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It is evident that, at present, people are spending a
considerable amount of time on the Internet, and thus spending less time with
real people. I strongly agree that although this use of the Internet has
greatly increased the level of communication available, it has also had
detrimental effects on the amount and type of social interaction that takes
place.
The benefits of the Internet in terms of
increased communication are clear, with people connected across the globe. In
the past, communication was only possible by phone or mail, which entailed time
and expense. It also usually meant just keeping in contact with those people
already known to you. With the internet, this has changed dramatically. Email
and social networking sites such as Facebook and MSN have created online
communities that are global in scale, and they have fostered communication
between people and countries that we would not have thought possible in the not
too distant past.
That said, there is no doubt in my mind
that this has had negative impacts on social interaction. People, especially
the younger generation, spend hours of their time online, chatting and on
forums. Although this can be beneficial, it is certainly not the same as real
interaction with human beings and does not involve the same skills. It is
important that children have and maintain real friendships in order to develop
their own interpersonal skills. Not only this, it can also have negative
effects on local communities if people are spending most of their time
communicating online and not mixing in their neighbourhoods, and possibly lead
to feelings of isolation for those individuals who do not have a ‘real’ person
to turn to in times of need.
To conclude, I believe that the internet
has undoubtedly been beneficial, but there are good reasons to be concerned
about social interaction in our societies. It is therefore important that we
maintain a balance between our online life and our contact with real human
beings.
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