How Online Identities Impact Offline Relationships

INTRODUCTION In the era of technology, the Internet has taken the world by storm. Every day the Internet sees an expansion of content brought to the homes and businesses. In the past ten years, the Internet has taken off as a viable source of information and realm of social value. Technology is updated day by day but our social relationship grows gradually which creates big gap in real world and virtual world. Birth of blogging, Facebook, and other online venues, students are able to connect to other students (and society) without leaving the comfort of their rooms. The constant increase in growing technologies will “dramatically expand and intensify the domain of social connection” (Gergen, 2005). The recent explosion over these technologies is not about the technology itself; rather the vast access people have to it and what they are doing with it (Preece, 2001).


INTRODUCTION
In the era of technology, the Internet has taken the world by storm. Every day the Internet sees an expansion of content brought to the homes and businesses. In the past ten years, the Internet has taken off as a viable source of information and realm of social value. Technology is updated day by day but our social relationship grows gradually which creates big gap in real world and virtual world. Birth of blogging, Facebook, and other online venues, students are able to connect to other students (and society) without leaving the comfort of their rooms. The constant increase in growing technologies will "dramatically expand and intensify the domain of social connection" (Gergen, 2005). The recent explosion over these technologies is not about the technology itself; rather the vast access people have to it and what they are doing with it (Preece, 2001).

