People are not getting the connection that they need from social media. Social media is changing how we interact with each other and form relationships. Before social media, our relationships were purely based on face to face interactions and real world connections. Since the emergence of different social media outlets, more and more relationships have been based purely off of what is said and done online. This does not allow for healthy thriving relationships because of the lack of personal connection. Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, is quoted by Susan Greenfield in her book titled Mind Change as saying “Relationships are the fundamental unit of our society (99). With this in mind, A 2008 long term medical study showed that “Women with fewer social relationships experience strokes at twice the rate of those with more, after adjusting for all other possible factors” (Greenfield 99). This overwhelming statistic not only supports the claim that the new way that we are forming connections is in fact bad for us, but it also raises the question of whether we can maintain healthy relationships by using a hybrid of personal and online forums. Equal parts of both on line and in person connection are necessary. If people do not participate in real world conversation and socialization, they will have less successful social connections leading to a decline in their health.
