Has social networking improved the quality of relationships in society?

B2 practice is a major concern for my students. I'll provide an essay sample with expressions in bold to help them work on their own.

Has social networking improved the quality of relationships in society? Write an essay 

Social networking has had a major influence on society in the 21st century, enabling citizens to engage with each other in radically new ways. We can fall in love online, create friendships, attend parties without leaving the comfort and anonymity of our armchair.

To grasp the effects that new media have had on social relationships, we have to consider them with the broader community, friends and self. Regarding the first one, it seems that the social media user has a greater awareness of social issues and politics. Networking in personal relationships represents an efficient way of establishing and maintaining relationships with friends and relatives or supporting online self-help communities. Nevertheless the quality of relationships can also deteriorate as in cyberbullism due to  anonymity and the opportunity for bullies to gang up on victims. Concerning the self it gives users a way to shape their social identity but it also fosters vanity, thus encouraging shallow relationships with so-called friends.

Social networking’s effect on social relations seems to be a mixed one. It has brought both many benefits as in  political engagement and activism and problems such as the spreading of cyberbullying.


We might change this essay for b2 into an essay for the final exam

Has social networking improved the quality of relationships in society? Write an essay 

Social networking has had a major influence on society in the 21st century, enabling citizens to engage with each other in radically new and different ways. We can fall in love online, create friendships, attend parties in other countries – all without leaving the comfort and anonymity)of our armchair. How is social networking changing the way people relate to each other, and can we say that it has led to an improvement in relationships? 

In order to grasp the effects that new media have had on social relationships, we have to consider relationships in relation with the broader community, ‘friends’ and self. Regarding the first one, there is much evidence to suggest that the social media user has a greater awareness of social issues, of politics and social struggle. Social networking in personal relationships represents an efficient way of establishing and maintaining relationships with friends and relatives or supporting online self-help communities as among sufferers of certain medical conditions. Nevertheless, the quality of relationships with friends can deteriorate when replacing face-to-face communication or  leaving some people feeling more lonely and isolated. A major  concern is cyberbullying since networking creates opportunities for this to happen due to its ability to remain anonymous and also of allow bullies to gang up on victims. In the domain of the self on one hand it gives users an opportunity to shape and construct their social identity and on the other it gives rise to self promotion and vanity via self descriptions and photographs, also encouraging shallow superficial relationships with so- called ‘friends’.

To draw a conclusion social networking’s effect on social relations seems to be a mixed one. It has brought both many benefits as in the area of political engagement and activism and problems such as the spreading of cyberbullying.The challenge for society will be to keep pace with this change, and to try to ensure that this new kind of ‘voice’ will be kept ‘ under control’.