Semester 2 Blog 3

Since the advent of social networking, today's society has been morphed so drastically from society 10 or 20 years ago. When it came to communication, many people relied on handwritten letters and telephones to maintain a relationship with someone far away. If the person was close enough, you simply went to see them in person.
Now that there is Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, the way we reach other people has become completely digitized. We send emails, text messages, Skype, Facebook messages, tweets instead of letters or phone calls. A person can maintain a close relationship with someone on the opposite side of the Earth. That same person could also be friends with someone only through the internet and never ever hear their voice or see their face in person.
Because of the negative aspects of social networking, many people think that it is taking over our lives and will eventually overtake gatherings and other social meetings. They believe that we are slowly isolating ourselves from one another.

Even though that social networking requires a small amount of effort to maintain a relationship it could never overpower human’s primal need to be physically near one another. Bringing a sick friend some soup and company is far better than wishing them well on Facebook. Because most socializing is done online, physical gestures hold more power than they used to which is something that many may consider progress. Our society is not letting go of our old ways of communication, they are only treasuring the real effort it takes to show you care when compared to a minimal effort.

Social networking is the same as mass media. They can both take up a large portion of our lives but they will never dominate.