Source: Jack Sparrow- Pexels
For better or for worst, the advancement in today's technology has allowed people to build relationships virtually through the use of social media. I say for better or for worst because on one hand, social media provides us a platform that connects us to our friends and families even when they are on the other side of the world and at the same time, brings us the opportunity to interact and make friends with people that we would not interact on normal circumstances just like how I get to know different types people from different parts of the world that I would not meet otherwise through this social media platform called Hive. But at the same time, it also becomes an avenue for scams and identity theft and with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, it also has come to a point where AI accounts begin to get mixed on social media platforms, making Dead Internet Theory closer to becoming a reality. How I can maintain a healthy relationships online will be the topic of my post today.
The first time that I use social media was through MySpace and whenever I add new people in my social media circle, I first check if we have something in common whether it was a mutual friend or the same hobby because if it's a friend of a friend, their reason may be to form new friendships and at the same time, I can ask our mutual friend about their interaction with that person then later decide whether I will accept their request or not. If it was person that I share no mutual friends, perhaps the reason they add me is because we share a common hobby and in MySpace, I have added and interacted with people due to the fact that we share similar taste in music.
Unless it was locked, most social media platforms allows you to check peoples profiles so before I add or accept people as friends or followers, I also visit their profiles to check their post. If on their profile I see post about racism or gender discrimination, I will quickly deny, perhaps even block the person because I know I will not have a healthy relationship with someone with such toxic beliefs. Visiting their profile also allows me to see if the person that I am about to accept shows a lifestyle activity. That way, I can have more assurance that they were not an account using fake identity.
Source: Tracy Le Blanc- Pexels
Once that I have added people in in my social media circle, the next thing to do in order to keep a healthy relationship is engagement which I think was the most important thing not only in the virtual world but in any kind of relationship. I do not say that we need to comment on every post or chat that our friends make. It is more than enough to comment when they make a post about important moments of their life like birthdays and celebrations, saying how you wish them well or congratulate them on their achievements. One meaningful comment weighs more than random replies to keep your virtual relationship healthy. At the same time, if they were the one to comment on my post, I always makes sure to reply to them in order to keep us connected.
While chats provide a space for a more private and casual conversation between individuals such as some dirty jokes, one rule that I have is to avoid any discriminatory or derogatory remarks to people cause even if the thing I say was only a joke, others may find it offensive because the people on the other side of the can only see the text which can be easily misinterpreted because they do not convey emotions unlike when face to face engagements.
Of course, like in our personal life, arguments also exist in virtual world and there are things that people do not see eye to eye and I say that it was fine to be on argument occasionally but when having such arguments. never attack one's character and only focus on the topic of your disagreement so that ones things settle, you can still go back to becoming virtual friends.
Digital relationships may not be equally as important as our personal relationships but we should still take proper care of them so that we can keep our connections. Who knows when this virtual relationships becomes personal and during your time of need, it might be those virtual connections you have that offers you a helping hand.
