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Jephazia Townsend Formatted: Header distance from edge: 0.2"

Ms. Caruso

UWRT 1103

4 April 2017

Defense Paper: Social Medias effect on Relationships

In today's society social media has become a huge factor in how we engage in human

interaction. The usage of social networking sites has spread across a variety of demographics

such as age, location, and how often people engage in online interaction. With the usage it is Deleted: use social media
Deleted: of social media
very common for people to share a lot of details about their relationships on online where Deleted: social media

seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another (Social Media Fact

Sheet). Some of the reasons people use social sites is to communicate, collaborate, build brands,

share media, and entertainment (Social Media and Its Uses). On the topic of relationships, the Deleted: people use social media sites for a number of
specific reasons that could potentially hurt the relationship
that are in
reasons for using these sites could potentially cause problems in the relationship that they are in.

Whether the relationship is platonic or romantic the items that are posted to these sites can

influence the perception of the person who posted them and affect those who view the posts. The

result can be a lack of communication and a lack of in-person social interaction causing a decline

in long lasting healthy relationships. Therefore, I wanted to create a product to inform people of

these effects. Comment [1]: Transition sentence

The goal is to bring forth awareness of how social media specifically affects romantic Deleted: that is aimed to be achieved

relationships. To accomplish this task, I created a social awareness video to inform the general Deleted: task

population of the influence that their involvement on social media may cause. In synopsis the

video will be a representation of what a relationship may look like in todays society and how it

is changed as different factors are introduced which are caused by social media participation.
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The perception of the video may appear to be satirical as it is designed to keep the audience

engaged. It shows that people are so attached to their social media pages that they lose interest in

their partner and the two begin to drift apart. This videos intended audience is any person who Deleted: engages in social media interaction

has online profiles, whether they are currently in a relationship or not the information could still

be useful in informing them to be mindful of how attached they are to their social accounts and

to take caution before they post. The video will be displayed on various sites over the internet,

such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, it can also be located as an ad on dating sites

to give people a word of advice when getting into a new relationship. I would like it to have the Deleted: also

ability to be shared allowing the message to spread and potentially go viral, or reach enough Deleted: to

people to possibly make a difference in the personal lives of the audience. The ideas are

portrayed in scenes during the video displaying some examples that can be related to the

audience. Comment [3]: Transition sentence

This video will start with an intro thumbnail that has a picture of an evil cellphone with

devil like characteristics in the center of the frame and two halfs of a broken heart on either side.

At the top is the title How Social Media Ruins Relationships. I decided to add this beginning

thumbnail to catch the attention of the audience when they are scrolling on their pages and

because of the amount of red placed on a white background, It gets peoples attention and it

holds it, which is why its the most popular color for marketing (Morris). Next, the video

introduces one of the main characters, Tommy. When deciding how to create this video I Deleted: approach
Deleted: ing
decided to use characters to give the audience a story to relate to rather than just a list of facts

and statistics. Then the video will proceed to say that Tommy used to be in a happy relationship Deleted: it
Deleted: he
with Holly, but they broke up because of social media. The video will show some scenes of Deleted: and
Deleted: say that
what their relationship could have looked like by showing the couple smiling, talking with each
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other, going on dates, and taking walks on the beach, which may be seen by the audience as

typical couple-like activities, or seen in todays society as hashtag goals, but this fantasy ends Deleted: en

when the video clearly states that their relationship lacked these intimate moments. In

researching about important key factors for a relationship I discovered that a relationship needs

intimacy. Regardless of whether it's a physical intimacy or an emotional intimacy, your

relationship will slowly wither and die without it (Can a Relationship Survive). So I felt, it was

important to show that Tommy and Holly lacked this intimacy in their relationship because they

were too engaged in social media, which like the research stated, their relationship eventually

ends. I then continue to build up their story leading up to their breakup.

However, I decided not mention the ending of their relationship in the beginning of the Deleted: do

video but instead build upon the story to keep the audience wanting to know what comes next.

The video then introduces Tommys engagement with Facebook and Hollys engagement with

Instagram. The video explains that the couple appeared to be happy on their social media pages.