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This pilot study aimed to be a starting point of research conducted on the how online identities impact offline relationships. Understanding the impact of these SNS have on university students is just a starting point at uncovering the institutional impact experienced at central university of Bilaspur.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Researchers across the board have defined community in various capacities. Each definition various slightly from the other, but all encompass the understanding that people are involved to some extent. Thomas Bender's (1982) historical definition of community is: A community involves a limited number of people in a somewhat restricted social space or network held together by shared understandings and a sense of obligation. Relationships are close, often intimate, and usually face-to-face. Individuals are bound together by affective or emotional ties rather than by a perception of individual self-interest. There is a 'we ness' in a community; one is a member. (Galston, 2004, p. 63) Bender's definition echoes throughout the contemporary research defining community. A few key principals in his definition that have carried on are: limited membership, affective ties, and a sense of mutual obligation (Galston, 2004). In the field of student affairs, however, professionals are seeing a slightly different view of community. Since the creation of the World Wide Web in 1990, online communities have begun to dominate the Internet (Wikipedia, 2005). Prior to the first web page, online communities existed in a pure computer to computer connection as early as 1968, though the term "virtual community" wasn't coined till 1993. In the beginning, online communities existed between scientists sharing research and findings. Licklider and Taylor stated this about online communities in 1968: "In most fields they will consist of geographically separated members, sometimes group in small clusters, and sometimes working individually. They will be communities not of common location, but of common interest…" (Rheingold, 1993, p. 24). 1 Licklider and Taylor could not have been any closer in their prediction as to how online communities would be created. Howard Rheingold (1993) defined them as, "social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feelings, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace." His work became foundational in the field as he recounted his interactions online and described how a sense of community was being derived. Since Rheingold's work, dozens of researchers and authors have offered their definitions of online community. Fern beck (1999) offers simply that SNS is a process. Preece (2000, p. 10), a leading researcher in the field offers that: "an online community consists of people who interact socially as they strive to satisfy their own needs or perform special roles; a shared purpose that provides a reason for the community; policies that guide people's interactions; and computer systems to support and mediate social interaction and facilitate a sense of togetherness." Other researchers continue on the line of Preece, stating that there is a level of fulfillment of need in participating in an online community (Galston, 2004).
In 2004Facebook, another social networking website, was started for students at Harvard College. It was referred to at the time as a college version of Friendster. Podcasting began on the Internet. Flickr image hosting website opened. Digg was founded as a social news website where people shared stories found across the Internet.AFTER2005 Facebook launched a version for high school students. Friends Reunited, now with 15 million members, was sold to the British television company ITV. In 2006 MySpace was the most popular social networking site in the U.S. However, based on monthly unique visitors, Facebook would take away that lead later, in 2008. Twitter was launched as a social networking enabling members to send and receive 140-character messages called tweets. Facebook membership was expanded and opened to anyone over age 13. Google had indexed more than 25 billion web pages, 400 million queries per day, 1.3 billion images, and more than a billion Usenet messages.
In 2007Microsoft bought a stake in Facebook. Facebook initiated Facebook Platform which let thirdparty developers create applications (apps) for the site .Apple released the iPhone multimedia and Internet Smartphone. In 2008 Facebook surpassed MySpace in the total number of monthly unique visitors. In 2009 Facebook ranked as the most-used social network worldwide with more than 200 million. In 2010 Facebook's rapid growth moved it above 400 million users, while MySpace users declined to 57 million users, down from a peak of about 75 million. To compete with Facebook and Twitter, Google launched Buzz, a social networking site integrated with the company's Gmail. It was reported that in the first week, millions of Gmail users created 9 million posts. 2011 Social media were accessible from virtually anywhere and had become an integral part of our daily lives with more than 550 million people on Facebook, 65 million tweets sent through Twitter each day, and 2 billion video views every day on YouTube. LinkedIn has 90 million professional users. It was estimated Internet users would double by 2015 to a global total of some four billion users, or nearly 60 percent of population.
In 2012 Ever more people are connecting to the Internet for longer periods of time. Some 2 billion people around the world use the Internet and social media, while 213 million Americans use the Internet via computers while 52 million use the Web via smartphone and 55 million use it via tablets. People also connect to the Internet via handheld music players, game consoles, Internet-enabled TVs and e-readers. Social media has come of age with more people using smartphones and tables to access social networks. New sites emerge and catch on. The top social networks are Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, , LinkedIn, Google+, More than half of adults 25-34 use social media at the office. In 2013 YouTube topped one billion monthly users with 4 billion views per day, and launched paid channels to provide content creators with a means of earning revenue. Facebook user total climbed to 1.11 billion. Twitter had 500 million registered users, with more than 200 million active. billion photos. LinkedIn had 225 million users, while MySpace had 25 million users. Google+ had 343 million users. Privacy concerns continued over public sharing of personal information on social networks. Australian survey found 34 percent of social network users logged on at work, 13 percent at school, and 18 percent in the car, while 44 percent used social networks in bed, 7 percent in the bathroom, and 6 percent in the toilet. These strategies make more sense in digital communication than face-to-face interaction because much of the time, the information being sought is not readily available and would need to be researched on a computer anyway If, for example, a person wanted a detailed explanation from a friend, it might make more sense to allow the friend time to compose an email and take advantage of CMC's ability to edit responses rather than put the person on the spot in a face-to-face interaction and require him to answer a question he does not know how to answer (Ramirez et al., 2002). 2 Additional research backs up this belief. In looking at communicators who use email versus those who use face-to-face interaction, one study found there was more self-disclosure from those interacting over email; those employing interactive strategies through email found their partners' rating their communication effectiveness much higher; and when asked personal questions, those communicating via email offered more detailed answers than those communicating face-to-face (Tidwell & Walther, 2002). It appears in this case that the presence of added cues in face-to-face interaction may actually detract from communicators' willingness to reveal information.
Research on Facebook users supports Donath and boyd's claim. A study of Facebook users' messaging habits suggests that navigation and browsing of others' friend lists comprises a significant amount of users' time on the website (Golder et al., 2006). Facebook recently facilitated this process in March 2008 by adding a "People You May Know" section to users' home page. This feature lists other Facebook members who share more than one connection with you and asks if you want to friend them. Modern social networking sites, however, the motivation has reversed somewhat from early virtual communities: whereas people such as Howard Rheingold established online relationships in the WELL before meeting users in person, today's social networking sites focus more on allowing users to maintain or solidify pre-existing offline relationships (Ellison et al., 2007) 3 . An example of this trend can be seen in a study of Facebook users that found that users were more likely to search the website for connections already existing offline than they were to browse for complete strangers with whom to engage (Lampe et al., 2006). The visibility of profile information, such as photos of a user, also makes it easier to browse for and find other individuals with whom one has an offline relationship. The idea that online interactions provide a freedom from judgment remains pervasive in present-day discussion of the Internet, but also played a fundamental role in the early development of virtual communities. Sherry Turkle (1995) echoes Wellman's ideas related to the uniqueness of online interactions in her discussion of SNS: Women and men tell me that the rooms and mazes on SNS are safer than city streets, virtual sex is safer than sex anywhere, SNS friendships are more intense than real ones, and when things don't work out you can always leave (p. 244). Social media are Internet sites where people interact freely, sharing and discussing information about each other and their lives, using a multimedia mix of personal words, pictures, videos and audio.

Location
Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyala is named to the honor the great Satnami Saint Guru Ghasidas (born in 17 th century) which was established in the year 1983 by an Act of the State Legislative Assembly which was formally inaugurated in 16 th June 1983. And it was upgraded as a Central University of India under Central University Act 2009, No. 25 of 2009 4 . As part of the enquiry, the trainee researcher has conducted a pilot study in university only among students.The starred locations are the places from which samples were collected.

