Critique of the state of the web as a media for the conduct of social relations

Essay by evanslim November 2004

download word file, 3 pages 5.0 2 reviews

Downloaded 49 times

The effect of web as a media on social relations is obvious but elusive. Nobody really notices it happening but obviously and slowly, it is happening. In this essay, I want to talk about specifically the relationship between a few groups of people and how they are affected but the web as media, the relationship between student and teacher, employer and employee and the relationship among friends. It is also rather paradoxical to say that the internet is a mean of connecting human beings and to improve communication.

In order to further understand the effect of the web on social relations, I interviewed people from different walks of life, both in the working world and in school. On top of that, I had immersed myself in the library and on the internet trying to look at the idea of "connectivity" via the web and how it affects social relations in different perspectives.

The internet is a form of technology that connects and at the same time disconnects. So what exactly does it do?

Living in this computerized age, machines are slowly replacing man in most cases without even them noticing it. The introduction of computers in a working environment placed a great impact on the relationship between the employers and his employees. What used to be human interaction now lacks the human touch. Employers, employees and even clients communicate via the internet and computers and sometimes, they don't even see each other face to face. Jerry Mander, in his book he mentioned that there was this friend of his son and his only interaction at his work place was through the computer. "Everything I do is reported to my supervisor on his computer, and if I missed my numbers, I get a written warning. I rarely see the guy.