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The Effect of Social Networks on Friendships

In the Digital Age, social networks seem to make it easy for people to make friends. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter link friends and family together, which provide people with recommendations for friends, events, and groups to connect with or join. In many cases, a mutual friend introduces two people to each other, thereby forming a triadic closure. The relationship between these three people may be strong ties, weak ties, or a combination of both. The article “Teens Make, Maintain Friendships Online, But Rarely Take Them Offline” argues that teenagers who meet online through social networks exhibit weak ties more often than not.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, fifty-seven percent of the one thousand teenagers surveyed made at least one friend online, whether it was through a mutual friend or a common interest such as video games. However, only twenty percent of those teenagers have met the friend in person. It is interesting that on the one hand, social networks really broaden people’s opportunities and facilitate connection with others through a simple friend request button or a quick instant message. On the other hand, social networks seem to diminish the significance of the word friendship. What defines friendship in today’s age? Does having a connection with someone on Facebook or Instagram and labeling it as “friends” equate to being companions with that person? Many times, relationships are categorized as either positive or negative and a graph of a network of people may either be balanced or unbalanced because of the type of relationship. This article makes it apparent that there may be a gray area between positive and negative, where two people are labeled as “friends” online but only have a neutral relationship with each other. It is possible that social networks really only help people meet acquaintances. Being friends and forming strong ties with someone takes more than just a friend request.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/teens-make-maintain-friendships-online-rarely-take-them-offline-n404826

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