Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 1 Social Media Effect on Interpersonal Relationships Brenda Rouse PHI103: Informal Logic Instructor: Teresa Knox February 13, 2017 - 1 - [no notes on this page] SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 2 Social Media Effect on Interpersonal Relationships The twenty-first century has experienced a sporadic increase in the use and innovation of technology. There has been much improvement in people’s daily activities due to evolution in innovations. However, so has been the increase in discussion on the appropriateness and the costs that the society has had to pay because of the progress. For instance, use of social media has been an issue that has led scholars to conduct extensive surveys, interviews, and experiments with the hope of getting a grip on whether it has been of positive or negative influence to the society. Among the most commonly, asked question is the role it has played in affecting interpersonal relationships. Different theorists and scholars have had different opinions some of which can be deduced through logical reasoning. One of the standard forms of expressing an argument, which I will use in this discussion to draw a conclusion on the issue, would be: P1: Communication with peer groups primary motivation of social media use P2: Communication with peers promotes interpersonal relationships C1: Social media enhances interpersonal relationships. The first premise has been a result of some of the different studies that have been influenced by the advent of increased social media use. According to Valerie Barker (2009), scholarly data on the issue produced results that implied that a significantly high number of social media users get to use the different platforms with the hope of interacting with their peers (p. 211). Consequently, the respondents viewed the various platforms as an alternative to calling their peers or sending them messages on their phones as a way of interaction. Before popularization of social media, people would use their telephones to call or send messages to their peers with the hope of engaging in a dialogue that would culminate in improved relationships. Therefore, social media was seen as an alternative form of communication. - 2 - 1 1. relationships. Good format [Teresa Knox] SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 3 The second premise seeks to create a boundary between the first one and the conclusion. Notably, one cannot engage in communication without expressing his or her ideas or emotions. After all, communication is the one method using which one can send a message to a different party. Therefore, in the course of communicating, different people get to learn about others and, in the process, determine how best to deal with each other under different circumstances. As a result, the relationship between the two parties improves after som ...

1. Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 1
Social Media Effect on Interpersonal Relationships
Brenda Rouse
PHI103: Informal Logic
Instructor: Teresa Knox
February 13, 2017
- 1 -
[no notes on this page]
SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 2
Social Media Effect on Interpersonal Relationships
The twenty-first century has experienced a sporadic increase in
the use and innovation of
technology. There has been much improvement in people’s daily
activities due to evolution in
innovations. However, so has been the increase in discussion on
the appropriateness and the

2. costs that the society has had to pay because of the progress.
For instance, use of social media
has been an issue that has led scholars to conduct extensive
surveys, interviews, and experiments
with the hope of getting a grip on whether it has been of
positive or negative influence to the
society. Among the most commonly, asked question is the role
it has played in affecting
interpersonal relationships. Different theorists and scholars
have had different opinions some of
which can be deduced through logical reasoning. One of the
standard forms of expressing an
argument, which I will use in this discussion to draw a
conclusion on the issue, would be:
P1: Communication with peer groups primary motivation of
social media use
P2: Communication with peers promotes interpersonal
relationships
C1: Social media enhances interpersonal relationships.
The first premise has been a result of some of the different
studies that have been
influenced by the advent of increased social media use.
According to Valerie Barker (2009),

3. scholarly data on the issue produced results that implied that a
significantly high number of
social media users get to use the different platforms with the
hope of interacting with their peers
(p. 211). Consequently, the respondents viewed the various
platforms as an alternative to calling
their peers or sending them messages on their phones as a way
of interaction. Before
popularization of social media, people would use their
telephones to call or send messages to
their peers with the hope of engaging in a dialogue that would
culminate in improved
relationships. Therefore, social media was seen as an alternative
form of communication.
- 2 -
1
1. relationships.
Good format [Teresa Knox]
SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 3
The second premise seeks to create a boundary between the first
one and the conclusion.

4. Notably, one cannot engage in communication without
expressing his or her ideas or emotions.
After all, communication is the one method using which one can
send a message to a different
party. Therefore, in the course of communicating, different
people get to learn about others and,
in the process, determine how best to deal with each other under
different circumstances. As a
result, the relationship between the two parties improves after
some time. In this context,
communication improves the interpersonal relationships
between the people involved.
Following a deductive reasoning from the first to the second
premise, it is inarguably true
that social media improves interpersonal relationships between
the parties involved. According to
the first premise, social media is just but a contemporary means
of communication. Therefore, it
plays the role previously played by other communication means
such as faxes, telephones, and
letters. On the other hand, the second premise notes that the
communication facilitated by the
different channels through which it could be conducted
interpersonal relationships. Getting one’s

5. message across to a particular audience gets the said audience
to appreciate how they should
conduct themselves around the sender. In this context, social
media is just but another instrument
that facilitates communication. Therefore, communication
improves the relationships between
the parties. Connecting the two premises yields an answer to the
issue by giving the solution that
social media indeed improves interpersonal relationships.
- 3 -
1
1. relationships.
Good work. [Teresa Knox]
SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT ON INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 4
Reference
Barker, V. (2009). Older adolescents' motivations for social
network site use: The influence of
gender, group identity, and collective self-esteem.
CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(2),

