Should We Care About Our Online Relationships? | healthkicker

Should We Care About Our Online Relationships?

A recent article examines Facebook for its un-friendly effects. ?The idea is that online behavior can negatively impact someone's psychology. ?In particular, the top three culprits are:

• Ignoring or denying "friend" requests

• Deleting public messages or identification tags

• Seeing a Top Friends list on which one doesn't appear or is ranked lower than expected

The moral of the article is that we should conduct ourselves in a manner that we would in the real world, and take consideration before making these cyber moves. ?But my question is: should we care??

My first reaction is: get over it. ?I've never been one to freak out about online 'friending' or 'coupling.' ?I'll like a friend's status, but that's about it. ?So, admittedly, I'm not one who invests much into my online relationships. ?I do, however, use a dating site and have in the past been affected by the odd goings on that can happen there (the infinite power of a 'wink' was unknown to me until OKCupid).

The point is interesting, however, that the?way we form and participate in relationships online is different than in real life. ?And perhaps this is important enough to consider how we conduct ourselves.

My assumption is that there is a less thoughtful approach to dealing with relationships online. ?Why do I think this? ?Because people operate online with a sense of anonymity. ?When you 'friend' someone--even if you've met them in real life--you're doing so without looking into their face, in a room usually by yourself. ?The effect of one's actions, therefore, have a disconnect from real time--or even seeing one's effects at all.

But maybe this is a good thing! ?Maybe, if we can't live as we truly want to in our own lives, we get that opportunity to online. ?Maybe not censoring our feelings in regards to our 'friending' or posting is liberating in its own right, and shouldn't be questioned but embraced.

What do you think? ?Should someone pay more attention to their online relationships than usual, since the repercussions can't be seen? ?Or should we embrace the anonymity of the internet?

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Source: http://www.healthkicker.com/755177876/should-we-care-about-our-online-relationships/

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