Course: Consumer Behavior Question: The average American teenager spends well ov
ID: 467922 • Letter: C
Question
Course: Consumer Behavior
Question: The average American teenager spends well over 8 hours a day in front of a screen, whether a smartphone, PC, TV or tablet. One study reported increasing physical isolation among Internet users; it created a controversy and drew angry complaints from some users who insisted that the time they spent online did not detract from their social relationships. However, the researchers said they had now gathered further evidence showing that Internet use has lowered the amount of time people spend socializing with friends and even sleeping. According to the study, an hour of time spent using the Internet reduces face-to-face contact with friends, coworkers, and family by 23.5 minutes; lowers the amount of time spent watching television by 10 minutes; and reduces sleep time by 8.5 mnutes. What's your perspective on this issue? Does increasing use of the Internet have positive or negative implications for interpersonal relationships in our society? Provide examples to substantiate your claims.
Explanation / Answer
The advent of internet has revolutionised the way organizations do business, individuals interact and socialize, governments work and media operates. Internet changed the world into a global village.
The rapid evoution of internet has brought in benefits as well as negative consequences.
Interpersonal relationships:
Internet usage has reduced the dependency among individuals as it provides all the possible information, connects people through social media, provides work related support, helps people purchase and sell products, provide entertainment etc.
Internet addiction is alienating the users from the world around them. Communication has been increasing across the globe but interaction within family and friends is on a decrease.
Before the intrenet age, most of the individual choices have been made based on word-of-mouth and individuals interaction but now, everything is communicated through social media.
Also, due to the excess dependency on internet, individual's thinking and decision making capacity has degraded. Sharing of thoughts across individuals has decreased due to the decrease in interaction.
Every individual in a family has his/her own devices like mobile phones, tablets. laptops etc. in which they stay busy interacting on social media, watching entertainment videos and movies, reading news etc.
Various studies have proved the negative consequence of internet on interpesonal relationships - to cite a few - "Internet and Social Life by Yale university", Springer link articles etc.
All these studies state that interpersonal relationships are on decline with the excessive intrusion of internet.