However, in my research I found that that couples who post often about their relationships are

more likely to be feeling insecure (Study Shows That Couples). This piece of information hints

at the next event in the story when Holly checks on Tommys page and finds something that she

feels is inappropriate. Her need to check his page is the insecurity that can not be seen from the

pictures they post. One of the reasons people post their relationships on social mediais for the Deleted: This gets into the
Deleted: o
likes and reassuring comments from others. These reassuring comments can make the couple feel Deleted: , that reason being

like everything is fine in their relationship when it is not. It is very popular to see on social media

many couples that appear happy to be labeled as relationship goals however, the audience has

no clue of what goes on beyond the cute pictures they see on the internet. The pages serve as a

mask, hiding the real issues of their relationship.

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Behind the cute pictures the video states that social media is a gateway to a lot of Deleted: s

problems in relationships such as jealousy, infidelity, and a lack of communication and sources

have shown that a block in communication is fatal in serious, long-term relationships (Becker-

Phelps). When Holly sees the innapropriate content on Tommys page she never addresses the

situation with Tommy and they both just post about their problems on social media. Hollys

response is a picture quote on her instagram that states Facebook is like a relationship, faithful

on their wall, but cheating in their inbox. In most relationships there will always be some

elements of jealousy, however, when social media is involved the level of jealousy is more likely Deleted: or a slight power struggle for whos in control of
the relationship.

to increase. This can be due to the fact of posting pictures with other people, posting a certain Deleted: H

idea that could be perceived the wrong way, the way an outside force addresses or compliments a

partner, and a host of other minute issues that could be easily avoided. These small issues are

why social media and technology combined are slowly becoming the number one cause of

problems and arguments in relationships (The Impact of Social Media). Hollys perception of

Tommys page was inappropriate to her but she never addressed her problems with Tommy, she

posted on her Instagram which could lead all of her followers to believe Tommy had been

cheating. However, we will never know the truth because the couple never talked about it.

The video will then begin to summarize by explaining that Tommy and Holly never

worked out their problems and went their separate ways. To wrap the theme back into the video I

add in a section urging people to limit their social media usage and get connected with the

people in their life. Human interaction in reality is much more beneficial than online

relationships and can have a much bigger effect than the online ones.

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Works Cited Formatted: Line spacing: double

Original sources:

"Getting Caught by a Catfish Www.loveisrespect.org." Www.loveisrespect.org. N.p., 06 Nov.

2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Hare, Breeanna. "How Technology Has Changed Romance." CNN. Cable News Network, 12

Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Zepeda, Himay. "Why You Should Write Love Letters." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

"3 New Shorts! Technology Ruins Romance - Wong Fu Productions." Wong Fu Productions 3

New Shorts Technology Ruins Romance Comments. N.p., 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Feb.

2017.

New sources:

Becker-Phelps, Leslie, PhD. "10 Essential Factors for a Healthy Relationship Relationships."

WebMD. WebMD, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

"Can a Relationship Survive without Intimacy?" Counselling Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr.

2017.

"Can a Relationship Survive without Intimacy?" Counselling Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr.

2017.

Dmingthing. ""Relationship Status: Online" (Short Film)." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Oct. 2015.

Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

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"The Impact Of Social Media On Relationships." Relationship Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr.

2017.

Morris, Brian. "10 Colors That Increase Sales, and Why." Business 2 Community. N.p., n.d.

Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

"Romance and Love in Today's Society: Alive or Dead?" Odyssey. N.p., 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 7

Apr. 2017.

Deleted: "7 Things You Need to Know About

Relationships." Odyssey. N.p., 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Apr.
2017.
"Social Media and Its Uses." Liquid Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

"Social Media Fact Sheet." Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017.

Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

"Study Shows That Couples That Post About Themselves On Social Media Are More Likely To

Break Up." Viral Thread. N.p., 15 Jan. 2017. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

"7 Things You Need to Know About Relationships." Odyssey. N.p., 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Apr. Formatted: Line spacing: double
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2017.

"10 Reasons Why I Hate Dating In 2017." Odyssey. N.p., 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.