Jeff Goins's The Problem With Internet Friends?

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As a generation based on technology that seems to be growing, it is becoming common for people to build intimate relationships with strangers online. This new found friendship “initiates and develops through computer-mediated communication (CMC) in online social settings such as chat rooms, newsgroups, and websites” (Young, 305). Even though the trend seems to be increasing, not everyone favors it, often creating blogs and conducting research to try and educate people why the internet may not be a great source to build a relationship on. Jeff Goins- an internet blogger, who drafted over 100,000 readers, is no different. In his blog, “The problem with internet friends,” The readers receive a clear idea that he does not enjoy the idea of having …show more content…

Going against Goins’ dislike of social media relations, this essay will state reasons why online relationships are similar to offline ones and why the emotional connection can even be stronger than in-person bonds. The first issue introduced in Goins’ blog was that when problems occur with an online friend, people tend to part ways as an easy way out. By doing this, Goins believes that it somehow “flies in the face of how people actually become friends” (Goins). Goins feels that as soon as someone gets offended, their relationship is broken and they will probably never communicate again. Although this may be accurate for some people, it is not a testimony for everyone having an online relationship and can happen with friends made in person. We live in a society where everyone gets easily offended. A 49-year-old psychologist, Marcus Geduld, stated that this is because “we now live on a planet where, compared to the past, many more people, and all types of people, have a voice,” and enjoy the feeling of superiority …show more content…

Although this may be true-with studies showing that only one-third of people who make bonds online actually meet in person, that does not mean that internet friends do not develop an emotional connection. Shelley Anstey, an author who wrote module 3: online personal relationships, believes that “textually conveyed information about persons and their characteristics will accumulate” (on-line). She insists that this is because people who are communicating online are driven to form social relationships. Sharing personal information on the web can create the same bond as sharing it off it. The “Journal of Social and personal relationships” did a study on the quality of online and offline relationships and compared the findings in time intervals. For the research, 38 newsgroups were randomly selected and given a questionnaire about online friendships. The report came to the conclusion that over time, the bonds created online have a higher quality and a better personal relationship than those made offline. “in other words, relationships developed online can also become personal, if given time, and become relational partners”(young,

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