The Psychological Health Benefits of Online Friendships in Today’s World

This essay examines the impact of online friendships on people’s mental health and social wellbeing. It discusses the benefits and drawbacks of online friendships and explores the effects of social media on emotional and social health.

Running head: ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS AND MENTAL HEALTH
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS IN
TODAY’S WORLD
Lovin Shakoori
Word Count: 1250

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The idea of friendship transformed into its nature and shape due to technological
evolution over the past years. These transformations are ever changing and unavoidable,
despite one’s acceptance. The rapid alterations to people's lives promote acts that involve
using social media and engaging in online social interactions; this can be due to peer
pressure or an individual's need to fit in the society. However, these changes are
deleterious in terms of their effects on emotional and social health. The aim of this essay
is to examine the impact of online friendships on people’s mental health as well as social
wellbeing.
People who are more socially active and engage in social interactions with their
friends tend to be more understanding, have a better theory of mind and suffering less
from depression (Mesch & Talmud, 2007). Friends tend to be more open and
approachable than parents over time. One’s healthy relationship with a strong group of
friends can affect their mental health. While face-to-face friendships create a strong tie,
online friendships have been shown to generate weaker ties. People, who have both
online friends and real-life friends, reported that they engage in more activities with their
face-to-face friends and they have more matters to discuss than their online friends. A
good reason for it can be the time frame of their friendship; with real-life friendships
lasting longer while online friendships tend to last for a shorter period of time (Mesch &
Talmud, 2007). Therefore, it can be stated that it is the face-to-face friends that are more
concrete in nature than the online friendship which is primarily an abstract relationship.
Today there are more opportunities to make connections with people across the
globe than ever before. This has been made possible with the online platforms. The
online platform is used by numerous people however it is enjoyed only by a set of people

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or only a specific type of population. It is crucial to know the relationship between
different personality types and social media usage. According to Ryan and Xenos (2011)
people who have narcissistic personalities tend to use social media, such as Facebook,
more often than those who are diffident. They also added the ways Facebook users can
promote narcissistic behaviours. Such behaviours are very much concerned with vanity
and self-centered characteristics that are noxious acts, in terms of social and emotional
health, in long-term. The notion of social connectedness is an important topic for a
comparison of online and offline relationships. The belongingness theory describes social
well-being in terms of maintaining a social relationship, in a positive manner, in order to
exploit feelings of connectedness and intimacy (Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan &
Marrington, 2013). As mentioned above, Mesch and Talmud (2007) reported people
having short-term online friendships, while they have stronger offline friendships for a
longer period of time. This is an example of the ways online friendships cannot positively
contribute to one’s mental health. Social connectedness is an experience of joy for a short
period of time (Van Bel, Smolders, Ijsselsteijn & De Kort, 2009). Online friendships can
be beneficial for a limited time, however, in the deep-rooted effects, social media can be
destructive to one’s social wellbeing. Another study has shown that people, who get tense
when put in a social situation, prefer to use social media in order to fulfil their loneliness
(Indian & Grieve, 2014). This can be interpreted as a positive and negative impact. It can
be seen as a positive influence since it is an effortless alternative of communication for
those who are socially troubled. Research suggested the correlation between well-being
and online social support for people who have trouble socially interacting with others. On
the contrary, the research also concluded social media can be an escape for people to face

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reality and try to engage in social actions (Indian & Grieve, 2014). It has been shown that
Facebook users tend to have a poor family relationship for they invest most of their time
online rather than in reality. Typically loneliness is associated with the older generations,
however in recent days young people can experience loneliness as well despite having
friends in school and neighborhood. People who are lonelier inclined to spend more time
on Facebook than those who are more socially active. This can raise a concern for the
effects of social media in the remote future.
Although online friendship can be isolating, on the other hand, it can help people
with lower self-esteem to connect more comfortable with people. Without the social
network, interacting with others would have been challenging for people who are socially
anxious (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007). Another aspect that is worthwhile being
mentioned is the difference between the parasocial, and reciprocal use of social networks.
Parasocial activities refer to the one-way interaction of the media user and another
person, who is unaware of the person’s activities; for example, users who follow
celebrities. Conversely, reciprocal social media interactions are the ones that both sides
are aware and are willingly participating in the friendship. According to Baek, Bae and
Jang (2013), parasocial activities online can be harmful and cause feelings such as
isolation and depression if it is continuous. On the other hand, reciprocal friendships have
been shown to have a positive impact on psychological health. Barth (2015) explained the
possible threats of Internet network to health, one of them being the stimulation of a
sedentary lifestyle. Barth (2015) blamed the increase of obesity partially on Internet
networks. Lack of physical exercise has a direct adverse effect on mental health. While
people can go out in the real world interacting with others, they choose to stay at home

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and have a conversation on Facebook; therefore, they will face problems such as obesity,
as a result, many other psychological disorders can occur due to low self-perception.
Another important threat of social media to mental well-being is cyberbullying.
Not only that people, in specific adolescents, are more prone to being bullied online, but
they are also at the danger of unhealthy behaviours, such as gambling, that can turn into
life-long habits. Another concern is with the effect of social media on the self-body
image, and the ways it can lead to mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa (Barth,
2015). Other possible threats of social media to mental health are the stimulation of
negative feelings such as jealousy and envy. According to Mujcic and Oswald (2018),
feelings of envious towards others has been shown to have adverse effects on mental
health; there was also no correlation between envious feelings and improvement in job
and academic performance, therefore such feelings cause no good but harm to
psychological health (Mujcic et al., 2018).
Indeed, the idea of friendship has transformed into its nature and shape due to the
growing technology. People prefer to make connections online rather than going out of
their house. At the end of the paper, there are several points gathered that could be
concluded. The online friendship is only due to the growth in technology and digital
media, online friendship is not as helpful as real-life friends, and it has several mental
health side effects. However, it has only been beneficial for the introvert people and
people with social anxiety. Although it has helped a specific section, it is not the
appropriate way that would be beneficial in the long run. People need to be aware of the
pros and cons of using online platforms for interaction. Moreover, the handling of the
online communication supported by logical reasons can be appropriate.

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References
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