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Social Empathy Essay

Decent Essays

Social media has changed the way people communicate with each other and in turn, has affected our ability to empathize in both negative and positive ways. One of the most harmful consequences is the rise of cyber-bullying. Another negative issue has been the trend of trolling in comments sections of websites, chat rooms, and other online venues of communication. In spite of this, there have been constructive consequences due to social media such as the ability for family and friends to keep in touch on a regular basis. Because of social media, many people are finding support and resources to help them when they fall on hard times or experience tragedies like death and illness. Overall, social media is an exciting new world that changes as …show more content…

According to stopbullying.gov, “Cyberbullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the source.” Most social media sites require a user to create a profile in order to access them and to interact with other users, but it easy for the user to create a fake identity. For those who regularly use social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Instagram, it is common to see accounts that do not divulge the person behind it. In the case of cyberbully victim Megan Meier, she committed suicide at thirteen years-old when she continued to receive malicious messages from sixteen year-old Josh Evans. It was later discovered that “Josh Evans” was actually a friend, the mother of Megan’s friend, and a past teenage employee of the mother (Billitteri “Cyberbullying). According to Billitteri’s article “Cyberbullying”, child advocates see the growing incivility in aspects of culture from politics to reality television contributing to the idea that humiliating others for entertainment is acceptable. Where are many of these comments found? They are prevalent on the commentary sections of news and social media websites where users do not have to reveal their actual identity. If users would take the time to empathize with strangers who may believe differently than them,

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