The Positive Effects of Social Networking Sites

The positive effects of social networking sites

Over the past few years, people have set a new mind-blowing rate for the development of social networking. Communications using the Internet as a channel, such as Facebook and Twitter, are becoming increasingly popular. “In 2009, a slew of news reports warned that social networking sites would ruin our bodies and brains by shortening our attention spans, weakening our immune systems and possibly fostering autism.” As social media become more integrated in our life, it makes us wonder: Is social networking beneficial or detrimental? From my perspective, I believe it is conducive for our society because these online communities strengthen relationships, build social capital and provide knowledge.

Social networking sites are excellent alternatives to real-world socializing. In other words, these online platforms allow people to build social capital. “Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor in telecommunications at Michigan State University who studies social networking sites, said that it does lower the barriers to tap into the friend networks you do have.” Facebook users mostly accrue the social capital through interactions, such as “liking” wall posts and sending event invitations to friends and contacts they’ve already met in the real world. Therefore, internet users compare to those non-users, often have larger social ties.

Online activities are good for in-person relationship and self-affirming. “We’ve found that the more people are engaged with Facebook, the better they feel,” said Moira Burke, a researcher at the Human-Computer Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. In my humble opinion, it is because users can “collect” friends and memorabilia from these friends, in the form of wall postings, gifts, and photo comments. These online interactions allow us to see those commonalities and initiate more frequent contact. In addition,