COM2006 Week 5 Project

Social Media and Relationships

Social media is a part of many people's lives. Relationships can be formed using social media. Romantic

relationships can be attracted, developed, and maintained through social media (Beebe et al., 2017).

However, �nding a partner through social media is different than meeting face-to-face. First of all, the

medium of social media, like Facebook, allows us to pick what we want to disclose and edit what we want the public to see. Oftentimes, people edit out the less-than-stellar aspects of themselves. It is

even common to use outdated pictures and erroneous facts in pro�les. With this in mind, you need to

carefully scrutinize what is being posted. The trick is to keep the conversation going by asking

questions and carefully considering the answers. There are many instances of successful relationships

that were started by connecting through social media sites, but often, this takes time and care to make

sure that you know what the other person is really about. The same can be said about starting a relationship through face-to-face interactions; but in face-to-face interactions, you also have

nonverbal cues to con�rm the other person's messages.

A common question is whether social media is causing a decline in our interpersonal communication

skills. There are different opinions about this question. A common opinion is that engagement in social

media is being preferred over face-to-face interactions and, especially in younger people, decreasing

interpersonal communication skills. For example,it is not an uncommon experience to see two people

out for a meal together where both people are on their phones, texting or sur�ng, and not talking to one another. This suggests that mediated communication is decreasing the amount of face-to-face

communication.

In addition, social media may cause privacy issues. Since personal information can be added to social

media pro�les, which can have public access, our personal information may be used unethically or

unlawfully by others. It is important to be careful about what information we post about ourselves.

The other side of the issue is that social media has its place and that the same issues that people have when communicating in social media venues can also happen in face-to-face communication. For

instance, bullying is done through the Internet and face-to-face. Also, on the positive side, social media

gives us an opportunity to connect more easily with more people than we could do before. People who

are reticent in talking with people face-to-face may gain more self-con�dence because of

communicating successfully with social media friends. Since communicating in social media is not

usually in real time, people are able to think about how to communicate more clearly and effectively what they want to say; however, in real time, as in face-to-face conversations, it can be harder to

choose the appropriate words that represent your intent.

Another bene�t of social media engagement is the ability to network professionally. The growing

popularity of professional social media networking is showing how professional people can help each

other more easily forcareer and professional opportunities, advice, and resources. Social media sites

are also excellent resources for business and public relations purposes. An example of a popular social

media networking site is LinkedIn. LinkedIn serves to build professional networks, access knowledge and insights, and build opportunities.

The following are the strategies for engaging social media successfully:

Be careful about what you post in your personal pro�le as this information may get in the hands

of someone who will use this information unlawfully or unethically. For example, some people

either omit their birthdays or post a different day.

Be careful when communicating with someone you don't know through other connections as that person may or may not be who he or she is claiming to be.

Guard against using social media as a crutch to avoid face-to-face interactions. Social media

should not replace possible face-to-face interactions.

Remember, since you do not have nonverbal communication cues when communicating through

social media, as you do when interacting directly with someone, you need to ask questions about

the intended meaning. Emoticons are more contrived than genuine face-to-face responses.

Ask yourself if social media engagement is taking up too much of your time. Is social media

engagement replacing time spent with others or time spent on important tasks?

Remember when applying for a job that employers are looking for applicants' social media pages.

So don't post anything that you would not want a potential employer to see.

Make a conscious choice not to engage in a con�ict through social media. Interpersonal con�icts

are more effectively solved in face-to-face interactions.

Finally, remember that whether you choose to communicate face-to-face or through social media, you need to be ethically other oriented. This is akin to the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have

others do unto you."

Additional Materials

Relationships

Click each topic to learn about how social media and relationships are connected.

Strategies for Developing Online Friendships

Strategies for Developing an Online Romance

View the PDF Transcript of Relationships (media/transcripts/Week5/SU_COM2006_W5_G2.pdf?

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