Forming and Maintaining Relationships

During these difficult times, we are fighting Covid-19; people have adopted new methods of building and maintaining relationships. Social media has become the best way of developing relationships (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor II, 2018). As for me, I communicate and interact with my friends through social media. I have joined different platforms on social media, whereby people address their issues affecting them and get counselling and guidance during these hard times. As a result, I have found myself developing proximity relationships. Through these social media platforms, I have interacted with new people. I have become friends with most of these people. This is due to frequent interaction through the internet, which has made us like one another.

When forming and maintaining relationships through online communication, various pros and cons are involved. One of the pros of using online communication to develop and maintain relationships is that it is easy to communicate with friends and people from any part of the world (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor II, 2018). There is no need to travel to meet a friend. I only need the internet to communicate with my friends and relatives. The disadvantages of forming and maintaining friends through online communication include lack of trust and transparency (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor II, 2018). It is difficult to trust someone who is far away compared to the one you meet frequently face to face.

I have learned a lot regarding online friendships. One important thing I have learned about online relationships is that they promote productivity (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor II, 2018). Since I started interacting with my friends through the internet, I have realized that I balance my studies and personal life very well. Sometimes, we conduct group assignments through the internet. This enhances participation, hence promoting productivity. This has positively influenced my daily life. Furthermore, nothing has changed in my relationships since I started embracing online communication (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor II, 2018). Just like before, my friends and I still open up the issues affecting us. Lack of face to face interaction has not changed my relationships.

Reference

Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor II, R. F. (2018). Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication (14th ed.). Oxford University Press.