Research Methodology
The purpose of this study was to examine the social impacts of SNS on university students.

Research Question
1. How the use of Internet/SNS effects, among university students? 2. How the advancement of SNS results in social isolation. Objective of study 1.
To prepare profile of respondents.

2.
To study pattern of use of SNS.

3.
To study impact of SNS on different dimensions. 1.
To study effect of advancement in technology over students 2.
To study the importance of human interaction.

3.
To study SNS effect on studies and life styles

Population and Sample
The population for this study, university students. The sample was determined on availability of students.Sampling Used-Convenience Sampling or Accidental Sampling.

Sample size is -40 respondents Research Design
Exploratory Research Design

Methods of Data collection
The researcher has used interview schedule while collecting data from the respondents taken in sample size.

Sources of data collection
Primary Data-Researcher has collected the primary data while taking interviews of the respondents taken in this study. Secondary Data-Researcher has collected the secondary data from the already collected published or unpublished data, in order to get important and relevant information regarding it.

Processing of data
The processing of data is by-1. Editing 2.
Classification and 4. Tabulation After data collected, Researcher has processed it under Editing, Coding, Classification and Tabulation.

Analysis and Interpretation
After collecting data, the researcher has checked carefully and all the entries were edited properly. After it, it's been processed through computer using Microsoft Excel table were prepared in which data were furnished in different tabular form .Then proposed data has analyzed and interpreted and the results were obtained accordingly.

Report Writing
This is last step in a research study. Researcher has taken careful steps while preparing report and it has requires set of skills somewhat different from those called in respect of the earlier stage of research. This table shows the statuses of behavior when they don't get access to FB.28% are happy, 35% are worried, 10% are sad and 22% angry. Hence it can be seen when they don't get aces to FB their behavior get changed.

Analysis and Discussion
After data collection it's been found that technology has direct impact on different aspects of life. Technology market products have aim to influence youth and their life styles. We are living informatics world and information is processed to get results. Invent of Social Networking Sites has make easier to share information (personal) to the person whom we haven't met offline. Degree pursuing students are more engage in these sites for various purpose and they spent more time in them.net gives us the freedom to access the things which are not easily available, but after some time it's been observed that many students are net addicted and if they don't make balance with offline relation then it's hard to manage that situation. It's been observed that face to face interaction is reducing considerably in daily life we love to sit in a room and interact with those people whom we never met offline, how the definition of making relation is changing in this contemporary world.it can be said online identities are effecting offline relationship.
Among sample taken for study, many of them having Facebook account and they log in to it multiple times a day, it's not wrong but the aspect is how am using it? No one think on it and further results are unexpected.
Family is an institution where we learn many things but now the criteria changed ,many people didn't have time to be with family, in a family all members are seating in a common room but addiction of SNS will take you in alone to chat with those people whom your family may not like or not permit. It's been found that family aware about FB use timing but it cannot be believed how much information given is real.
To make friend online needs no decision, you simply click it's get confirmed and u will find in the home page of FB the tab "people you may know" and we search for them and their personal information, then it's been observed that making friend on net is easy in comparison to real world, but a stranger can put you in trouble and you can't do anything because you haven't taken decision wisely. Data collected shows that SNS effects offline relations some ended their friendship, some lost job opportunity, family objected etc. We can be very advance in technology but relationship doesn't grow like technology which is creating a wide gap between coming generations.
It not only affected relationship but also effect life activities. Many of them said they didn't get any effect but data shows that study and sleep disorder increased due to FB use, which cannot be ignored and up to some extent it affect our academic performance. It's natural that the things we use become our habits and in my research I asked students what happen to you when you don't get access to FB.Most of them feel happy but major of them are sad and worried.it shows that this became part of our life to have interaction online in comparison to have offline. This results in social relationship reduction among individuals.

Suggestions and Recommendations
Technology make things easier but it should be in an order that help people to have good social relation. In Facebook home page it's written "ITS FREE AND ALWAYS FREE" but then who is paying price? We. 1. Facebook registration should be age bound. 2. Family should track activities of their children.
3. Electronic gadgets should be supervised when children using net. 4. Give room to them in order to discuss things with you. 5. Government offices should have limited access to net.

Conclusion
This study is done to see the effects of online identities over offline relationships and it's found, up to some extent it affects.it should be balance between the two things and consciously we have to think how we can maintain and manage our life styles with the coming innovation in technology. To access net, a Facebook site is not bad but in what ways we are using it, that's matter. Offline Relation also need to be visited, logged in, chat and many options.Tecnology will change every day but offline relationship has to be renewed every day.