{"id":406,"date":"2019-05-06T08:48:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T00:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/?p=406"},"modified":"2019-05-06T08:48:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T00:48:04","slug":"how-has-social-media-redefined-what-it-means-to-be-sociable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/2019\/05\/06\/how-has-social-media-redefined-what-it-means-to-be-sociable\/","title":{"rendered":"How Has Social Media Redefined What It Means to be Sociable?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Abstract: <\/strong>It is time for us to retire the rumour that social media will be the end of fully developed social skills and replace physical social interactions. One of the main purposes so many people use social media platforms is to augment, facilitate and supplement real life communication. Social media maintains strong social ties with our existing friendship circle, diversifies and expands our social networks, alongside giving more people to opportunity to become more sociable than ever before. Social media platforms has strengthened social interactions in the public sphere and affected younger generations social identities by expanding social networks, facilitating real life interactions and creating stronger social ties with each other, redefining traditional ideologies of what it means to be sociable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Has Social Media Redefined What It Means to be Sociable?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media has revolutionised communication and what it means to be social. Previously to the digital age, many would define a social interaction as communication with a real life physical presence. However, as we continue to progress into this technological era this idea of social relations has begun to transform into a hybrid of face to face communication and online interactions. Social media enhance one\u2019s social network through multiple platforms that allow users to connect through shared pieces of their identity and life. The platforms enable around the clock connections to family, friends, work colleges and other people that have crossed one\u2019s life, sustaining social ties with individuals even when they are not physically with the person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, when you type social media into the internet thousands of articles with negative connotations will pop up, blaming the networking sites for inflicting a world of narcissism, addiction and mental health issues upon our society. However, it is the isolation that is forced onto social media users and the damage on social skills that has been a present concern since the early days of the digital world. When in fact if we take a step back and look at how we socialise as a community in the 21st<\/sup> century, it is almost completely facilitated through social networking sites. The digital advances in social media allow individuals to connect on a global scale, communicate through safe environments, expand social networks and increase social opportunities. Using social media can no longer be considered as only a social activity, as technology is no longer something you use to fill in for time. There continues to be a fragmented definition on what a true social life is supposed to look like, as many continue to reject the validity of social media relations. However, this just shows signs of a regressive mind set. We have clearly transformed into this technology-inclusive society, therefore our traditional ways of life, including our social relations need to update for us to continually progress into this future. Social media platforms has strengthened social interactions in the public sphere and affected younger generations social identities by expanding social networks, facilitating real life interactions and creating stronger social ties with each other, redefining traditional ideologies of what it means to be sociable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Facilitates Real Life Interactions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an age\nold (but not that old) myth that since the introduction of technologies, such as\nmobile phones and tablets, alongside the creation of social media, the younger\ngenerations have become increasingly anti-social. A reoccurring idea that if\nsomeone is engaged with digital device that they are in fact disconnected from\nthe world around them. Wrong. If anything, one of social medias greatest\nfeatures is that it facilitates real life interactions. Through the ability to interact\nglobally, alongside social platforms that connect people through location,\ninterests and mutual friends it had become easier than ever to bridge social\nties. Results from studies on the effect of social media on social networks\nshowcase that point, that social media is eliminating social isolation. In\nparticular, a study by Burke, Marlow and Lento (2010) on college students saw\nthat participants with greater social media use had experienced reduced\nloneliness. Additionally, a comparative study on high school students from 1978\n\u2013 2012 by Griffith University and the University of Queensland, saw that the\nyoung adults of the 21st<\/sup> century were feeling less isolated than\nthose of their predecessors. This research suggests that the younger\ngenerations relationship with technology has led them to become more social\nadept in terms of their ability to connect with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A paper by Jung\nhighlights his fears that too much energy and time spent on online interactions\nis taking precious time and focus off maintaining real life connections. He\nbelieves that a social platforms purpose is to distract the individual from\nreality, in a digital world where no \u201creal social ties are being made\u201d. Jung\nsummarises by suggesting that social interaction can only be