More and more people are choosing to socialise online rather than face to face. Is this a positive or negative development ?

It is becoming increasingly common for people to meet and talk to their friends online

instead

of in person. In my view,

this

trend should be perceived as negative for two main reasons.

Firstly

, given the absence of a human touch, which is an integral part of an engaging conversation, it is highly unlikely that genuine and lasting relationships can be formed.

Although

it could be argued that social network

users

can easily make friends with complete strangers, the relationships are often temporary. To illustrate, in spite of the ability to see each other’s faces via video call, they cannot observe body language, non-verbal cues, and facial expressions as much as they do in face-to-face sessions. Not only is the communication less emotionally involved, but it can

also

cause misunderstanding, which may develop into personal conflicts. It is,

therefore

, clear how

this

type of interaction would hamper the development of true friendships.

Secondly

, since those socializing online may be misled into believing that everyone else is living their best life, it can potentially lead to unhealthy competition

as well as

feelings of jealousy.

This

is mainly because most social media

users

, especially young and innocent adults, overlook the fact that what is seen on social media does not necessarily reflect reality. Some

users

,

for example

, may show off their happy family life, pretending that they have loving families

while

the reality might be quite the opposite.

Thus

, being constantly exposed to others’ seemingly ideal lives, social media

users

will possibly need to deal with depression, which, in turn, can have a detrimental effect on their mental well-being.

In contrast

, when socializing directly, people probably do not have the compelling urge to be pretentious, and therein lies a better chance of creating a positive emotional bond.

To sum up

,

this

essay examined the potential drawbacks associated with socializing online, which are the difficulty of creating strong connections and the possibility of facing depression. I,

therefore

, remain firmly convinced that the growing trend in social interaction can only be seen as a negative influence on society.