Online social networking offers people great convenience for social networking.  It allows people to keep in touch with friends, reconnect with old friends or acquaintances, meet new people, and even conduct business with the click of a few buttons.  You can find people with similar interests as you and get to know them better, even if they are in a different country without having to worry about an enormous phone bill or going over the restricted minutes on a phone card.

However, like all things, nothing can be too good to be true.  With an increased amount of time spent on the Internet comes with consequences.  As studies have shown, the more time spent on the Internet browsing through online communities and chatting through instant messenger means less time spent socializing with real people.  People slowly become disembodied with real life and believe they live in a virtual world with virtual friends.  As they begin to lose touch with other people, they increasingly isolate themselves, and according to Durkheim’s theory of egoistic suicide, being socially isolated leads to suicide.  Though suicide is quite drastic in this sense, it explains how people can become depressed.  Therefore, even though it has its benefits in the virtual world, the real world is greatly impeded by the increasing use of online social networking.

In my opinion, I feel that socializing and having real friends in the real world is much better than living in a virtual world.

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