HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION?

Submitted by

Guevarra, Francine Gabrielle D.

Submitted to

Sir Leo B. Guarin

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter provides up-to-date books vital for further understanding of the

whole title. The studies and literatures are by foreign and local researchers and were

carefully reviewed before the presentation of this chapter. Moreover, the studies and

literatures are all relevant to the subject of the problem that will serve as a backdrop for

more findings that will help the researcher.

I. Related Literature

A. Foreign

Social networks have removed all the communication and interaction barriers, and

now one can communicate his/her perception and thoughts over a variety of topics.

Students and experts are able to share and communicate with like-minded people and

can ask for the input and opinion on a particular topic. Another positive impact of social

networking site is to unite people on a huge platform for the achievement of some

specific objective. This is very important to bring the positive change in society.

Social networks help the businesses in a variety of ways. Traditional marketing

mediums such as the radio, TV commercials and print ads are completely obsolete now

and demand for thousands of dollars. However, with social media the businesses can

connect with their targeted customers for free, the only cost is energy and time. Through

Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social site you can lower your marketing cost to a

significant level. The increasing popularity of social sites like Twitter, Face book and

LinkedIn, social networks has gained attention as the most viable communication choice for
the bloggers, article writers and content creators. These social networking sites have

opened the opportunity for all the writers and bloggers to connect with their tech savvy

clients to share your expertise and articles. Your audience will further share your articles,

blog or expertise in their social circle which further enhance your networks of the followers.

Far-Reaching Effects of social media includes cyber bullying. Nicholas David

Bowman, PhD, an assistant professor of communication studies in the Beverly College

of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, says actions that trigger a bad online

relationship likely are the same ones that trigger a bad relationship in real life—only the

modality has changed. “For example, cyber bullying has largely the same antecedents

and behavioral, emotional, and affective consequences as does a non-cyber bullying,”

Bowman says. “Yet the difference is the ‘more’—that is, social media allows for more

contact, more communication, and in a more public manner.” In a bullying event, often

the person being bullied can remove himself or herself from the environment, at least

temporarily. For example, a child being bullied at school can escape the playground

when he or she goes home each night. “However, cyber bullying is marked by its

persistence,” Bowman says. “The bullying messages don’t stay in a particular space,

such as a playground, but can follow the child home. If we consider that bullying effects

on an individual can build over time, then there is a real concern that increasing contact

between bullies and their targets in persistent and digital interactions might exacerbate

the problem.”

One big concern surrounding social media’s impact is communication overload—

learning how to handle and make sense of this “more” information we now have. We are

getting more information about more people than ever before, and we feel a need to
process and perhaps even respond to it all. In fact, there has been some very early

recent data suggesting that teens are perhaps pulling away from Face book because it’s

just too much for them to handle. Another concern lies in technology addiction, when

individuals spend more time with their smart phone than interacting with the people

around them, to the detriment of those face-to-face relationships. For these people, they

likely feel such a strong sense of identity online that they have some difficulty separating

their virtual actions from their actual ones. Internet addiction now will be listed as a

mental illness marked by emotional shutdown, lack of concentration, and withdrawal

symptoms, so we may be closer to diagnosing and understanding socially detrimental

human-technology relationships. However, many have cautioned that Internet addiction

might be an inaccurate portrayal, if social media is designed to connect people with

people, then is it really a human-technology relationship or is it a human-human

relationship mediated by technology?

Social media has also changed the way that we interact, mainly the way we have lost

some of our social skills. Some people are completely incapable of carrying on a normal

conversation or interacting with people in person because of the dependency of social

media. Social networks are becoming one of the dominant ways we communicate.

People are more obsessed with checking their smart phone every 2 minutes than

engaging in meaningful conversation with their child or spouse. Social media and

technology are double-edged swords. It’s awesome to have and can really help us, but it

also distracts us to the point of being blind and deaf to everything else going on.

It can also be argued that social networks have affected our communication by the

way we converse and in our writing techniques. The social web has changed the written
word in a couple of crucial ways: Writing is more summarized: However, this has allowed

for shorter sentences or paragraphs and made way for neglecting correct grammar use.

Abbreviations are more prevalent: People who communicate via social media or text

message aren’t necessarily spelling things incorrectly; they are speaking a new language

entirely. TTYL is commonly used to let someone know you will talk to them later. In

today’s world, abbreviations are now so common that we do not even have to think twice

about what they stand for. There is not a right or wrong way to communicate and/or

adapt social language into our lives. However, we are all becoming engulfed in this new

world of communication due to technology—and if we haven’t done so already, will be

forced to learn this new form of language, especially if you are a parent of a teen. The

Figure 5 given below really sums up the internet. As illustrated in the cartoon ‘On the

internet, nobody knows you’re a dog, (published by The New Yorker in 1993), the

anonymity afforded by online communication raises interesting questions about

authenticity and trust.

