Whether the world wide web had a positive effect on people’s relationships or not is a topic of debate. Some believe that it helped bring populations closer by social media and instant messaging applications, while others argue that it made them more isolated because everyone is busy on their phones nowadays. I tend to side with the second opinion.
There is no doubt that communication between individuals separated by long distances is much easier in the digital age than years ago. This is due to the invention of online texting and socializing sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more. Such applications have made it possible for two people, or even a group, to communicate easily from the comfort of their homes, even if they are separated by thousands of kilometers. Furthermore, friends now easily follow each other’s news and updates, and interact constantly with each other through posts or chat. Facebook is the most obvious example supporting this view, as it harbors more than a billion user, and where friends usually socialize and communicate together.
However, the advent of such technology led many people to rely solely on them, disregarding real interactions and traditional visits which held deeper meanings and fostered better bonding. Furthermore, everyone is now too busy scrolling and navigating the internet to interact with anyone in the real world. Striking evidence for this is the observed phenomenon where families or group of friends gather together, but each of them is too busy on their respective phones to interact with those sitting with them.
In summary, while the internet applications have provided a media that could facilitate human communication, people were too absorbed by these applications that they forgot to interact in the real world; thus, the net effect of the world wide web on people’s relationships is negative in my opinion.
