The communications in the modern social networking sites are characterized by the almost instantaneous feedback regarding one’s behavior or emotional state from close people as well as acquaintances. Although people may sometimes become victims of verbal abuse, it is fair to argue that most of the normally functioning online spaces are usually associated with the prevalence of social support. Manago et al. (2012) argue that the more online ‘friends’ an individual has, the more is the person’s perceived social support on the social media platforms. Moreover, the research indicates that the ability to make posts that are visible to the entire network has transformed private intimacy into public intimacy (Manago et al., 2012). For instance, now, social media users prefer sharing their emotions with all their online friends instead of contacting their close friends or relatives via phone calls or personal messages. Yet, the critical analysis of this information suggests that the actual intimacy level is falling rather than transforming from the private to the public sphere. Still, modern social media users, especially younger ones, may not be fully aware of this fact as it is obscured by perceived social support.
Being intimate with many people may actually serve different purposes, such as attention-seeking and personal status manipulation than actually seeking a deep connection with the audience. Although it is possible that some individuals are genuine, it is reasonable to assume that the majority practices such type of behavior for the sake of personal-image management. Firstly, it is explained by the fact that historically, people avoided discovering their weaknesses (genuine intimacy assumes revealing one’s ‘sensitive spots’) as it made them vulnerable. Secondly, the tendency toward increased narcissism due to social media usage seemingly contradicts the assumption that people would reveal their true shortcomings to others (Manago et al., 2012). Therefore, public intimacy cannot be equal to the intensity of face-to-face intimacy, which implies that the quality of intimate relations in society would decrease. This tendency is aggravated by the person’s perceived levels of social support, which substitutes the need for deep connections. However, many people know from personal experience that during truly difficult times, the support of one close friend is worth more than that of twenty acquaintances.
Consequently, such a situation may result in reduced ability, especially among young generations, to build deep and meaningful relationships with others. Then, the lack of ‘true’ support during difficult periods in life may increase the number of psychological problems and reduce life satisfaction. Moreover, diminished abilities to have deep relations may potentially lead to lower empathic skills, which, in turn, would lead to frequent conflicts. Therefore, such a problem should be addressed as soon as possible. In this regard, it is suggested that schools start to provide classes that aim to increase students’ digital skills, including the importance and manners of building intimate interpersonal relations. Doing so would ensure that global society preserves one of the central qualities that determine the extent of the humanness of every individual.
Reference
Manago, A. M., Taylor, T., & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The Anatomy of college students’ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369-380.