Social Networks: Are they making us less social?

[Thomas]

I've recently taken a break from most of all the social networks that I frequent (and it is a lot of them), and I've found myself having a heck of a lot more free time now that I don't use them, but it's been hard because I've almost become fully reliant on them to keep in touch with most of my good friends (that and texting). Now that I've taken a hiatus from them, I feel like I've been disconnected since I've stopped. There still my really close friends that I see and talk to on the phone, but the others I haven't really talked to since I started this whole adventure.

My question to everyone is: Has social networks made us less social? I mean, yes we've got the interaction online, but social in the sense of going out into the world and being put in situations to physically be in the same room with the other person and be put into situations where we can meet new people the conventional way.

Now forums, I don't really count because most of the people that you would encounter on message boards or forums would be people that you wouldn't normally meet in everyday life because their topic are interest specific. On Twitter and (more so) Facebook most of the people that you interact with are people that you know in real life. Are these site and networks helping or hurting us?

What do you guys think?

 

[Shining Raichu]

The convenience they provide does have that side-effect. We stop interacting personally, and it becomes easier to interact online. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though, just different. We will find the balance eventually.

 

[Thomas]

The convenience they provide does have that side-effect. We stop interacting personally, and it becomes easier to interact online. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though, just different. We will find the balance eventually.

There definitely needs to be a balance, but I think that it is hard for it to come naturally. I think that when these things come into our lives we shouldn't change are habits around them. They are great communication tools, but they should be used as a supplement our social lives, not take them over.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Now forums, I don't really count because most of the people that you would encounter on message boards or forums would be people that you wouldn't normally meet in everyday life because their topic are interest specific.

I disagree.
I meet people like that at night clubs and random places in the day. I guess you just have to know where to look.

Personally, I partly agree that social networking has had a negative effect on physical social scene, but it is about balance. If someone just sits inside all the time and does nothing but online social networking, then they are suffering from the downside to this. However, you need to find a balance, one of which I think I have found.
I have RL friends that I see often and I do things in the day or night if I wish and if they are free. But, there are times when I think I am just sat inside on the computer, but that doesn't really bother me too much.​

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[Thomas]

I disagree.
I meet people like that at night clubs and random places in the day. I guess you just have to know where to look.

Personally, I partly agree that social networking has had a negative effect on physical social scene, but it is about balance. If someone just sits inside all the time and does nothing but online social networking, then they are suffering from the downside to this. However, you need to find a balance, one of which I think I have found.
I have RL friends that I see often and I do things in the day or night if I wish and if they are free. But, there are times when I think I am just sat inside on the computer, but that doesn't really bother me too much.​

Yes, depending on the size of the city that you live in, you could find many people that share a specific like, hobby, or interest. But for those who live in small towns or out in the country interest-specific message boards or forums might be the only place to chat about these things.

But on the non-forum side. Yeah, sitting in front of a computer all day and then saying that social networks make people anti-social is not even an argument at all. I'm just saying replacing RL relationships with people for Online relationships with those same people is what these sites are doing.

 

[Tsutarja]

I lost all hope on Myspace... Facebook i visit but dont update... however within the past two months Ive been getting back into posting on Twitter.. I hate 140 character limits, but unlike most people, i communicate with most of my followers frequently and do follow some media-related accounts. I dont want fame or all that globber others wish for.

As for the question about us being less social, I can agree to the factor that you tend to communicate with those you know up front, but if you talk more and more on Facebook per se, I can see how people can drift away...

 

[Thomas]

I lost all hope on Myspace... Facebook i visit but dont update... however within the past two months Ive been getting back into posting on Twitter.. I hate 140 character limits, but unlike most people, i communicate with most of my followers frequently and do follow some media-related accounts. I dont want fame or all that globber others wish for.

As for the question about us being less social, I can agree to the factor that you tend to communicate with those you know up front, but if you talk more and more on Facebook per se, I can see how people can drift away...

The drifting away thing, Its happened to me with a couple of friends. The really sucky thing about it is...that most of the time after we stopped hanging out, we were just chatting on Facebook or replying on twitter...and then eventually that stopped too. And was sucks even more I get the feeling that if Facebook wasn't there we would still be close friends.

