Evolution of Relationships in the Future

By: Jade Brocklehurst

Nowadays relationships are very complicated, dramatic, social media based. Due to this it has made it very difficult to be married and to be in a relationship. Therefore if relationships today are not that easy, what will it be like in the future? Will it be harder?

Many people have different views on relationship and also have their own opinion. In the blog post 'Relationships in the Future', it was stated in 1950, 22% American adults were single, 50% today are nearly single. In San Francisco 40% of households are single. This alone goes to show many that relationships are not like they used to be. In 2010 Time Magazine there was articles entitled “Who Needs Marriage? A changing Institution” It tells us how marriage is not what it used to be and is just practical. However, having said that the states still have highest marriage rates. Jennifer Gauvin and Anne Milford wrote the book How Not to Marry the Wrong Guy. In their book it shows that 30% of divorced women knew they were marrying the wrong guy on their wedding day.

Adapted from http://2.bp.blogspot.com

The future for relationships and marriages seem to be going in the direction of personal and private. Of course, it does take a happy marriage to have a healthy relationship and also in raising a family together. Marriages down the road may involve more of a range. Many psychologists have different views of relationships. One says that acting attached and feeling attached in a relationship keeps partners too emotionally dependent. A different psychologists tells us that the best marital brew is not being too dependent or independent and to have a balance.

All of this information shows us that the future of relationships will change. As we can see today, relationships change all the time. Divorce rates are much higher now than they were back then. Men and women treat each other much differently and they are not true to themselves with their emotions. If relationships now are like this, what will it be like in 2020?

References:
http://foresightimprovement.com/relationships-in-the-future/  

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Teens and Privacy

By: Marcin Sajda

Adapted from http://cdn.ientry.com

When children are younger and first discovering social media, it’s for parents to monitor there usage and behaviours online. As a child grows into their teen years, the line of parents monitoring can cause a conflict between parents and teens. Teens are at an age where they want to have their own privacy and space from their parents and if this need is not met it can often lead to rebellion. It’s understandable that any parent of a teenager would want to monitor their teenager’s behavior, as teens are still at a vulnerable age to act impulsively, by posting something inappropriate either a picture or a distasteful status update they may have long term consequences. Often teens are still in a developmental phase, where their ability to consider long-term consequences are not as sharp as a fully developed adult. Although many experts say, parents should give there teenagers space.

In the Psychology Today, the article ‘Why Teens need privacy Online’, demonstrates that it is in the best interest of the parents to teach their teenagers about online safety and behavior, and give them the skills to protect themselves. The article compares social media and teens to driving lessons, where for a certain amount of time, the teen must have an adult present in the car, but once this time limit is over, they are on their own. In other words, parents can’t be there all the time, when it comes to social media, they must prepare the child for when they are not there to monitor them, giving the teen accountability for their own online behaviors.

Adapted from http://www.opusfidelis.com

As the next generation of teens seem to grow more and more familiar with social media, they are also more aware of online privacy. In the article ‘Learn The Future of Privacy from Teens’, the author points that we can learn how privacy in the future will be understood and changed, by understanding how teens use social media in context now, and therefore when they are adults in a few years, they will be part of privacy changes. For examples the article points out how for teens the social norms of online media is a result of the context in which things are shared. For example, educators took students online images and used them in a presentation as an example of online privacy. For the teens because these images were taken out of context, it made them angry. In point of this example was to show how for today’s teens privacy online is seen as a way of controlling what is omitted from the public, where adults see it as ‘privacy by default’ meaning privacy in controlling what is made available to the public. The difference is that teens have accepted the profile-raising and availability of information, but for teenagers the social norms are sensitivity stems from the context in which information is shared, which in turn will affect the way in which privacy changes are made in the future.

