Impact of Social Media on Relationships Essay Samle

As I stroll past stores at the mall, I can’t help but notice the innumerable people staring at Tiktok, Twitter, or Instagram. I used to be able to pace around the mall and see couples getting food and shopping together; however, now I only see pairs of people staring blankly at a bright screen. The way that people simply look at Tiktok, Twitter, or Instagram deeply perturbs me. Even though I try not to pay attention and relish my visit, I still get surrounded by couples using social media who don’t talk to each other whatsoever. Without a doubt, social media makes relationships bend, break, and crumble.

In particular, social media causes less affectionate relationships. Social media like Twitter causes less intimate relationships because they don’t allocate as much time together. In, “Is Social Media Hindering Our Face-to-Face Socialization Skills?” it states, “About half of teens prefer face-to-face communication because it is the most intimate” (Feliciano 2). This clearly shows that Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram make communication less intimate within relationships. Users of such social media struggle to spend adequate time with friends and family. For example, Billy, a young adult, wishes to start dating Vannessa from Twitter. He inquires about her phone number by text and they call each other. Vannessa and Billy make plans to travel to a coffee shop. Then, on the car ride home, they both post about the date, but neither of them articulate how they felt to each other. The relationship doesn’t stay afloat long before they break up because they never spent enough time with each other. Reliably, social media lets relationships fail and fail again.

Obviously, social media causes a lack of social skills. This shows that people who spend time on Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram can struggle to carry on conversations because they can’t express emotions properly. According to “Is Social Media Hindering Our Face-to-Face Socialization Skills?” it states, “Carothers said that frequent virtual interactions through social media lack emotion, and when coming face-to-face with a person, frequent users of social media may ‘miss some social cues’” (Feliciano 1). This clearly describes how social media like Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram make users inept when it comes to face-to-face communication. Moreover, when users of Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram attempt to talk in real life they may scramble to start conversations and even to keep them going. For instance, Jerry, a young teenager, has been informed by his friends that Instagram will help him connect with them. He downloads the app and begins to frequently use it to talk with friends and family. However, he quickly finds that when he goes to talk to people in real life, he grapples with starting any conversation. Assuredly, social media is the reason why users find time and time again they can’t get a relationship on its feet.

However, some may argue that social media promotes self-expression and showing one's true self. Although instead of advocating such topics, social media makes people feel as though they can only post their best self. For example, “Should Instagram Get Rid of Likes” states, “...many people share only the most perfect edited versions of themselves. Some of my friends spend hours and hours trying to take the perfect selfie with the perfect filter” (Patterson 1). Surely, people should not be subjugating users of Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram to displaying one dimension of themselves, but the truth is they don’t like people to see the negative parts of their lives. Undoubtedly, users should not be made to feel like animals at a zoo, captured and forced to put on an act.