The Pew Internet and American Life Project, which released a report on Nov. 4, 2009, said that since 1985 the amount of close friendships people claim to have has drastically decreased.
Based on the General Social Survey, the percentage of Americans saying they have zero intimate friends has risen from 10 per cent to 24.6 per cent.
Although it is conclusive that people today have fewer intimate friendships, it is still hotly debated as to the cause of this, primarily whether or not a lack of face-to-face relationships due to an increased use in online social networking is to blame.
Sonia Bookman, assistant professor from the U of M department of sociology, said, “Some theorists argue that it is eroding community through social disengagement on the one hand.
However, others point out that it is expanding social networks and community, enabling the establishment of broader networks of social relations.”
We probably all know at least one Facebook.com user who collects Facebook friends just so they can boast of having 779 friends or more.
Bookman, however commented on a study released in 2002 on an experimental suburb called
“Netville.” The suburb had various information technologies such as local discussion forums, which created an increase in weak ties with neighbours when compared to a non-wired neighbourhood.
Bookman said, “These ties were instrumental in enabling residents of Netville to mobilize for collective action regarding issues affecting the neighbourhood.”
Bookman also pointed out that, “Mark Granovetter, in his theory of ‘The strength of weak ties,’ has pointed out the significance of not only strong ties — close family members and friends — but weak ties — associates and other social relationships that are not particularly close, but play an important role in the flow of resources — in making up a supportive social network or community.”
Therefore it seems that even weak ties and acquaintances can have a great impact on strengthening communities.
Individual self-esteem may also be enhanced because of online social networking, said Dr. Jessica Cameron, associate professor at the U of M’s department of psychology .
“Other researchers have found that when people get accepted by others, they experience a temporary boost in their self-esteem,” she said. “It feels good to make a new friend or be supported by current friends.”
Although online social networking may be disfavoured for the amount of weak social ties it creates, face-to-face relationships, although not equally, also have their share of downsides.
“Unhappy relationships don’t create these benefits — when people are unhappy in their relationships, or worse, feel lonely despite having many social relationships, they can experience a drop in their self-esteem, increased depression or anxiety and end up sick more often,” said Cameron.
Jennifer Orr, program coordinator for Peers: Students Helping Students, said that students on campus commonly feel lonely and isolated, especially if they are from out of town.
Orr also commented, “Social networks like Facebook.com almost seem to be a response to a world in which more personalized contact occurs less than it did in the past.”
“Local coffee shops and hangouts seem to have been replaced by “fast food” varieties. Cities sprawl outwards rather than being centralized around a downtown area. There are very few places for young people to hang out.”
However impersonal social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, may often seem to be, they may not be the reason that people have fewer intimate friendships today; they may in fact be helping to eliminate some loneliness, self-esteem and, ultimately, boredom.
