It is just amazing how many people spend countless hours on social
networks each day - could it be they are addicted to the process? What if
the Internet goes down, what will they do then I wonder? Not long ago, I
was discussing this with an acquaintance, who seemed to be enthralled by
it all, and believed that it was a positive thing for human
relationships. Well, there are "some" positive aspects to this sort of
communication, but overall I'd say it is a net-negative.
For instance, it is hurting productivity in the work place, it is taking
time away from real family and friends, and it is clouding the true
definition of friendship as well. My acquaintance stated that social
networks are allowing people to make friends on a daily basis. Well, yes,
but when we say "Friendships" - how do you define that? What is a real
friend? Someone "friending" you on a Facebook page doesn't mean they are
a 'real friend' - you may never have met them, don't know anything about
them, don't really want to meet them, or even give them any more
information than what you've already posted for all to see.
My acquaintance suggests that people go to these networking sites to make
long-lasting friendships. They may think that is what they are doing
granted, but it appears to me more about self-gratification and about
"self-validation" or wanting to belong, or low-self esteem uplifting? I'd
say many people go onto social online networking for many other reasons,
they themselves may not even fully understand.
Is there more than one psychological human trait that these sites use to
harness the needs, wants, and desires of their subscribers? Yes, it
appears that they've done an excellent job tapping into the mass
psychology. Indeed, if this is the case isn't it drawing out all the
insecurities, and problems with humanity? In doing so, in using the
allure of "belonging" and then having folks participate in conversations
geared towards the lowest common denominator, aren't we merely dummying
down society and making all humans stupid as hell? I mean I hate to put
it bluntly here, but think about it?
We did note that when the average American began watching 2-3 hours of TV
per day that the average grades in school went down, along with the
overall IQ of the masses. Now it seems folks online have already
surpassed that number of online hours, and not a lot of higher-end
thought is going on these days on these online social networks, so the
excuse that people are making more friends online and thus, it's good for
humanity, simply is a total falsehood. Please consider all this.