ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS

Honestly, what do you think about online relationships?

Are the means of communications inadequate in sustaining a well and functioning relationship ?

In our current technological world, with the internet being a part of most of our lives, more and more individuals find themselves caught up in cyber world. Some of which get caught up to the extent they form and build serious relationships via the web. Some believe this as being ridiculous and others do not. I personally think online relationships that start and end online are a waste of time, that people who participate in this should just get themselves out of their computers and out into the real world to meet other real people without having to hide behind their computer/laptop screens.

On the other hand if we talk about online relationships that start real life and build up on the internet, okay alright… and for those that may have started online but eventually met, then the circumstances is understandable to me. 

The reason why i think those that start and end online are a waste of time is because all you are receiving from the other participant are words words words and more words. Relationships are not solely on words. What about all the other ways of communication like non verbal communication, as well as communicating on a different level based on shared experiences?How much experiences can you possibly share online, even if you did jump from page to page together through the world wide web, how do you really know what your partner is thinking when you have such high limitations to elements needed to perceive situations/ the person.

A study done by JanisWolak*, KimberlyJ. Mitchell, DavidFinkelhor, shows that from the age of 10 to 17, girls are more likely than boys to be involved in online relationships and question these relationships being a connector or a way of escape. 

This study also shows that “The two problem characteristics associated with close online relationships were high parent-child conflict and being highly troubled. The girls with high levels of parent-child conflict reported yelling, nagging, and taking away privileges by parents at a higher level than the other girls. The highly troubled girls had levels of depression, victimization, and troubling life events at a higher level than the other girls in the sample. Girls in either of these categories were more than twice as likely as the other girls in the sample to have formed close online relationships.^{7″ .}