing the internet or watching shows. However, we can observe that a social networking site is always open in the background. People like to send comments and messages to their friends and ignore the people who live with them in the same house. Some people even wish happy birthday to their siblings through Facebook even they can wish them directly. This is a very negative aspect of using such websites because it decreases the affection and care that one should have for the closest family members living under the same roof. People share their feelings with others through Facebook and ignore their real relationships. 8. Some Other Concerns The opposing viewpoint regarding social networking websites is that they do not help people establish long lasting relationships; rather being just a waste of time. Opponents of such websites believe that social websites are a way to deceive other people through fake profiles. It is true up to some extent, but the rising ratio of successful relationships built through social networking websites overshadows this concern. Some other serious concerns which most of the people have in their minds regarding social networking websites include interaction with unknown people, wastage of time, and decreased interest in studies. Parents also have a concern regarding excessive use of social networking websites by children. Parents do not want their children to form networks with strangers. They believe that children make social interactions with unfamiliar people on social websites, which poses a threat to the safety and security of the children. This is a valid concern of parents. However, as far as friendships are concerned, social networking websites are a good platform to find good friends. Wittkower (2010, p. 120) states, “If Facebook promotes friendship and if friendship is a good thing, why do we so often feel as if we’ve been wasting time when we are facebooking?”. Therefore, we can say that, social networking websites, such as, Facebook and Twitter, are innovative ways to create online presence and to connect with friends and relatives with whom we cannot remain in contact in any other way. 9. Privacy Concern Improper privacy is also one of the major concerns of using social networking websites. Some people disclose very personal information to their internet friends whom they do not know personally. Some people also cheat children through social networking websites by pretending to be their relatives or close friends. Not every person is well skilled in setting highest privacy level of his/her account. One can see other person’s profile easily in case of normal privacy settings. Therefore, we can say that privacy is really a major concern. 10. Illegal Relationships Social networking sites have also proved to be harmful for marital relationships in some cases. The point is that some men and women develop sex relationships with other men and women, which result in harming their legal marital relationships. People develop virtual relationships and hide them from their real life partners (Boellstorff, 2008, p. 172). We have seen such cases in which a wife or a husband makes a friend using Facebook and hides the relationship from the legal partner. In such cases, marital relationship is affected badly because people start feeling more involved in their new partners (friends) instead of their actual life partners. Trust is the foundation of marital relationship. If trust breaks, the structure of the marital relationship also breaks. Cheating is something, which harms marital relationship more than anything else does. Social networking websites provide a good opportunity to the people to develop relationships with other people. However, it depends on the users whether they develop healthy and open relationships or they develop illegal and hidden relationships. Social networking websites do not restrict friendship messages or personal messages between friends. A person can make a large number of friends and can develop illegal relationships with some special friends. Such relationships are harmful and dangerous for the existence of marital relationships. Therefore, we can say that where social networking websites promotes long-term relationships and friendships, they also provide a platform to people to develop such relationships, which are not bearable for married people. 11. Conclusion Summing it up, social networking websites affect kinship and other relationships both positively and negatively. The evaluation based on the applicability of social networking websites in different areas of human life proves that it is a very useful way for the people to establish long-term relationships. Although some concerns exist regarding use of such websites as a mode of communication, but those concerns are unable to overshadow the benefits for relationships that are associated with the use of such websites. References Alba, J & Stay, J 2008, I’m On Facebook, Now What???, Happy About, California. Anderson, B 2006, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London. Boellstorff, T 2008, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, Princeton University Press, New Jersey. Hines, T 2008, Is Facebook Helping or Hurting Your Love Life?, viewed 03 January, 2012, . Miller, D 2011, Tales from Facebook, Polity Press, Cambridge. Myers, J 2010, What is Facebook?, viewed 30 December, 2011, . Nauert, R 2009, Relationships on Facebook, Social Networks, viewed 03 January, 2012, . Walther, J 1996, ‘Computer-Mediated Communication’, Communication Research, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 3-43. Wheeldon, E 2010, A Social Society: The Positive Effects of Communicating through Social Networking Sites, viewed 30 December, 2011, . Wittkower, D 2010, Facebook and Philosophy: Whats on Your Mind?, Open Court Publishing, Chicago. Read More