Baym

Baym's question of "what is a friend" in terms of social media is one that I have mulled over multiple times, whether casually while thinking about adding or not adding a person of Facebook, or whether I am having a serious discussion with friends (in the real world) about Facebook friends and what it actually means. I think that adults, and younger critics of social media, often overstate the meaning of being friends on Facebook, and how our whole society is turning into one that is based on electronic media and talking to someone without actually talking to them. The idea of a Facebook friend, to me, is not unlike the idea of an old school paper phonebook: I have a lot of Facebook friends, but very few of them are people I am likely to contact. However, it is nice to have the ability to contact them all the same. Just like a phonebook, which is a listing of thousands of phone numbers (somewhat taking privacy away, just as Facebook does) most of which you will never need, but are nice to have...just in case. The reality is, for me anyway, I tend to only contact 10 or 15 people in my life electronically frequently enough for me to consider the impact of electronic media on my relationship. And I would tend to both agree and disagree with Baym that electronic media can help to make relationships stronger, and build better relationships than physical interaction could. I agree because the fact is, if you are in constant communication with someone, relationships can become much, much stronger, and if you are contacting them through numerous outlets, you have the opportunity to find similar things you like and ideas you agree on much more easily. This is turn builds stronger relationships simply due to the ability we have now to always be in contact with people. However, this ability can also hinder our relationships due to misread or intentionally hurtful texts, emails, and Facebook messages that can hurt ones feelings or drive them away from someone, sometimes due to a simple mistake. Most often, however, rational people can realize that the Internet is one thing, and real life is another, and people generally saying things on the internet are not to be taken quite as seriously. While I think that social media certainly has cemented a place in the world as one context we use to communicate, I think that face to face interaction is always going to continue to be the most important way that relationships are built and prosper. This is simply proven by the fact that if one builds a relationship up to a certain point online, the next step is always simple: take the relationship offline and meet in person.