Resources:
http://blog.zeltser.com/post/5449107495/learn-the-future-of-privacy-from-teens

http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/pictures/googlebrother2_320x245.jpg 

http://www.opusfidelis.com/uploads/images/Facebook_Choose_Your_Privacy_Settings.jpg  

Social Media and Long Distant Parenting

By: Marcin Sajda

Adapted from http://l.yimg.com

With 50 percent of marriage ending in divorce, it is not uncommon for one parent to be separated by distance from their child for whatever reason, re-marriage, new job opportunity, parent moved back to original birthplace, etc. Either in a different town or a different country it is the parent’s responsibility to keep connected with the child despite their geographical difference. In this particular instance, social media can really be useful for connecting parents and their children who have a long distance relationship. On the website Children and Divorce, there are several tips on what parents can do to keep connected to their children. Some examples were sharing their lives through Facebook. Or helping with their homework through online programs, and chatting with the child on a regular basis via instant chatting. The distant parent should send presents here and there, even via social media or apps, which are quick and instant.

Since social media is more accessible to younger children these days and will be in the future, many app creators are taking note and building programs that are made for the long-distant parent. For many military families, one parent can be away for long periods of time even with a young family at home, for this there were many apps created where the parent could read a story to the children then have it sent off to the child via an online app. One app called You Rule Chores, allows kids to earn points when a chore is complete, the app will soon be available for device syncing. It appears that there is a market and need to social media and apps to become more advanced and detailed and help to facilitate the relationship between a parent and child with a geographical distance.

Resources:
http://www.children-and-divorce.com/long-distance-parenting.html

http://blogs.extension.org/militaryfamilies/2012/03/08/parenting-at-a-distance-there%E2%80%99s-an-app-for-that/

http://l.yimg.com/ck/image/A2581/2581371/300_2581371.jpg 

Family Reunions Using Social Media

By: Marcin Sajda

One of most fulfilling ways I’ve seen social media used among families is the reunion. Often people have been torn apart, or drifted apart through the years and have lost touch with each other's whereabouts. Social Media has made it easier to search for a loved one and to reconnect through Facebook or other social media sites that allows you to share pictures, messages and video chat. These reunions could be between older siblings, estranged parent/child relationships, extended family members, or even family friends. There are also stories of adopted children reuniting with their birth parents or relatives. Although there are some concerns, in the area of adoptions, unlike normal family reunions, these are a bit more legal and psychological issues to be concerned about. According to the article 'Tips for Better Handling Social Media, Your Teenager and Adoption Reunions' there is no proper consoling on how to approach the reunion as there would be with a proper facilitator involved. Unlike in a formal meeting done through a proper adoption reunion agency, social media is a slightly more casual way to reunite in an adoption situation and unlike a regular reunion, should be treated with more caution, as the expectation are much higher.

Adapted from www.foxnews.com

In other cases, unfortunately events such as missing children are the reason parents use Facebook as a resource to find their child. In the article 'How Social Media Can Reunite Lost Children With their Families', Tony Lofti’s 13 year old daughter ran away from home. Tony was the one who turned to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites to spread the word about his missing daughter, his daughter was later found alive living with a sexual predator. Lofti’s soon after in 2012 organized http://www.findyourmissingchild.org/ which is a social media site that helps reunites families with missing children.

In each case, social media was able to reunite families in a positive way. For some this could be a great way to find a distant cousin from your childhood. For others this could be an extremely emotional connection to the birth family you’ve never met. Since social media as embraced this form of reconnection, there are many social media sites that have embraced these reunions, making it easier for both parties to mutually find each other, which I believe is the where social media will embrace the family reunion going forward.

Resources:
http://adoption.about.com/od/parenting/qt/Tips-For-Better-Handling-Social-Media-Your-Teenager-And-Adoption-Reunions.htm

http://mashable.com/2013/01/25/how-social-media-can-reunite-lost-children-with-their-families/

http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./family_reunion_istock.jpg 

How to Deal with Marriages and Social Media

By: Jade Brocklehurst

A marriage is something very special and something that makes a couple very happy and should be filled with love. It is a commitment that is public and permanent for a couple getting married. Although a marriage is very special and important to a couple, not every marriage is perfect.

Adapted from www.nydailynews.com

As we all know social media is very helpful. Businesses, family, friends, advertising, promoting all off this is how each of us benefit from social media. The pros of social media are very beneficial but having said that it can cause many problems, especially in a marriage.

In the article '10 Ways to Handle Social Media in Your Marriage' it guides a marriage on certain problems should be handled and prevented. Here are a few ways that are important to consider.

