Understanding Social Media's Influence: Relationships & Psychology

This essay explores the multifaceted impact of social media on both relationships and individual psychology. It begins by defining social media and highlighting its influence on communication and relationship formation, including the ease of connecting with others and the potential for superficial interactions. The discussion then delves into the psychological effects, noting both the positive aspects, such as reducing feelings of isolation, and the negative, such as addiction and the triggering of negative emotions. The essay also touches upon the impact of social media on personal relationships, emphasizing how excessive use can detract from real-life connections. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, underscoring the complex and often contradictory ways in which social media shapes our lives and interactions.

Running Head: UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY
Understanding individuals and society
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1Understanding individuals and society
Introduction:
Social media is an interactive technologies which are computer mediated which helps to
share information, ideas and interests. Social media and digital interactions have both impact on
the relationship (Tang et al., 2016). It also have positive and negative impact on the psychology
of an individual. This discussion focusses on the impact of social media have on relationship and
also have both positive and negative impact on the psychology of the individual.
Discussion:
Social media is a type of interaction mediated technologies which has influenced the
relationship and social interaction. Social media has made the transfer of information easier as
compared to other interaction method. It helps in improving the relationship and forming new
friendship. Social media made the connection between the strangers more easy. Social networks
such as, twitter, facebook and instargram have grown widely. It have both positive and negative
impact on the communication on the relationship. Individuals usually show the best side of
themselves on the social media and does not show their true side that is no one is being honest
and transparent which made the relationship weaker (Pittman & Reich, 2016). To develop a
truthful relationship among the two individual, it is important to know the person in depth and
takes a lot of effort, which cannot be achieved on social media. Though social media have made
the connection between the stranger stronger, it have negative impact on the personal
relationship as people now-a-days spend more time on the social media and provide more
importance and efforts to their virtual family as compared to their real friends and family, which
hampers the personal relationship of the individual (Anderson & Jiang, 2018).

2Understanding individuals and society
Apart from the impact of social media and digital interaction on the relationship, it also
have impact on the psychology of the individual. It have both positive and negative impact on
the psychology of the individual, especially on the youth.
It has Positive impact on the psychology as it helps in reliving the feeling of isolation
among the individual by creating new pathways for communication which reduces the risk of
depression among the youth. Social media also inspire to adapt healthy lifestyle and also inspires
to quit smoking and to attend gym on regular basis (Yang & Le Thi Ngoc, 2017). It made the
social support and also the intervention easier and also help to strengthen the existing
relationship through regular communication.
Social media also have negative impact on the psychology as it is very addictive which
leads to addictive disorder and also have negative impact on the mental health (Samaha & Hawi,
2016). Though social media is considered to be spreading happiness, it triggers more sadness
which lead to negative impact on the mental wellbeing. Individuals compares their life with
others which leads to depression or can lead to jealousy and also reduces personal interaction
with the friends and family.
Conclusion:
From the above essay, it can be concluded that, social media has changed our lives. It has
affected the personal as well as social relationship of the individual. Over use of social media
leads to negative impact on the personal relationship. Along with the relationship it also have
both positive and negative impact on the psychology of the individual.

3Understanding individuals and society
Reference:
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research
Center, 31, 2018.
Pittman, M., & Reich, B. (2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be
worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 155-167.
Samaha, M., & Hawi, N. S. (2016). Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic
performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 321-325.
Tang, J.H., Chen, M.C., Yang, C.Y., Chung, T.Y. and Lee, Y.A., 2016. Personality traits,
interpersonal relationships, online social support, and Facebook addiction. Telematics
and Informatics, 33(1), pp.102-108.
Yang, J., & Le Thi Ngoc, M. (2017). The Power of Social Media to Our Mind and Body:: Study
of social media’s effect on young female’s perception regarding fitness in Sweden.