considered\nmeaningful if it is performed in real life environments. Jung fails to see the\nworld in this new technological progressive light where both online and\nphysical interactions should be recognised as having the same meaningful impact\nupon social relations. As mentioned before, many physical social interactions\nwould never have been made without the facilitation of social networking\nplatforms. Whether someone is messaging you on Facebook to grab a coffee, or\nchecking Snapchat maps to see your location to hang out, they continue to help\nconnect and create conversation between each other. This is seen as combining \u201cvarious\ncommunication medias together\u201d, which individuals constantly partake in, and\nthis connects to their personal networks (Boase, 2008). The communication through\ndifferent social networks is not considered as one personal communication\nsystem rather than as separate social worlds (Boase, 2008). This communication\noffline and online both have a substantial amount of impact on ones online and\noffline social relations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another common\nconcern is that through the constant use of social networks there is potential that\nit will distract people from receiving those face-to-face interactions.\nHowever, social media supplements and even enhances real life interactions\nrather than displace it. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have a\nkey purpose to connect friends and encourage that real-life communication.\nFacebook for example, can send you online invitations to social events, and\nallow direct messaging where you can organise to hang out in person with friends.\nSocial media has become a tool that enables us to discover and reconnect with\nfriends and be immediately updated with their lives since you were last in\ntouch. Pew Research Centre stated that \u201cmore than eight-in-ten social\nmedia-using teens say social media makes them more connected to information\nabout what is happening in their friends\u2019 lives and 70 percent say these social\nplatforms better connect them to their friends\u2019 feelings\u201d (2015). This\nkind of instant connection and discovery would have never happened if it was\nnot for the introduction of networking sites. Many applications encourage\nonline conversations that are followed up by a face to face interactions. Social\nmedia platforms Tinder and Skout encourage local singles to interact online,\nconverse through the apps to build their connection and then meet in face to\nface. Additionally, \u2018Nexercise\u2019 a fitness based app brings like-minded and\nhealth conscious people together to communicate, discuss and build friendships.\nIt also suggests local gym classes, cooking tutorials and other health events\nin your area, in hopes to encourage that face-to-face social ties. Real life\ncommunication is still incredibly important, and social media is not trying to\nreplace it but supplement and encourage those face-to-face interactions. Social\nmedia communication does not damage ones social skills as it reflects a similar\nsocialising style of offline interactions. Social media aids the maintenance of\nrelationships, while supplementing \u201crelationships in between face-to-face\nengagements, coordinated plans, and connect online amidst physical and\ngeographic barriers\u201d (Davis, 2018). This reiterates that social media does not\ninduce anti-social behaviour, but in most cases strengthens real life social\nties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding Social Networks <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our social\nnetworks are growing at a rapid rate, and as a result are becoming more diverse\nthanks to the use of social media. Social media supplies users with little\nsnippiest of activity and actions of their friends and acquaintances lives that\nhelp them maintain a direct connection. In particular, social media plays a\ncrucial role in how the younger generations interact with the world and others.\nAccording to the Pew Research Centre, 88% of young adults use social media,\nwith Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat being the most common platforms for\ncommunicating with their social networks. They use the social platforms to\ncreate stronger social ties with their existing friends, as more than \u201cnine in\nten teens say they spend time with friends on social media\u201d (Pew Research\nCentre, 2018). Some believe that the networking sights are in fact distracting\nindividuals from building social relations in the physical world (Wegmann,\nStodt & Brand, 2015). However, according to a study by Ellison, Lampe and\nSteinfield on under-graduate college students, the use the social media site,\nFacebook positively correlated to maintaining and deepening existing social\nrelationships (2007). These platforms that share up to date information of our\nactivity almost act as a social lubricant for real life relationships, as it\nprovides topics of conversation, key information on friends and highlights\nshared interests to ease social interactions with other (Farfan, 2013). