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The Internet and Online Relationships

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Interacting on social networking sites has made it more easy for people to connect and be connected faster than ever. These sites such as Facebook, Twitter, dating websites, etc. have made it possible for us to create relationships with people more quickly than we do with typical face-to-face communications. This may be in part because these websites give information about us in profiles. A persons profile can tell as much as a person's political and religious views, interests, personality, and even an ideal date. This information makes it possible to know more about someone without even talking to them first. Alberts, Martin, and Nakayama in Communication in Society states that, “profiles are set up to reveal extensive information about potential partners”, which confirms that in doing so it speeds the process of asking the person questions to seek interest in them (159). Gina Masullo Chen agrees by claiming, “... people who are active on social networks, such as Facebook are more likely to feel connected”, which feeling connected with nurture the relationship to let it grow further, faster (761). With this sense of connectivity and general information about an individual at one's disposal, it is easy to weed out whom one would want to be connect with. For instance, if someone were to log onto an Internet dating website, the first thing they would do is look at the persons picture. Secondly, if they think that person is attractive, they will go to their profile and look at their information, or possible search users based on interests such as some websites. This makes it easier to come into contact with people of similar interests. Other websites such as turntable.fm, which is a website for discovering music, has “rooms” for specific genres such as Electronic Dance Music, Rock, Gospel, and Indie. Its as easy as clicking the room if you like that genre of music. This can easily connect people based on their musical tastes. Also a benefit, it is very likely to meet people you would not have usually outside of these websites. For instance I have built a personal relationship with a reputable artist named Jamie Mazur, aka “WahMaze”. Jamie came onto the website for a release of his new album at the time I began to message him. We quickly traded songs we had created and he gave me a lot of tips and advice. A few weeks passed and we continued to message back and forth and eventually began to text each other’s cell phones and added each other on Facebook. We have been friends for nearly four months now and our relationship has become stronger ov

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