Period 4
10/20/2014
As the internet becomes more integrated into people’s lives, more relationships are being developed over the internet. After reviewing evidence, I have concluded that it is possible to make real friends over the internet. Skeptics have stated allegations to paint a narrative that leads people to believe that this deed is unreachable. Despite this I firmly believe that you can make real friends online.
More people are using the internet as a means of making social relationships. The Pew Research Center has found that 92% of the people they polled used Facebook and 29% used Linkedin as social networking sites. This research proves that as a larger number of people are using the internet, there is a rise in the use of social networking and they are creating more relationships with new people online. Sally Austin states that the internet gives you the opportunity to be anonymous. This feature is attractive to a broad audience and is one of the reasons that so many peopled use social networking sites. The magazine article further shows that the internet gives you access to people in different parts of the world. Throughout the globe, societies are developing infrastructure that gives internet access to communities. Opponents argue that social networks do not make relationships interactive enough to be considered “real” friendship. However, social networks are currently being designed to make relationships feel real and personal.
In addition, because of the internet the number of quality relationships created is on the rise. The Pew study provides further evidence that the average online American has 158 more social ties. This is because of the heightened exposure to other people that the internet provides. Also these sites have developed systems that encourage you to check the profiles of people who you are not yet familiar with. The internet’s ability to connect users who are miles apart has increased the number of social ties the average person has. Millions of different individuals are connected to the net at any given time and this gives people endless opportunities to meet new faces. The think tank’s polls revealed that there is a correlation between the number of social network users and the number of close friends people report to have. Social networks lead to such results because of the ability to spend hours messaging a friend at any time. The blog post presents the argument that creating relationships online will take away your time that you should be using with friends in person. The problem with this argument is that source 2 never provides evidence which shows that the experiences created with your virtual friends are worse than the experiences created with offline friends. Overall, I believe that the internet gives people the chance to make real friends. The increased accessibility to new people and the designs of social networking sites has made this unimaginable feat possible. Doubters try to claim that you cannot make real friends online since you unable to get that personal connection. Nonetheless, evidence shows this idea to be far from the truth and that the personal connection is recreated online.
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