Social Media

There are two kinds of relationships: business and personal. And when it comes to social media, there are pros and cons for both. Within the business world, social media is mainly pros. One of the biggest is that it gets advertisements out to a lot of people and it spreads quickly. The only con I can think of is that not everyone has a Facebook and Twitter account. But even then you can argue that most of their friends probably do have at least one of those accounts and will most likely hear it from them.

          When it comes to personal relationships, it is a much bigger argument on whether the cons outweigh the pros or vice versa. Personally, I think the cons outweigh the pros; especially in romantic relationships. As David Wygant said in The New York Times debate, “Social media is what I’d call a romance contraceptive.” I agree with this statement because it’s not real life. So, yes, technically you are talking to real people and having a real conversation. But here’s the thing: when you sit behind the computer or cell phone screen, it is not the same as a face to face conversation. It is basically like you are hiding behind the computer and when that happens you aren’t the same as you are in person.

          Dating sites, in particular, is one of the biggest ways people hide behind the computer. I definitely think that dating sites are great ways to for a more timid person to start finding their special someone. But having a relationship online is not real. People want to join dating sites because they here success stories on commercials and from friends. But they didn’t get married over the internet. They had to meet and person and actually figure out who the real person was. An online profile is only going to tell you the good parts about a person and none of their flaws; you learn those when you are getting to know them in person.

          A lot of people find it easier to text or talk to someone online easier than in person or on the phone. And that is because of all the opportunities given to us to do that by social media. We all want to take the easy way out sometimes and it is given to us daily. For someone who is shy around new people and has trouble finding their special someone, they will give in to these opportunities. And once they realize how much easier it is, what is left of their personal communication skills will be gone.

          Facebook causes an insane amount of unnecessary drama just by one little post or a ‘like’ of someone else’s post. When couples are on Facebook, they are always looking at each other’s walls and seeing if anybody new posted anything. And all it takes is one person to get jealous over something probably not that important to either have a huge fight or even break up. “Twenty percent of divorces involve Facebook,” wrote Demetria L. Lucas in The New York Times Debate. To me this is not only shocking, but incredibly stupid. If you are going to get that upset or jealous over something that happened on Facebook, you and your partner probably shouldn’t be together in the first place.

         Social media is debilitating important communication skills that we need to get by in life. Yes, it can be good, but romantic relationships are difficult enough by themselves sometimes, so why add in social media on top of that? By making it a part of a relationship, you are pretty much setting yourself up for a loss. So just be you…in person.

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