Nowadays more people are choosing to socialize online rather than face to face. Is this a positive or negative development?

An increasing number of people are choosing to socialize online rather than speak face to face. This is a negative development as it will harm the communication skills of a person. Online communication is a recent development that has enabled everyone to communicate and express themselves from the comforts of their home and their mobile phones. While this method of communication has rendered previously insurmountable barriers such as distance irrelevant, it has led to newer problems, including psychological and cybercrime-related issues. One of the important issues which have arisen from cybercrime is related to identity. Anyone can adopt an online persona and indulge in identity theft and swindling money from bank accounts. In addition to these issues, on a personal level, communicating via online platforms has led to a drastic decline in interpersonal communications and bonds among people in general. This has also had a detrimental impact on children as they develop an addiction to internet mediums at an early age, impacting their ability to interact personally with other people. Children are prone to develop an addiction to such phenomena and this has led to children isolating themselves. Consequentially, this has led to teenagers and kids suffering from psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. To conclude, even though the advent of social media platforms has led to groundbreaking developments in the field of communication. However, it has led to a lot of complex issues rearing their heads. Hence, this cannot be considered as a positive trend.