Effects of Increasing Digital Connections on Relationships and Community

I agree that social media can help strengthen relationships and that if you keep up with a relationship online you'll maintain that relationship when you're offline and face-to-face.  If you're putting forth the effort to talk to someone online and follow them on Facebook or Instagram you clearly care enough about the person to want to know every meal they eat that day or other irrelevant pictures or comments they post.  If you don't like a person then you'll be less likely to tolerate those things. 

My older sister lives in Sandy.  I love her very much but I'm only able to see her twice a year due to our busy, conflicting schedules.  If it weren't for texting and social media we'd have no idea what each other is up to and it would make our visits kinda awkward because we haven't seen or talked to each other in 6 months.  If I were to post a picture collage on Instagram of me and my dog because it's his first birthday then my sister will see that and know that it's my dog's first birthday and that I'm celebrating it.  If she posts a picture of her and her husband at a sushi restaurant and they're smiling then I can assume that they still love each other because they're out on a date and smiling.

Sure writing letters and being pen pals is cute but by the time the letter arrives and the recipient reads it, the information is already outdated and irrelevant.  Let's be honest, how often do we really go and check the mail?  No one looks forward to the dozens of bills that go along with checking the mail and by the time I check my mailbox it is jammed so tight with coupons and magazines that with any gust of wind my mail would be all down the block.  The point I'm trying to make is that sending letters is no longer the way to stay in touch with a loved one.  No one has the time to sit down and hand write a thoughtful letter and then send it out within that week.  And although a note in the mail to my older sister from me would be sweet and give her warm fuzzies inside, it's unrealistic and aint nobody got time fo dat!  

The people I follow on Instagram and Facebook are people that I consider to be my friends except Kim Kardashian whose life I pretty much know down to the last detail after following her but she has no idea who the hell I am.  These people I will at least smile and wave at if I see whereas the people I don't follow and care about will get ignored and avoided by me.  

Social Media is a wonderful way to stay in touch with people and although it can be misused, I believe it helps maintain relationships at a close or long distance and keeps us up to date on our loved one's day-to-day lives.