Social Media and Online Relationships

    Today more than ever, people are participating in online relationships.  Whether that be business relationships, romantic relationships, or friendships, relationships are being made with social media.  Connecting with others has become such an incredibly easy thing to do with so many social networking sites on the web.  In both my professional life involving school and work, and my everyday life involving friends and family, I find myself forming relationships with social media.  I communicate with professors, coworkers, friends and family with different social networking sites.  I communicate with professors and get information about school through Twitter and sometimes even Facebook.  Same goes with my family and friends.  I communicate and form relationships with my family and friends through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  With Facebook, anyone can easily connect and build a relationship with friends and family, or in some cases, complete strangers.  Facebook even asks what users relationship status is. 
    
    With a professional network such as LinkedIn, users can connect and build relationships with others that have interest in the same field as themselves.  LinkedIn is a a social network that is business oriented so it can be a good tool to use when the time comes for one  to look for a new job.  There are also social networking sites used for meeting people on a romantic level, like eHarmony.  Dating sites have become a very popular way for meeting and seeking a significant other.  I recently came across a social networking site I had never heard of before in relation with music entertainment.  Musicdating.com is where people that have a love for music and at the same time, looking to be in a relationship, can go to meet people with the same interest in music genre. Interesting.

   One thing that helps build relationships online (and offline) is common interests.  One aspect of social media is the use of hashtags. Whether on twitter or an application like instagram where users become instant photographers and can share their creative work with followers, hashtags allow common pieces of work to categorize together.  We are now even seeing more use of hashtags on television.  For example, on the E! Network, during each program, a hashtag of the show that is airing is displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen.  This is meant for viewers to see and be able to go onto their social network of choice (twitter, instagram) and use the hashtag to let others know that they are watching or referencing to the program.  This can form relationships with users of the networking site that all have that common interest.  Just click on the hashtag and see every post from every user involved.

    Another area of communicating and forming a relationship in connection with the entertainment industry is a website like IMDb, the Internet Movie Database. Not necessarily a social network, still a source of communication between people with a common interest, therefore forming relationships. We are given just about all the information we would ever want about any film, television program, etc. all in one website.  This site allows people to discuss their opinions and feelings on each program with message boards and user reviews. This could be good as a source of information in educating people about the topic, or it could turn into a negative concept in causing conflict between those that disagree on the reviews regarding the films.  This aspect of social media relationships is important because people tend to have very strong opinions when discussing something like movies.  Everyone turns into a critic.  

   When it comes to movies, music, video games or anything entertainment, forming relationships is very important.  The more advertised, the more discussed and the more the product is put out to the public, the better chance it has of being successful. Participating in social media can strengthen relationships in the entertainment industry because it is an additional way of communicating.  Communication is key to any type of relationship. When communicating with social media, we are ultimately developing some type of relationship. Not many people go onto Facebook to post photos, write their opinion on something controversial, or even state that they are having a bad day and not anticipate a response from somebody else.  If you are taking part in social media, chances are you are forming many relationships.