Look around you! You will definitely see people of different ages using their mobile phones to check correspondence, send a message, a photo, a greeting, share personal or other people's problems, update their status on one of the numerous social networks.

The effect of social media on our ability to communicate is visible in all spheres of public life. How do they affect our ability to truly communicate when we are separated in space and time? Media and communication specialists are increasingly – deeply analyzing the change in the way we interact. Research shows worrying trends.

We are becoming more – social, but the style of our relationships is changing. Instead of meeting in person, we prefer to express ourselves through social media as an intermediary. In a social network, we do not feel as connected to the people on the other side as in personal communication. There we feel more – free to express ourselves, but the connections created do not become stronger – because of this. When communicating through social media, we tend to trust those whom we have voluntarily accepted into our friends list. The information shared is more – frank, but this does not lead to deepening of the connections. The attitude of sharing with people who agree with our opinion is dangerous, thus consciously depriving ourselves of the polemic, the alternative point of view, of live communication. Of course, new technologies change the connections between us. Moreover, the greater their influence, the more the way of communication in modern society changes. In parallel with these trends, the risks of communicating online are also increasing. According to Professor Nilalus Bowman, actions that cause “bad” Online relationships are the same ones that underlie “bad” relationships in real life. Only the way they are expressed has changed. For example, cyberbullying has the same behavioral and emotional consequences as real-life bullying. The difference is in the “quantity” – social media allows for more contacts, more communication, more publicity. The object of violence in real life can change the situation. For example, a child subjected to sexual, mental or physical abuse can find at least temporary salvation and seek help at home, among his relatives and family. However, cyberbullying is distinguished by its persistence, with the opportunities that the social network provides to make it known to a wide range of media users without the object of violence being able to oppose it and control it. Messages containing violence in various forms do not remain hidden not only from their addressee, but also from his friends and, often, from the friends of his friends. Thus, the effect of violence is multiplied and digital communication only exacerbates the problem. Another important aspect of risky communication in the social network is the information overload of the environment. It is important to learn to manage and use wisely the information that reaches us through social media in the form of sponsored messages or advertisements, social groups that we join without thinking about the consequences, invitations to events, offers of friendship and games, etc. There is data that registers the withdrawal of many users from social networks precisely because of their inability to make sense of and respond to the avalanche of information from social networks. The tendency for people to spend more and more time "communicating" with their smartphones than with the people in their environment also causes concern. Often, a parent checks their emails while having dinner with their family, and at this time the child updates his profile on the network, "chats" with friends, looks at their publications, arranges meetings. Some develop a sense of dependence on this type of communication to such an extent that they are unable to distinguish between virtual and real actions. Doctors are considering diagnosing online addiction and including it in the group of mental illnesses, similar to emotional breakdown, inability to concentrate and symptoms of alienation and withdrawal from social life. Potentially negative results of using social media is the inability to protect our “personal space”. We tend to share more and more informationonline. However, we must not forget that nothing shared, even deleted information, remains hidden and can always be searched and restored by interested parties. What then are social media? Technological progress for the benefit of humanity or another threat? If they were created to connect people, is this human – technological connection or a connection between us through technology? We are connecting with more and more people, ever – faster and over ever – greater distances. However, the negativity surrounding social media can be compensated by the opportunities that these same media give us to do good deeds, spreading positive messages, calls for help, empathy with joyful and tragic events. Although this is a relatively new communication technology, social media will continue to be integrated into our lives like all old communication technologies. It will expand the scope of the communication process, and we will have to learn to use it in the most – useful way possible. Although influential, social media is not yet a routine form of communication for everyone, everywhere. Human society has always adapted to innovative technologies and made them an integral part of social life.

This article examines some aspects of the topic and does not represent full analysis of the problem. 

Author: Petya Stoevska, Dr. Sc