Social implications of the internet

Social Implications of the Internet: On equality, human relations, and effort

The internet or the cyberspace has rapidly grown since the start of the 21st century. I would reckon that there are more and more people in developing countries who have access to the internet and that the great divide is slowly decreasing. The world of technology and the age of information could be the main cause of its rapidity. Everyday the internet offers millions of new information, new products, and new methods of socialization. Although, understandably there are still a lot of places that have no access to the internet, but if these places have been penetrated by technology, it would not be long before they do.
The internet is the new society, and like in the real world it could not be avoided to have inequality and social stratification. The danger here is people are trying to go up the social ladder virtually in which there are more opportunities to deceive other people. With the internet, the social hierarchy is easier to penetrate with the right tools and right approach. It has now become a source of validation for lies, arrogance, and vanity.
On the other hand, the article stated that it also empowers people with having information at the tip of their fingertips. This gives people from lower income places a competitive advantage, thus reducing inequality. Also, people are more knowledgeable about their rights lessening the chances of exploitation.
The studies specified in the article shows a decline in human interactions. Despite what the internet providers and gadget manufacturers, the internet does not improve human relations instead it worsens them. Although the internet widened the social circles of many people by gaining access to another person’s profile (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), these interactions are vastly different from personal interactions. According to psychological studies, you can never maintain 1000+ friendships like what is often the case in social media sites. You can actually only have less than ten people whom you actually trust.
With personal and close ties such as family and friendship, the internet may have adverse effects but it may be more positive for the community building. The internet has provided a platform to widen the community, to have cultural diversity, and open-mindedness. Now, it would be easier to reach, interact, and communicate with people of the same interests. In this case, the worldwide web provides people with companionship.
Overall, the internet has more positive effects for not-so-intimate relations than it does with intimate relationships, which needs more effort than quick typing on a keyboard. For me, no matter how efficient technology gets, virtual interactions will never live up to personal interactions. To maintain relationships, you need to have more effort and better communication than what is advertised in social media sites and internet-based communications (e.g. Skype, Viber, etc.). Instead of improving efficiency, the internet is making people lazy in their efforts to establish true friendships or relationships. We put more effort into widening our social circles than actually maintaining what we currently have. Now our socioeconomic status is not just what contributes to inequality but also our status on the internet, on how many people we have access to and how many people “like” us.