Socializing on the internet vs. Socializing in real life

Neil Sharma

Persuasive Writing

Cheryl Clark

29 July 2011

Socializing on the internet vs. Socializing in real life

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have not only changed the culture of the internet and how we communicate, it also has changed socializing in general. This is because the internet now provides people with a mask to hide behind.

When meeting people on the internet versus when you meet a person in real life, it can be seen that there are major differences. For example some people are more outgoing and say a lot of things good or bad. But when meeting the person in real life they might turn out to be the polar opposite of what they appear to be on the internet. This is because they use the internet as a way of disguising themselves and that allows them to say or do whatever they want. And this in turn allows them to mislead people about who they really are in real life.

This can be both good and bad at the same time. It is good because it gives people who are normally quiet in real life to have an outlet to express them and allow them to be heard, since in real life they are not able to do that. But it also has caused some people to abuse the power of these social networking sites. This is because some use the internet to bully others and making fun of them without any known authority knowing about the horrible things they are saying to these victims. These websites can also lead to what is commonly referred to as cyber-bullying. Recent acts of cyber-bullying not only hurt people personally, but also mentally, which have caused suicides.