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media\nis not only a great tool for maintaining strong connections with friends, but\nan amazing platform for discovering new social ties at a global scale that\nwould have never been achievable without the networking sites. In a study on\nyoung adults, the use of Facebook increased their social diversity, as it had a\npositive link to forming new relationships. The results suggested that this influenced\ntheir psychological state, as it showed \u201cgreater benefits for users\nexperiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction\u201d levels (Ellison, Lampe &\nSteinfield, 2007). Social media enables users to get to know new friends at a\nfaster rate than in real life through their online activity, allowing users to\nbecome more comfortable and build stronger connections. In 2015, almost 64% of\nteenagers that had made a new, was performed through the use of social\nnetworking sites. Additionally, two-thirds of teens share their social media\nusernames and profiles as their first point of communication with new friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These online\nplatforms continue to connect people synchronously and asynchronously, which\nallows individuals to diversify their social networks (Boase, 2008). Social media affords network diversity through its\ndirect and mediated access to social interaction even when the participation is\nin local social settings (Hampton, Lee & Her, 2011). Prior to social media,\nwe would meet new people by simply being at the right place at the right time,\nhowever due to the networking platforms we have access to greater and more\ndirect communication. Social media has given us individuals the opportunity for\nsome real personal growth as we can passively \u201cshare the lives of people we\nknow on Facebook and other social platforms\u201d (Reynolds, 2017).  Video blogger Gary Tuck made a comment that\nthe \u201cmedia we call social is anything but \u2026 we open\nour computers, and it is our doors we shut\u201d. The physical door may be\nshut, but social media platforms have just opened a multitude of doors for\nonline social interactions that one could never achieve in their outside\nenvironment alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effects of Social Media On individuals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuman\nnature craves human interaction, and that interaction cannot be effectively\nreplaced by technology\u201d Hampton stresses this point in her paper on the\nimportance of social interaction for children (2014). Social media is not\ntrying to replace but facilitate and aid face to face interactions. It is true\nthat social media is not only handled by adults, many young children are\ninteraction over the internet on a daily basis. The networking platforms have a\nlarge effect on the social lives of children, that no previous generations\nwould have experienced when growing up. However, these new generations of\nchildren will not be lacking crucial steps in the development of their social\nskills, in fact they might as well be the most social connected generation we have ever\nhad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study on the effect of\nSocial Media on children\u2019s development saw that its networking actually \u201chelps\nkids build their own identity and begin to establish social ties with online\nfriends\u201d (Valkenburg, Schouten, & Peter, 2005). Social media has enabled\nchildren who have a hard time socialising in person create friends online,\nexpand friendship circles and strengthen their real-life connections. To believe\nthat social networking will have a negative effect on the development of\nchildren\u2019s social skills is narrow-minded and conservative thinking as we\ncontinue to progress into this technology-inclusive society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personality\nfrom the offline to the online world does not change drastically. For example, a\nstudy by Teresa Correa et al. discovered that users \u201cappear\nto extend their offline personalities into the domains of online social\nnetworks\u201d (2010). Their study reiterated that people are not replacing \u201cone\nform of interaction with another\u201d but continue interaction patterns when\ntransitioning from the digital and physical. However, this does mean that\npeople who are quiet and not as sociable offline, do reflect a similar\npersonality when online. However, these media platforms do consistently courage\nsocial interactions but it is important to note that it is not the medium that\nis making them less sociable, it is just reflecting their existing style of social\ninteraction. It can be incredibly overwhelming to live in a world that relies a\nlot on social interactions, when you suffer from mental health issues such a\nsocial anxiety. This anxiety makes live very difficult for certain individuals\nas they find it hard to initiate and establish social interactions. Social\nmedia takes away this emotional exhaustion and nervous state that these people\nexperience in real life, as they experience more control over their social\nsituations and build social ties at a pace they are comfortable with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time for us to retire the rumour that social media will be the end of fully developed social skills and replace physical social interactions. One of the main purposes so many people use social media platforms is to augment, facilitate and supplement real life communication. Social media maintains strong social ties with our existing friendship circle, diversifies and expands our social networks, alongside giving more people to opportunity to become more sociable than ever before. The use of social media has strengthened our relationship as a society with social relations, redefining what it means to be social in the 21st<\/sup> century by creating a new generation that is more connected than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boase, J.\n(2008). Personal networks and the personal communication system. Information,\nCommunication & Society<\/em>, 11(4) 490-508.\nhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/13691180801999001<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke, M.,\nMarlow, C., & Lento, T. (2010). Social\nnetwork activity and social well-being. Pages Conference on Human Factors in\nComputing Systems, 1909-1912. https:\/\/doi:10.1145\/1753326.1753613<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis, J.\n(2018). Cyborgology: Does Social Media Make People Less\nSocial?. The Society Pages. Retrieved from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Does Social Media Make People Less Social?: A Research Note<\/a><\/blockquote>