Charlotte Figler, 27
Thousands of people all around the world use social media platforms on a daily basis. According to Smart Insights, 63.8% of the world uses social media for an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes a day. People of all ages, religions, and ethnicities use social media. In theory, social media should be the platform that connects the world together and establishes ties between people who are extremely different or come from unique backgrounds. People over the years have adapted to this way of connection and communication, experiencing both the positives and negatives of these relationships.
When you’re communicating with someone through a screen, they can only see the parts of you that you want them to see. They can’t see when you first wake up in the morning, or when they’ve been crying. When you are friends with someone in real life, you get a much more established connection. Catfishing is a major problem with the internet and social media today. Starting in 2009, an extreme example of this occurred at Notre Dame University with one of their players, Manti Te’o. For years, he believed he had a relationship with Lennay Kekua, until her eventual “death” in 2012. The thing was, Kekua was not dead; she was also not who she said she was. Kekua was actually Ronaiah "Naya" Tuiasosopo, a transgender woman. For years, Te’o believed he had this relationship that was really special to him and even spoke about it to the media. Finding out she was fake led to him becoming the butt of people's jokes, others questioning his sexuality, and even struggling to find a job in the NFL. Less extreme examples of this happen every day, with people of all ages believing they're talking to someone that they’re not and sometimes never finding out. Te’o had a strong system of support to help him through this, but most people do not, which can end with a ruined confidence and mental health concerns. (AL-Khateeb)
While you can’t give someone a hug over Facetime or hold their hand (who knows with AI though; that could be possible soon), online relationships have sometimes been the rock in people's lives that helps them through difficult times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, facetime and Zoom were the savior for families who couldn’t see each other because of sickness. Technology and communication were the lifeline for people who couldn’t see people any other way. How is this different from establishing relationships with people you’ve never met such as online friends or dating apps? Caution is key. Aside from the catfishing concerns, texting and chatting have a certain danger associated with them, because they are almost never private. Anything can be screenshotted and sent to anyone. Zoom and Facetime are safer ways to talk to people because you can see their faces, understand their tone, watch their body language, and have real conversations that can’t be sent to anyone. Technology also allows people who don’t live close or don't see each other as often to communicate with each other. People who aren’t allowed to leave their house as often due to illness can make friends with people who have similar interests to them such as books, sports, or TV shows. These kinds of relationships can pull people out of isolation and give them someone to talk to, even though it isn’t conventional (Health Central).
While online relationships can help with the need for human connection, it will never truly be as real as knowing someone. Seeing their ups and downs and the struggles that people go through will never be fully shown when the relationship is online. With the invention of AI, this is going to be even harder to tell what is real and fake. AI chatbots can give people the illusion of intimacy, without having the actual work and effort into relationships. They can only mimic human interaction to some extent though, and obviously, you cannot see them in real life or give them a hug. But, who's to say in the near future this won’t be possible? What's the new reality going to be when you can create the perfect companion? We can only know as the world continues to progress, and if people will lean in the direction of human companionship, or AI communication.