On Room for Debate,
there is a discussion that centers on online relationships. Online, it is very
easy to meet new people and create bonds. Social media also helps people connect
with others that they may have never talked to in real life. Friendships
can be created between people online that have never met. However, are these
relationships real? Can someone have a real friend that they have never
actually met outside of the technological world?
In my opinion, these are
not real relationships. On this topic, Sherry Turkle states that real
relationships include real emotions instead of simply typing a happy face to
show that you are happy. Relationships involve empathy and both parties have to
care for one another to keep the relationship alive. A person cannot have
empathy for another if they have never met. It is impossible to care for a
person if they haven’t even heard their voice. In a real relationship, both
people know each other inside and out. Online, you do not actually know the
person because they could be lying about their identity. People can create an
image for themselves that may not be accurate. When one has a friend online,
they do not truly know what the person looks like. They could be talking to a
50-year-old man instead of the 17-year boy in the profile picture. People
can hide, and with this protection, relationships cannot be created online.
Link:
Mikaela
Vail
This is a tricky subject. I understand what you're saying with not knowing the person you're forming a relationship with. Yet, sometimes even if you meet someone in person they can always be lying to you. Someone can tell you a bunch of lies claiming to be someone they're not. At this day in age, most people talk to their loved ones through text anyways. Personally, I don't think you can truthfully form a strong relationship with someone through a screen and never meet in person. Yes, you can face time and Skype but it's not the same as being together physically. In spite of that, many people who have met online have gotten married. But some people have been lied to and "catfished". I think if you have proof to know that a person is who they claim to be, and put in good effort, you can form a strong relationship. But you'll never know if your partner is loyal to loving you if you're not physically involved in their life or live near them.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that online relationships are not real relationships. I never understood how someone can be so dedicated to someone who they have never met. I do believe that technology can be the foundation for relationships to continuing growing. People can make a connection with someone online and begin to get to know them. They may grow feelings for this person, and form some sort of relationship. However, I do not believe that this can become a very serious relationship. How can someone be so attached to a person who they have never even met before? They can text, call, or face time, but it will never be as meaningful as being with each other in real life. Online, most people don't post about the difficult things happening in their lives. They only post what they want other people to see, so you are not really seeing the real them. When you meet someone in person, of course, they can still lie and not show their true selves. However, it is much more difficult to do in person rather than over a screen.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you when you stated how we don't exactly know who is on the other side of the screen but in our generation we create friendships online. It's not one hundred percent of the time but I'd say it's about fifty percent of the time that we create online friendships. Of course not everybody does but to those who do will remain as friends or become more. There is a difference of being in a relationship with someone you've never seen or heard their voice before and actually seeing them or hearing them threw the phone. Both can end badly but the relationship without seeing them other then their profile picture is worse. Like how you said they could be talking to a fifty year old man instead of a seventeen year old boy. Some online relationships do eventually meet in person but there are a percentage of those who do not. Mostly because their relationship should stay online or they are being "cat fished", this goes for both friendships and dating relationships.
ReplyDeleteMikaela, I understand your point on hidden identities in the online world. It is very likely that the person behind the screen is not who you think they are; on the other hand, simply asking them to video chat with you could solve that issue. I also see where you're coming from when you say that online relationships aren't real because the person you're speaking to could be lying about themselves, but isn't that an issue you can deal with in real life? I don't see it as an online problem exclusively because anyone can easily lie to others in person. Why can you not feel empathy for someone that you've only spoken to online? You may not feel empathy for the person that they truly are, but you may feel something for the person that you believe they are. Isn't that how all relationships work, anyway? You never really know a person because they may behave a certain way around you but differently around others. Even in real life, we all have beliefs about a person's character based on what we perceive in their actions and words. We can only judge based on what they allow us to see, so do we really know anyone?
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you Mikaela. Just because there is a screen and a few miles between you and your new best friend, doesn't mean that you can't feel the same things with them that you do with other people. Of course there is always the chance that they are lying to you, but there is also the chance that the people you've known for years in a face to face relationship are lying to you as well. Of course there will always be a part of the friendship that might not feel quite complete because y'all can't go the movies together, but that doesn't change the value of a friendship. A friendship is a friendship no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the friendship aspect, Monica, yet sometimes online communication doesn't convey the same emotion that face to face conversations do. For example, the phrase "good job" can be said in many different ways. Through text or type, you don't hear vocal inflections, which can change a completely genuine encouragement to a backhanded sarcastic remark. Friends made over the web can become some of the closest people to you, and although you may not have met face to face, you can have a connection. However, it may be difficult to craft entirely genuine friendships over the internet, especially when there is the factor that they may not be who they say they are, although you partially addressed that already.
DeleteI think forming relationships online can be both good and bad. I think it’s a great opportunity to form friendships with people all over the world. Getting to know people from different backgrounds, religions, and cultures. To get a sense of how they live life and what they do for fun, school, work and etc. Especially if I can’t travel to different parts of the world, it would be interesting to see the lives of others and form relationships with people from a different country. I also don’t think it’s a good idea to form a romantic relationship with so many predators out there. We have to take the proper precautions when talking on the internet with people we don’t know. People can be blinded by love on the internet and not always have their guard up. Before you know it a person who might be vulnerable and in love can give personal information without even knowing it to an online predator or scam artist. Unfortunately too many people of all ages become victims to online predators. I’m not saying that all people have bad intentions on the internet just to be more cautious and aware of who we talk to online and the way we go about forming relationships online.
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