Marketing has been around for a lot more time than we may be tempted to believe.

Social media is relatively new when compared with it but there is no way to deny the fact

that it is the one medium that had the highest influence ever on marketing. When

communicating with the target audience, gaining access to a two-way communication is

really important. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow the target audience to

respond to marketing messages. This offers instant feedback and marketers

automatically know that they are doing something right as responses are positive.

Alternatively, modifications can be done if responses are negative. Social media

marketing is practically a gold mine for smaller firms since they can be heard. Social
media had a huge impact on public relations, marketing and advertising. Companies

actually manage to save thousands every year, some every month, thanks to the fact

that they manage to move away from the regular channels used: TV, radio and print.

Social media is something that you have to use these days because it offers a lot of

data. Use that information in order to be successful on the long run. Although social

media is incredibly useful in helping all marketing communication efforts become more

effective, it is really important that you use all channels properly. All companies have to

be consistent and use social media in a proper way.

B. Local

An interpersonal relationship is a strong, deep, or close association or acquaintance

between two or more people that may range in duration from brief to enduring. This

association may be based on inference, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or

some other type of social commitment.[1] The significance of interpersonal

communication isn’t limited to interpersonal relationships, but rather it holds importance

in fields like business. Therefore, it is of prime concern to acknowledge what impact

social media has on interpersonal communication. Companies that try to connect with

their clients and customers through social media must have insight into the ways the

interpersonal psychology while using social media might exert influence on their client

relationships.

The regular media such as the television, radio, and newspaper allows only one-

way communication, whereas social media gives a platform for interaction among the

users. Social media is of much help to those who find it more liberating and comfortable

to interact online in place of conversing face-to-face because of nervousness. Another

geographical proximity for connecting to people with same interests. Social media

sustains the relations which might have been at a disadvantage due to the absence of

geographical proximity. It enables interaction that may have been inconceivable without

it. However, it must be asserted that instead of bringing people together, social media

can instead create distance among them. Although people are becoming more social

with the use of social media, there has been an inevitable shift in our ways of

communication. More and more online interaction has led to reduced face-to-face

interaction.

There are three theories which must be mentioned in order to understand how

social media brings about changes in interpersonal communication and relations of the

users. The theories are Technology Determinism, Social Penetration theory and the

theory of Uses and Gratification. According to the theory of Technology Determinism,

“technology is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human

association and action.” Opportunities for new experiences and the ability to be present

anywhere all the time are invaluable gifts of the social media.

The Social Penetration theory describes the development of interpersonal

relationships as a slow process. As noted in a research, “Social networking sites impacts

on interpersonal communication skills and relationships” by Pritta Chasombat,

“Computer-mediated communication has sped up the intimacy process… People are

more likely to disclose more personal information on Social Networking Sites than they

would in face to face communication because the level of control is higher (Ledbetter et

al., 2011).”
 The theory of Uses and Gratifications gives four basic requirements, viz.,

Information, Entertainment, Personal Identity, and Personal Relationship and Social

Interaction. All the four requirements are met through social media as people can create

social networks, socialize, connect with those who are at a distance. They can vent out

their opinions and receive feedback from the public. They can utilize it as a means of

information from their preferred sources.

Among the negative impacts of social media on interpersonal relations, the most

destructive one is alienation. Works of Charles Blow, such as Friends, Facebook, and

Neighbors, observe that social media contributes to rewiring of relationships and social

alienation. Social alienation is a high degree of isolation and distance among people.

Since people spend most of their attention into the virtual life, they often tend to invest

less energy in their immediate present. This leads to weakening of social ties, loss of the

ability to interact and engage oneself in that interaction, and social alienation.

As Ani DiFranco said, “any tool is a weapon if you hold it right.” Social media is to

be treated as a tool for man, rather than letting man be a tool for it. Further, it is to be

used only to an extent which is more advantageous than harmful. Firstly, one needs to

limit the time spent on social media. Moreover, one needs to be able to recognize the

negative changes that social media brings to one’s emotional behavior, and also curb

those changes by seeking a balance between one’s online and offline life. Interacting

through social media is undoubtedly more convenient, but it is also less qualitative.

Though it has become an inescapable part of our lives, social media has to be handled

so that it doesn’t become the main focal point of our lives. It is for us to choose whether

to use social media for conflicts or connection.