Introduction
Everything we do today is connected to the online world. Watching videos, posting pictures, liking, commenting, or even just scrolling all these things have different reasons behind them. Some people upload videos because they want to be famous, be creative, or earn money. Others comment because they like or dislike something, or just want to show thatĀ How much they know about the topic. Sometimes we press like simply to look active online. But behind all these actions, there is one simpleĀ reason, humans are social and we want to feel connected. Social media makes this really really easy. We donāt need to leave our room, We just need a device and our fingers are enough.
Why We Interact Online
People naturally want to stay connected and feel part of something [1]. In real life, this takes effort going outside, meeting people, spending time together. Online, it happens instantly. The idea of a community means a group of people who share the same beliefs or interests [1]. When we want to join a community, we start thinking and behaving like that group. A classroom is a real-life social network, and online platforms work the same way people come together because of shared hobbies, goals, or ideas [1]. But even though social media has many good sides, it also has many problems.
Problems of social interaction
One big problem is loss of privacy. People share too much their location, routine, even private details. This makes them more exposed online [1]. And once something is posted, itās very hard to remove because the internet copies and spreads everything quickly [1].
Another problem is addiction. Sometimes people canāt stop using social media even when they want to. Likes, comments, and views give small happiness, and this makes us come back again and again [1].
Miscommunication happens all the time online. In real life, we use face expressions, tone, and body language to understand someone. But online, all of that disappears, and messages can be misunderstood easily [2]. People often āhearā a tone in their head that the writer never meant [2].
Fake news is another issue. False information spreads so fast online sometimes even faster than the truth [3]. People share things based on emotions, not facts. Research shows fake news spreads more widely because it is surprising or emotional [3]. This causes confusion and fear in society.
How Information Spreads
Social networks connect people in many layers. For example, a friend of your friend may know a celebrity. Through these connections, information spreads far beyond what we expect [1]. Depending on what is shared, this can be good or bad.
Ā A really good two examples that show how strong online networks can be.
The first is ā Dancing Matt?ā where Mattās dancing connected strangers across the world and brought happiness [1].
The second is the āStar Wars Kidā where a private video was uploaded without thinking. It went viral, and the boy suffered bullying, stress, and had to change schools and identity [1]. This shows how online sharing can accidentally hurt someone deeply.
Conclusion
We interact online because itās natural for us to stay connected. Social media makes communication fast and easy, helping us join communities and share ideas [1]. But it also brings problems: privacy loss, addiction, misunderstanding, fake news, and unexpected negative consequences. Knowing these problems helps us use social media more carefully and protect ourselves and others
References
[1] Miyazaki International University, āLesson 05,ā 2025. Available:
https://portfolio.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp/moodle/pluginfile.php/24427/mod_resource/content/0/Lesson%2005.pdf
[2]M. Garaigordobil, E. BernarĆ”s, J. Jaureguizar, and J. M. Machimbarrena, āChildhood Depression: Relation to Adaptive, Clinical and Predictor Variables,ā Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 8, May 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00821.
[3] S. Vosoughi, D. Roy, and S. Aral, āThe Spread of True and False News Online,ā Science, vol. 359, no. 6380, pp. 1146ā1151, Mar. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9559.
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