Oh and as for the character limit on Twitter...I like it. XD The short bursts of communication between each other. Very minimalistic...I like that.

 

[aruchan]

I've recently taken a break from most of all the social networks that I frequent (and it is a lot of them), and I've found myself having a heck of a lot more free time now that I don't use them, but it's been hard because I've almost become fully reliant on them to keep in touch with most of my good friends (that and texting). Now that I've taken a hiatus from them, I feel like I've been disconnected since I've stopped. There still my really close friends that I see and talk to on the phone, but the others I haven't really talked to since I started this whole adventure.

My question to everyone is: Has social networks made us less social? I mean, yes we've got the interaction online, but social in the sense of going out into the world and being put in situations to physically be in the same room with the other person and be put into situations where we can meet new people the conventional way.

Now forums, I don't really count because most of the people that you would encounter on message boards or forums would be people that you wouldn't normally meet in everyday life because their topic are interest specific. On Twitter and (more so) Facebook most of the people that you interact with are people that you know in real life. Are these site and networks helping or hurting us?

What do you guys think?

It probably has, but it is also really useful. xD Like, I go to a high school where half the people I interact with (I'm in the AP crowd, lol) do sports/extracurriculars/cure cancer afterschool, so social networking allows me to communicate with them despite that time impediment. Plus, although it is *obviously* evil, I still am hooked to Facebook.

 

[moments.]

I partly agree that we are becoming less sociable with social networking sites, but I think with the right balance, it can enhance it. I intend to cut down how much I use Facebook and use it only for organising things / if I really need to talk to someone.

Also though, like if you meet someone just vaguely and add them on Facebook or whatever, you can further get to know them (through social networking) and then after becoming better acquainted, then you can hang out and stuff.

 

[Thomas]

It probably has, but it is also really useful. xD Like, I go to a high school where half the people I interact with (I'm in the AP crowd, lol) do sports/extracurriculars/cure cancer afterschool, so social networking allows me to communicate with them despite that time impediment. Plus, although it is *obviously* evil, I still am hooked to Facebook.

Well I wouldn't say it's evil. Like I said before, people just need to use them wisely and supplement their social actions with them, no replace their existing ones.

I partly agree that we are becoming less sociable with social networking sites, but I think with the right balance, it can enhance it. I intend to cut down how much I use Facebook and use it only for organizing things / if I really need to talk to someone.

Also though, like if you meet someone just vaguely and add them on Facebook or whatever, you can further get to know them (through social networking) and then after becoming better acquainted, then you can hang out and stuff.

I think that the right balance is right too, but I find that more and more people are replacing these physical and tangible interactions with online ones, which sucks because sometimes it is really hard to come back from that. As for meeting people online and then becoming IRL friends...I find that on Facebook it is a lot harder to do that because everything is so closed off, but on Twitter I think that is a lot more common because you can follow people at will.

 

[moments.]

I agree that if you are wanting to meet people online, Facebook is too closed, but I meant like if you go to a party and there's someone you are just introduced to who is like a friend of a friend.
I like to think of Facebook as social networking for real life friends, and others like Twitter for those online relationships. :P

 

[Thomas]

I agree that if you are wanting to meet people online, Facebook is too closed, but I meant like if you go to a party and there's someone you are just introduced to who is like a friend of a friend.
I like to think of Facebook as social networking for real life friends, and others like Twitter for those online relationships. :P

Yeah, it is definitely mostly for IRL friends...Facebook that is...but, I find that a lot of times with those kind of acquaintances...friends of friends...Facebook turns those type of relationships into something less important when most of the time that you interact is through the site instead of out and about...but that is just what I feel.

 

[Meinfoo]

I think that social networking actually aids social interactions.

When people are actually networking on a site like Facebook or Myspace (and not playing a "social" game like Farmville) they are actually getting to know each other and are able to have quite open conversations with people they may not have got to have the opportunity to do so before.

Also, a social networking site is a great tool to meet up with old friends and make new ones. If people post status updates of where they are holidaying you could perhaps meet up with them, or just spend some time together. Lots of social opportunities have opened up for me (concerts, celebrations and parties) from social networking sites.

That's my two cents anyway.

 

[Thomas]

I think that social networking actually aids social interactions.

