Social Media and Relationships

Faculty Sponsor

Matthew Puffer

College

Christ College

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-28-2022

Abstract

Since the introduction of social media and the prevalence of devices that can connect to the internet, people are spending more and more time on their devices and increasing amounts of time on social media. Increased social media, which can develop into a social media addiction, have been linked to weaker bonds in relationships, be they romantic or platonic, lowered self esteem, and poorer academic performance. However the shift of communication from face to face interactions to online interactions have caused certain groups of people to benefit from easy access to social media platforms, namely the feeling of connectedness to people and family members that live farther away. Because of increased social media usage, certain relationships have also become stronger and also increasingly strained due to the echo chamber effect. People hear what they want to hear which then causes them to seek out others who think and act like them. Algorithms used by many social media platforms also reinforce this effect by showing similar content that creates a never ending supply of like-minded content that can further damage relationships and can increase the feeling of isolation.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

We are all members of Christ College. We wanted to deepen our understanding about why and how are relationships have changed since the presence of social media was fully incorporated into everyday life. We come from different disciplines within Valparaiso University, Meteorology, Chemistry, Engineering, and Humanities, and understand how social media has transformed our life and the way it has affected relationships across many areas of life. We wanted to know is this change good or bad.

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