Introduction
It is hard to disagree that people’s attitudes toward the development of technologies vary. While many celebrate the new opportunities that social media and the Internet offer, others focus on the negative effects of such inventions. One of the most contradictory scientific and societal responses is to the role of social networks in the lives of individuals.
Nowadays, it is common to see people in the subway, cafe, office, or shop staring at their phones and ignoring what is happening around them. At the same time, for many individuals, using social media is the only way to stay in touch with their closest people. This paper seeks to answer the following question: Does the use of social networks tend to improve or harm relationships?
Presentation of an Argument
Numerous scholarly sources support the view that the Internet strongly influences people’s social lives and communication with others. Thus, Winstone, Mars, Haworth, and Kidger (2021) conduct their research to determine how social media usage (SMU) affects teenagers. Although the authors indicate that the positivity or negativity of online communication depends on the specific situation, they find numerous ways in which social media promotes connectedness (Winstone et al., 2021).
Firstly, the availability of multiple social networks is “highlighted as a key benefit of SMU, meeting new people, and maintaining contact with old friends outside of school and family members abroad” (Winstone et al., 2021, p. 6). Many cases of online socialization happen when it is impossible to conduct face-to-face meetings. It is rather interesting that the authors notice that increased use of social media is often a result rather than a cause of lower family interactions.
For individuals with poor relationships with family members, social media is the best way to keep in touch with distant friends and maintain their closeness (Winstone et al., 2021). The same applies to long-distance romantic relationships, which become more possible with the help of the Internet. Thus, many people do not replace real-life interactions with online communication but use the latter to strengthen their social life and develop better relationships with distant friends.
Evaluation of the Quality of the Reasoning
Overall, it is possible to state that this paper is a great resource as it is supported by evidence from other peer-reviewed articles and includes a conclusion based on the listed premises. To answer their research question, Winstone et al. (2021) explore various factors that might make the effects of social media positive or negative. The authors are concerned with the relationships within families, friends, and distant individuals, covering all aspects of such communications.
Therefore, a wide variety of themes and topics are generated and discussed in the paper. All premises are logically connected and support the conclusion that, though many beneficial impacts are present, the use of social media cannot be entirely advantageous or harmful. At the same time, Winstone et al. (2021) provide enough evidence to demonstrate that online communication is rarely a purposeful displacement of offline meetings.
Although reviewing how social media promoted relationships with other people during and after the COVID-19 pandemic would be informative, this article also failed to address this aspect. Overall, the research paper has a rather strong quality of reasoning, making it possible to use this study to highlight the value of online interactions for improving or maintaining relationships with friends, relatives, and romantic partners.
Presentation of an Opposing Argument
At the same time, many other scholarly resources explore the negative influence of social media on offline interactions, stating that communication on the Internet harms relationships. For example, Elcil (2019) indicates that “individuals who start to spend more time in virtual environments become lonely and become unhappy because they do not experience real communication satisfaction” (p. 1436). According to the author, precise satisfaction is the primary purpose of individuals engaging in relationships with others, and social media does not allow them to achieve appropriate levels of enjoyment.
The key premise provided by the researcher is that online communication lacks emotions, and people engaging in it can neither convey nor have the feelings they would convey and have in a face-to-face meeting. Therefore, the author finds that “social media, which is seen as a means of socialization, is evolving towards socialization” (Elcil, 2019, p. 1436). Elcil (2019) also mentions that healthy and satisfactory relationships cannot be created or maintained on the Internet, and using social media is one of the poorest means of communication. It does not provide or support relational intimacy, ethical values, emotional attachment, and trust, which are the primary elements of good and adequate relationships.
Evaluation of the Quality of the Reasoning
Unfortunately, one might notice that this scholarly paper has a somewhat poor quality of reasoning. To be more precise, it lacks several premises that would connect its argument with the conclusion. Elcil (2019) writes that using social media makes people isolated, lonely, asocial, and dissatisfied. The only premise Elcil (2019) provides is that online communication does not include emotions, which are the key aspect of healthy relationships.
However, the author fails to provide statistics or show how people themselves state that they do not have any emotions when communicating on social media. Therefore, the research claims that the Internet badly impacts personal sociability, but does not provide any evidence. It would be beneficial if Elcil (2019) mentioned that people could fake their emotions or reactions when chatting online, and this practice disrupted their relationships. The researcher could also refer to many people using social media during face-to-face meetings with friends or family, which harms their connectedness. However, the paper has almost no support between the argument and conclusion, so the lack of premises does not allow us to call the argument strong.
Evaluation of Arguments in Non-Scholarly and Scholarly Sources
Overall, the difference between the quality of reasoning and the degree of support for arguments in scholarly and ordinary writings is evident. When exploring a topic in detail and ensuring that the collected information is credible, it is essential to refer to scholarly papers. They always have a works cited list, and arguments expressed in such studies are always supported by previous research. Moreover, in good scholarly sources, premises are listed and explained effectively, and conclusions are well-developed. However, non-scholarly writings often lack references to other resources. They may include conclusions that are not connected with the listed premises.
Conclusion
To conclude, the value of this activity cannot be overestimated. It helped me understand that there is a great difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources, and research papers on serious topics cannot only refer to unreliable papers. In scholarly studies, the authors rarely express their own opinions; instead, they propose an argument and defend it with evidence. Therefore, when conducting research in the future, I will mostly focus on credible resources but find those with strong reasoning.
References
Elcil, Ş. (2019). Social media and social isolation: An analysis on relational communication satisfaction. Third Sector Social Economic Review, 54(3), 1432-1441.
Winstone, L., Mars, B., Haworth, C., & Kidger, J. (2021). Social media use and social connectedness among adolescents in the United Kingdom: A qualitative exploration of displacement and stimulation. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-15.