Opinion: Online Interactions - Curse or Benefit?

By Shrivika Ramaswamy
December 16, 2008

Throughout history individuals have always had the need for social interaction and networking.  Small groups of cave men, presumably, would unite to create tribes in order to survive.

Social interaction is still a necessity in this modern age; however, it is no longer about leaving a shelter and meeting new faces at bars, meetings, parties or even dates.  Today it has become a quasi-anonymous electronic transaction consisting of instant messaging, Myspace stalking, "facebooking", blogging and online dating, also known as e-pimping.

At its best, social networking can be a useful way to find like-minded people online, either to pursue some interest or goal, or just to help establish a sense of community among people who may never meet in the real world.

Yet, there is potential for disaster.  Though the quantity of communication may increase, quality seems to vanish.  An entire conversation can take place instantaneously through a few clever acronyms. 

The first step in the degradation of communication came with the advent of instant messaging.  Individuals and corporations alike marveled at this means for communication.  

However, has it really taken away the need for verbal communication through phone or even a face-to-face meeting?  It does not convey the power of body language and tone. 

Of course, instant messaging attempts to add a human element to cyberspace through the use of emoticons and cheesy acronyms like 'LOL' (laugh out loud) and, 'DGTG' (don't go there girlfriend). 

Where will the type literature we so admire in English class go? Will the eloquence of Shakespeare and Joyce be replaced by emoticons in an instant messaging window?

Likewise, the effects of social networking sites may be just as horrendous.  At its best, social networking really can be a useful way to meet with people online, either to pursue some interest or goal, or just for the joy of interaction. 

However, more and more stalkers and pedophiles are arrested each year posing as normal people.  Sites such as Facebook and Myspace are prime targets for such social delinquents. In a face-to-face or telephone conversation, clues in context often divulge unusual characteristics of an individual.  By posting a picture of a little girl, typing hearts after every sentence, and commenting on pop icons, any 40-year-old rapist can trick a minor into dangerous situations.  

Another potential danger of such social networking sites may be the double lives many lead.  Facebook and Myspace pages represent the self-image we wish to portray. 

It is as though individuals vicariously live their lives on the Internet by collecting friends, joining clubs, dating and even playing online sports.  Will we no longer need to even leave our desks?   Odds are such a lifestyle would only feed the problems facing society, such as obesity.

Social networking sites focused on online dating have really picked up revenue in the recent past as well.  Companies such as eHarmony and Chemistry.com are always advertising through television to raise membership. It is shocking to think that an intimate relationship can be built through such sites when one can simply falsify information and pictures with a click of a mouse.

The prospect of compatibility tests to find a partner just seems to diminish the beauty and charm of something as sacred as love.  Personally, I would be terrified to be matched with someone who answers multiple choice questions exactly like me, especially when I can't really see who they are or what they look like.  It seems like something out of a horrible page of an Orwell novel. 

Will I be matched with a 40-year-old rapist from Oklahoma or even a prison inmate? Or on a more important note, will the already staggering divorce rate in the United States skyrocket?

Certainly, as our society rapidly evolves with the relatively recent advent of internet communication, many of these questions will be answered to both our delight and dismay.  The flow of money and the exchange of ideas have lead society to ever increasing greatness, but we may have opened the proverbial 'Pandora's box' and not guarded ourselves against negative social underpinnings to come.