Over the course of past few years new technologies have significantly transformed our way of life. Reading news, checking on sport event, shopping, job search, entertainment transferred to the Internet. The expansion of information technologies affected communication too. Keeping correspondence with business partners, government officials, and extended family moved to online platforms. Advancing technology has made our lives more convenient but at the same time it has made us exposed and vulnerable to the threads of depersonalization and alienation. This risk becomes especially alarming as technology has influenced our personal lives as well by transforming and adding new realms to friendships. While there are ground for concerns, new technologies have secured ground for building closer and stronger friendships.
New communication technologies like social media and messengers are adding an on-line dimension to friendships. Besides spending time together and talking on the phone as it used to be two decades along, friends now interact on the Internet-based platforms. They message each other, share pictures on Instagram, videos on YouTube, articles they find interesting, jokes they find amusing on their Facebook pages, etc. Technologies contribute to broadening the scope of friendships people have by allowing them to share much more information about themselves, their interests, and their daily lives than it was possible before. This means that friends can know much more about each other and this is possible without having to see each other every day. It is enough to scroll through news feeds to know what is happening in your friends’ lives. At the same time, however, the nature of social media which are commonly used for sharing this information allow other people who have not made it friends to see the same image of one’s life as friends do. This detail forces one to carefully filter what to share with their social circles not to expose anything too personal while creating a desirable impression about their lives by sharing carefully picked photographs ans stories that present one if favorable light. Doing so results in friends seeing the refined version of person’s life along with acquaintances, and thus, ending up distanced from one’s personal realms. Broadening sacrifices depth.
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"Friendship in the Age of New Communication Technologies".
Being friends online, however, is not limited to interactions between public profiles. New technologies offer tools for maintaining personal communication anywhere and at any time. With no regard to distance, instant messaging enables friends to instantly connect with each other. Friends can keep their conversations going via Messenger and WhatsApp, teams can keep in touch via Sl Play in between trainings to maintain team spirit, parents can stay informed about their children with the help of small devices that can be carried in the pocket. This opens opportunities for keeping in touch and maintaining close relationships without the need to constantly see each other and contributes to the depth of friendships by allowing people to share important events while they are happening by creating stories on Instagram and Snapchat or to receive emotional support via instant messages or calling options at the moment it is most needed. Without a doubt, this contributes to bringing friends closer together by helping them to overcome any distance.
Lastly, new technologies may promote deeper intimacy among friends. Frequent communication and opportunity to share the most valuable and/or vulnerable moments builds trust between people which would be more difficult to establish during rare get- togethers alone. A quick resume of an interview or emotions one experiences after a date get communicated to one’s friends instantly before they cool off. Additionally, communicating online creates a safe environment encouraging people to be more honest and reveal more about themselves than they would in person. Writing messages instead of talking in person makes it easier to be truthful. Thus, online dimension of friendship supplements the real-life dimension by helping people establish trust and honestly reveal their true selves. It is important to remember, however, that reaching this with the help of technologies would only be possible if people are guided by good intentions and genuine care towards each other.
New communication technologies have become a major part of modern-day friendships and made them easier and more fulfilling in few ways. Firstly, social media have allowed people to share their lives with friends to a larger extent with the help of constant updates, pictures, opinions, and favored content. Secondly, instant messaging has empowered friendships to overcome distance by enabling people to keep in touch no matter where they are. Thirdly, communicating online apart from spending time together in person helps people to reach stronger trust and deeper levels of intimacy in relationships. All in all, new technologies provide beneficial tools for lifting up and maintaining friendships as long as the people involved act based on good intentions.