When people are actually networking on a site like Facebook or Myspace (and not playing a "social" game like Farmville) they are actually getting to know each other and are able to have quite open conversations with people they may not have got to have the opportunity to do so before.

Also, a social networking site is a great tool to meet up with old friends and make new ones. If people post status updates of where they are holidaying you could perhaps meet up with them, or just spend some time together. Lots of social opportunities have opened up for me (concerts, celebrations and parties) from social networking sites.

That's my two cents anyway.

I think what you described would be the ideal way to use social networking sites, and using them to get events coordinated, and to meet up with people (and I think that Facebook places, foursquare, ditto, etc. has helped with this). And for the most part, I don't think that people use them this way. Mostly people don't use them this way, and this is why I think that I am right, because most of them play Farmville, play Mafia Wars, or any of those other games that hinder the correct use of these online social tools. And some could argue that there is no "correct way" to use these tools, but I think otherwise.

 

[Oryx]

I think what you described would be the ideal way to use social networking sites, and using them to get events coordinated, and to meet up with people (and I think that Facebook places, foursquare, ditto, etc. has helped with this). And for the most part, I don't think that people use them this way. Mostly people don't use them this way, and this is why I think that I am right, because most of them play Farmville, play Mafia Wars, or any of those other games that hinder the correct use of these online social tools. And some could argue that there is no "correct way" to use these tools, but I think otherwise.

I don't think "correct way" is the way to phrase it. It would seem to be more like the most effective way to use social networking. There are many other ways that would be considered a correct way to use the tools, but less effective.

 

[lx_theo]

Its still social, just a much less personal type of social

 

[Thomas]

I don't think "correct way" is the way to phrase it. It would seem to be more like the most effective way to use social networking. There are many other ways that would be considered a correct way to use the tools, but less effective.

Yeah you are right, the most "effective" way would have been the better way to phrase that.

Its still social, just a much less personal type of social

Yeah, but I think the debate is whether or not losing the physical communication in favor of an online one is a good or bad thing.

 

[Meganium]

Twitter has taken over most of my social life than with Facebook. I'm starting to become a bit bored of it very slowly, but it's the temptation. I did attempt to leave Twitter for one week. I couldn't do it. I was back the next day. xD It's amazing how social media these days are so powerful.

In terms of what this topic is about, I would say yes and no. Yes, it is making us less social because we're not outside our homes as much as we used to be, and most of us seem to be on our mobile devices about 90% of the time when we're on the go. It's made a huge impact on our lives. I think it's a lot better that we should go out and interact with people more often than just sit on the desk and face the monitor for hours. No, because social media has changed the way we communicate with classmates, old friends, and people you haven't seen for a long time. Also, you can keep in touch with family members while living in distant cities. I pretty much use Facebook for that.

Twitter is just a different story. It's my mind's microblog. xD

 

[Meinfoo]

I think what you described would be the ideal way to use social networking sites, and using them to get events coordinated, and to meet up with people (and I think that Facebook places, foursquare, ditto, etc. has helped with this). And for the most part, I don't think that people use them this way. Mostly people don't use them this way, and this is why I think that I am right, because most of them play Farmville, play Mafia Wars, or any of those other games that hinder the correct use of these online social tools. And some could argue that there is no "correct way" to use these tools, but I think otherwise.

Exactly. Should we even consider those kinds of "non social" use of a social networking site social at all? I mean, they are essentially just games. I haven't really touched on them much, but from what I have heard, they are a huge time suck.

I agree with you on the correct use of a social networking site. You want to play a game, play a game. But I don't think it really counts for networking when you exchange in-game goods with other players. I could understand the social impact if it was a co-op game or something, where players have to communicate in order to win. Games like left 4 dead and such.

 

[Ctrl.Alt.Geak]

Its nice to be able to get in touch with old school friends, espcially when they have moved quite far away, thats a positive.

However since someone I know started using social networks she completely ignores her children, they will be talking to her and she does not even hear them, you have to tap her on the shoulder or something to even get a response. From the moment she wakes up until the moment she falls asleep she is on one. So while she may be socilaizing with her friends or other people, her kids are not getting the attention they need. She's not the only person who does this either.

I guess you could say that social networks have their positives, but like everything else they're to be used in moderation and not let them consume your life.