· Unfriends old girl/boyfriends: Ex-boyfriend and girlfriends are ex’s for a reason. Once in a new relationship it is time for a fresh start. Do not bring old drama into something new. Start off on a happy and healthy note. Whatever you ex is doing or posting should no longer matter to an individual.

· Share happy pictures: If there are positive pictures of you and your spouse post them. If you have pictures of your children post them. Always post positive picture and keep any negativity off social media.

· Don’t share issues: Marriage is all about communication, compromising and growing together. You do not want to share you issues on social media for everyone to see. Talk to your spouse about the problem rather than posting it.

These are just a few guideline that can help a marriage. Although we do have guidance, the future for a marriage can be much more difficult than it is now. A couple may interact on technology much more rather than face to face, this makes a marriage much more messy because through texting, email, Facebook and twitter certain things may be said and misunderstood. Another future issue is arguments are through the internet. Rather than talking to one another in person, they will talk through the internet making it difficult to communicate in a healthy manner.

Resources:
http://www.charismamag.com/life/men/17812-10-ways-to-handle-social-media-in-your-marriage

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/social-media-harm-marriage-article-1.1315245

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1315266.1365799717!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/afp-shutterstock-couple-computers.jpg

Is Posting Too Much Affecting Your Friendship?

By: Sarah Rafiq

Social Media helps us interact with one another. It helps us make friends, and develop relationships. But can social media hurt our relationships with others? Do you really want to know what your friends are doing every second of every day? The answer is probably not and over time this could hurt your friendship with your real friends.

Adapted from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

When you go to school or in your everyday life, you interact on a personal level with your friends. You learn things about them that are said out loud, you don’t hear their thoughts or feelings. But in social media land you hear everything they post, their feelings, there thoughts, and what they think about every topic flying around in cyber space. You can learn things about your friends you never knew, how they feel about you, about important issues to you and everything in between. This can affect the way you view your friends, they may share a different opinion then you and this may be highly offensive. Also there is the issue of over posting; I doubt you want to hear about what your friend ate for breakfast lunch and dinner. Too Much Information is a website I found that helps draw that line of what’s too much information online.

So what’s in store for the future? Well I believe that people will continue to have annoying habits online. I think there will be less courteous when it comes to their statements sent out into cyber land. Facebook The Most Annoying Place Online proves that this is an issue for a lot of people, but it won’t be slowing down any time soon. I think in the future there will be more annoying outlets for people to engage in. This will affect people friendships deeply, because your friends see these annoying habits and it affects how they see you. This will cause people to keep fewer friends that have a super active role in social media.

Resources:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/opinions/2013/24036/facebook-home-of-the-most-annoying-social-media-behaviors

http://friendship.about.com/od/Social_Networking/tp/Ways-Social-Networking-Ruins-Friendship.htm

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Friendship and Social Media

By: Sarah Rafiq

Social Media has become a part of our everyday lives. We use social media to interact with each other in various ways such as Facebook, twitter and Instagram. But is our use of social media affecting our personal relationships? Friendship is something people need to have to live a happy and normal life style. Social media has played a big part in helping people keep in contact with friends and family through media outlets. But there are some down falls to social media, people interact face to face less than before.

This actually makes us lonelier because we have less human interactions. A study done by the University of Michigan stated that the more people spent on Facebook the lonelier they felt. University Of Michigan Study. If People feel lonelier when using social media then what can we expect from the future? People will continue to use social media as an outlet of contacting one another. People will have less and less human interaction. This will cause a problem in the professional world because people will lack the skills they need to build personal relationships with people.

Adapted from www.dailymail.co.uk

I believe people will begin to have less real life friends and have more cyber friends. It will be really hard to build those friendships with real life people because we won’t be conferrable any more being face to face with someone. This could cause even more loneliness because people will start to build less real friendships.

The loneliness issue could also take another turn in the future. People could become less likely to use social media because of the disconnect from the real world. There are still people today who prefer meeting someone and building a friendship rather than contacting each other through social media outlets. This sense of loneliness could turn people off from social media all together and cause people to once again interact the old fashion way.

I guess were just going to have to wait and see what happens in the future. 

Resources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2419419/All-lonely-Facebook-friends-Study-shows-social-media-makes-MORE-lonely-unhappy-LESS-sociable.html 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/12/article-2419419-1BC93D2A000005DC-77_634x329.jpg