We must admit that how we interact with friends and families has changed significantly with the advent of technology, especially social media. There are a few reasons for this phenomenon. In my opinion, despite a few positive impacts, face-to-face communication can never be replaced by online interactions, which means this trend is doing more harm than good.
First, nowadays, there are more and more people owning smartphones with Internet connections, and they are required to use social platforms for working and studying, leading to the increasing popularity of using social apps. For some other people, they download social apps for the dual purpose, entertaining and contacting. Then, the traditional pattern of communication is gradually modified because they must divide their time between both online and offline activities. Because talking online helps eliminate the gap of geographic distance and the inconvenience of time agreement, many people decide to call or text their friends and family members instead of setting an in-person appointment.
Despite the convenience social media brings, I believe that it is fragmenting society and relationships by creating a lack of deep understanding and listening to one another. This can be explained by the fact that people go online not only for contact but also for entertainment, such as sharing moments and watching endless videos and posts. Gradually, they lose control of time for the two purposes and become addicted to social media for entertainment because watching short videos makes their brain release dopamine, a happy hormone. For example, when asked, a lot of young people say that they would like to spend their days off lying in bed watching phones rather than going out to meet friends. Apparently, social media has declined real interaction, which can be considered as the nature of human.
In conclusion, when social apps have become a new means of communication, it is crucial to be aware that they can never totally replace the traditional way. Using social media is beneficial or detrimental depending on individuals’ time management skills.