Human Interaction>Social Media Interaction

Human Interaction>Social Media Interaction

D---- B-------
Professor McMillan
Composition 421
7 October 2016
Human interaction>Social medial interaction
Social media is a very large part of nearly every Americans everyday lives. With that in mind, replacing human interaction with virtual interaction would be detrimental to society, though some social media interaction relying mainly on face to face communication can help strengthen relationships romantically, or strengthen ties within a protest or revolution. Virtual interaction can be, and is, beneficial, but should not be used when real human interaction can be used instead. It should be utilized as a tool to be used when human interaction is unavailable.
Social networking is unable to take over face to face communication as the most reliable way to communicate and build relationships upon. The ties which are created on social media are not strong enough to bare any true results. According to Malcom Gladwell, “Save Darfur Coalition [the biggest of the Darfur charities] has 1,282,339 members, who have donated an average of nine cents apiece.” So while the participation of the charity is very large, the contributions willing to be given are miniscule. Gladwell believes that “there is strength in weak ties… but weak ties seldom lead to high-risk activism, [and] high risk activism is a strong-tie phenomenon.” (Gladwell) “The more friends you have who are critical of a regime,” writes Gladwell, “the more likely you are to join the protest.” It is difficult to become critical of a movement you have only participated with online. Similarly, a true, lasting relationship cannot be created through social media interaction alone. According to Jenna Wortham, “Anyone who spends too much time online and on a smartphone knows that it is no substitute for the real thing — it’s only an appetizer that can delight and satisfy until the main course arrives.”
Social networking is not completely useless in terms of relationships though. Whether it be with another...

Similar Essays