6. 209-213.
- 4 -
1
1. 209-213.
The assignment required you
to cite 2 sources. [Teresa
Knox]
Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA HINDERS INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 1
Social Media hinders interpersonal Relationships
Brenda Rouse
PHI 103 Informal Logic
Instructor: Teresa Knox
February 25, 2017
Social Media hinders interpersonal Relationships
- 1 -
[no notes on this page]

7. SOCIAL MEDIA HINDERS INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 2
Main argument:
Premise 1: Unless controlled, over usage of social media
services can lead to addiction more so
in personal usage than business usage.
Premise 2: Social media addiction, like other forms of
addiction, may result in impulsive,
uncontrollable, and damaging behaviors that affect users and
those they interact with negatively.
Premise 3: Damaging behaviors because of over usage of social
media services poses adverse
consequences on interpersonal relationships.
Premise 4: over usage of social media services can cause
individuals to isolate themselves away
from engaging in complex interpersonal relationships as well as
shut themselves completely off
from the actual world.
Conclusion: Social media limits and hurts the development of
interpersonal relationships of the
users.

8. Counterargument
Premise 1: Social media channels facilitate people from
different parts of the world to connect as
well as share experiences of their lives.
Premise 2: Social media helps reclusive individuals to meet new
people online and communicate
with them.
Premise 3: Social media channels give people greater freedom
to express themselves.
Conclusion: Social media, therefore, enhances the development
of interpersonal relationships.
Premise 1 of the counterargument is widely known to users of
social media services.
According to Chasombat (2014), social media provides users
with channels to connect and
network with people who they would never have met in any
other situation. Social media was
created to eliminate the geographical and physical barriers of
communication.
- 2 -
1
1. users.

9. good format [Teresa Knox]
SOCIAL MEDIA HINDERS INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 3
Premise 2, on the other hand, focuses on reclusive people where
social media provides
them with an opportunity to communicate. These people usually
shut themselves away from the
actual world. However, social media gives them private
channels to communicate from the
privacy of their home. With social media, they can control what
they share with others without
having to see them one-on-one.
Premise 3 is the fact that social media enables users to be
themselves or adopt
personalities they want to. It allows them to hide behind screens
and communicate information
they would not divulge in the real world. This allows
individuals to be more open and gives them
a chance to reveal a part of their lives they would not show in a
real world situation.
Therefore, this counterargument is deductively valid. If all of
its premises are true, then it

10. follows that the conclusion too is true. The premises flow
seamlessly from one to the other
leading to the conclusion. For example, these premises reveal
how reclusive people can use
social media to establish new connections and conduct business
without having to interact
physically with other individuals. Also according to Hardy, J.,
Foster, C., & Zúñiga y Postigo, G.
“when we combine inductive arguments of different strength,
generally the argument is only as
strong as its weakest part. You can think of each inference in an
argument as being like a link in a
chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” (Hardy, J.,
Foster, C., & Zúñiga y Postigo, G.
2015).
The fact that social media can be addictive leading to damaging
results despite its
important role in facilitating interpersonal communication leads
to a significant disagreement
between the two arguments. Benefits of social media usage are
tied to how people use social
media services. Therefore, social media usage is not always a
bad thing, as the main argument
tends to perceive it. In fact, social media facilitates

11. interpersonal relationships as it facilitates
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1
1. situation.
good support [Teresa Knox]
SOCIAL MEDIA HINDERS INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 4
easier connections with people beyond physical and
geographical barriers. It enables people who
would have otherwise never interacted with each other to
communicate and interact with each
other even on a one-on-one basis albeit virtually. Social media
is so good that it allows reclusive
people, individuals who otherwise shut themselves away from
the world to form meaningful
relationship online on social media platforms. These
relationships can materialize to real life
relationships.
Conclusively, the fact that social media usage allows reclusive
people to communicate
and establish meaningful relationships via social media calls for

12. a rethink of how social media is
perceived. For example, autistic people often find it hard to
communicate and establish
interpersonal relationships in real life. However, these
individuals can use social media to
establish connections and create authentic relationships. Social
media gives them a friendly,
enabling, and comfortable environment to connect and engage
with each other. Thus, benefits of
social media in enhancing interpersonal relationships far
outweigh the possible harmful effects
due to social media addiction. According to our text
References
- 4 -
[no notes on this page]
SOCIAL MEDIA HINDERS INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS 5
Chasombat, P. (2014). SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
IMPACTS ON INTERPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND RELATIONSHIPS (Doctoral
dissertation, National

13. Institute of Development Administration). Retrieved from
http://libdcms.nida.ac.th/thesis6/2014/b185644.pdf
Davies, H. (2013). Social media and personal relationships:
online intimacies and networked
friendship. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.850527
Hardy, J., Foster, C., & Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). With good
reason: A guide to critical
thinking [Electronic version]. Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu/
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[no notes on this page]