Social Capital, Relationships and Culture on the Internet: Embrace the revolution
by Bryce Sheehan
Ever since the emergence of the Internet, some critics have been claiming it will be the downfall of our traditional society. That the Internet will lead to loss of privacy, impersonal communications and isolation. I will argue differently, that the changes in society are less of a degradation, but rather a revolution. Children and teenagers are growing up with the Internet being a large part of their social interaction; from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace and other social networking services (SNS) through to emerging Web 2.0 services, bringing an new connectedness and a social culture. These changes in social culture, enabled by the use of the Internet, will change traditional social standards. The traditional society as a community is being overtaken by digital communication, we need to embrace this revolution.
