Social Media Causes You To Be More Isolated?

Written by Norma Alvazaz 

One thing that is controversial nowadays is the impact that social networking has had on our society. On the surface, it would appear as if it is making us more distant from one another. It has been accused of many things, from isolating people all the way up to breaking up marriages. Social media is often frowned upon by people that like to reminisce about how great it was in the “good old days” of no social media, in addition to the lack of internet access itself for the general public. Being someone that grew up without social media or the ability to go online in general, I could possibly very well be part of that group myself.  Experience has taught me differently, and it is my hope that you’ll be able to at least consider looking at social media in a different light.

First of all, there’s the problem of people seemingly preferring to go online than to socialize with friends in person. Some people tend to be more introverted by nature whether it was in the past, present, and still will be that way in the future. In the past these introverted people were the bookworms, the couch potatoes, and or the wallflowers (being part of activities, but preferring to be alone). In recent times, we can add the gamers as well - spending hours upon hours living more in virtual worlds than interacting with one another in addition to their families.

I personally feel that it was more difficult to be involved with people in the past. It would’ve been time consuming to find groups of people to socialize and the process wasn’t as simple as it is in recent times. Being somewhat of an introvert myself, I found ways to use social media to help me be more outgoing and connected with people. One of the most useful functions that I have found from social media is that it helps you learn who has more in common with you. It speeds up the process of weeding out people that you would’ve had to have spent a lot of time with just to find out you had nothing in common. Due to the online prescreening of friends, you stand a better chance of developing lasting friendships since you get to find out what people are all about due to their posts, chat sessions, along with any other type of online interactions. This makes it easier to find out who you are most compatible with and who would be the type of person that you would get along with the most.

Social media has existed for a while. We didn’t have Facebook like we do now about a decade ago, but we did have Meetup.com. About 11 years ago, I met some of my dearest friends through that site; we are still friends to this day. In present times I have moved on to meeting people through Facebook. I have also gotten in contact with former classmates and friends that I’d lost contact with. In a moment I will go into what my personal experiences have been with what is now the most popular social media service there is. You know it’s pretty popular when you have even “friended” your own mother.

For some months now I’ve lived here in Long Beach. I have utilized Facebook to help me meet people in my local area. It was easy for me to create a Facebook group and to go on to the existing groups that I’ve been a member of for years for the purpose of promoting my new group "LAC Goth Society" and inviting those members living in Southern California.  In my forum message I let people know that even though the group was centered in Long Beach anybody was welcome to join as long as they were willing to drive to the meet ups. When I had the first meeting, I wound up meeting people that I had previously friended online. This month we’ll be having our third meet up at a bowling alley. I have also used Facebook to create private groups for family members. We use those to broadcast messages, post family photos, and do whatever else activity we usually do on Facebook. We have also utilized events to invite everyone to family gatherings. However, if you aren’t tech savvy you can still browse your friends’ friends list and ask for advice from them to determine for yourself who worth spending time, who’s trustworthy, and above all safe to be around.

As mentioned before, social media can also help you get back in touch with relatives you had lost touch with for many years, perhaps even decades. About seven years ago, I was able to have a reunion with family members that I hadn’t seen in years. My aunt had mentioned that she had hired someone to help her find my brother and I to get back in contact with. I’m not sure how much that cost her, but what finally helped was when she went on Myspace in 2009 and found me there (after doing a search herself). We’ve been in touch ever since. I also keep in contact with relatives living outside of the US. In the past it would’ve been very expensive to call those family members. Even though international rates aren’t as expensive as they once were, being able to socialize online for free helps those that have to watch their budget.

In conclusion, I hope I have helped you see or perhaps even consider the value social media has in keeping us from becoming isolated. We will always have those with us that use technology for the “wrong purpose”, but we should not let that stop us from utilizing this useful tool. Social media is not as bad as it has been made out to be by some. It can have a positive influence on our lives if we let it. The naysayers have always rejected anything new – they rejected the telephone in years passed (for example). They will reject anything that they do not understand and call it “the right thing to do).  Later on they will realize how silly they were.