Social Media And Its Effects On Society

Social media has become deeply embedded as a part of today’s American culture and lifestyles, changing the way people interact and communicate with one another. Americans use social media every day; to not only communicate, but to express themselves. These online media sites and blogs serve as entertainment for its users and give them a sense of a social life if they do not already have one. Some users become so obsessed with their online lives that they lose the ability to successfully communicate with people in real life. Their craving for the use of social media becomes an addiction to where they can spend countless hours on their social sites. Facebook, a popular social media cite, has been proven to cause Facebook Depression, a sickness in which a person is emotionally depressed and in self denial. Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook, are a direct link to an individual’s physical and emotional well being.

You are walking out of the new Star Wars movie, posting about how superb it was, when suddenly you are swooped up and thrown in the back of a vehicle. No one would have thought posting about how you were there earlier would provoke such a situation. After all, social networking is “safe” and “friendly.” Now, social media is defined as “A form of electric communication through which users create online communities to share information,” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Social networking began in 2004 and has sky-rocketed since, due to its sense of world connectivity in a mere moment. However, with this increase, a growth in seemingly harmless threats has occurred. Users sitting behind a screen are usually unaware of how complex and diminishing social networking can be. Social media may be considered negative for society as it changes what members view as behaviorally normal, increases the risk of cyber-suicide, and reduces the amount of privacy in one’s life.

Within recent years the Internet and computer technology have made great advancements, allowing for the age of social media to be born and subsequently shaped into what it is today. Social media has become so largely desirable to modern day society due to its large and easy accessibility amongst citizens. However, social networking sites such as Facebook have been found to have negative impacts on individual’s social and psychological well being including things such as basic empathetic social skills1 (Chan 2014). Social awareness and the ability to communicate with one another makes up the crux of what it means to have social well-being. However, through the often anti social aspect of social media, physiological issues and issues of social well-being are being brought to light through research and studies investigating the truly negative effects of social media. Some of the risk that are highlighted through research into the effects of social media includes the risks of addiction, ‘Facebook depression’, ‘sexting’, cyber bullying and online harassments as well as associated privacy risks of all forms of social media2 (O’Keefe 2011).

The more technology advances the more we seem to find different ways to communicate world wide. Daily there are many different types of apps and websites being created to share ideas, photos or feelings. It has changed the lives of many people positively and negatively. Ever since social media grew so did bullying. However there are many places bullying can happen, like in school, outside of school, work, or home. There are two different types of bullying, verbal and physical. It can have a small or big impact, depending on the person. Many people will say that the main causes of bullying today is social media because it allows people to communicate with others not having to be face to face and anonymously making it easier to bully others. Although some may argue that social media causes bullying, the truth is that bullying is actually caused by overexposure of private life, the victim becoming the bully, and lack of supervision .

For many years, the world has heard stories about children and teens who have gone missing or taking their lives because of social media. Some think that social media should be restricted to only allow so much information. Others think that social media is a form of expression that can help teens and businesses grow. By adding restrictions, such as a limit to what information you can share on your profile, the government can help combat prevent identity theft, social media related kidnappings, and reduce cyberbullying even though the opposing side disputes these reasons and stance.

Romantic relationships have become super complicated in recent years. The movie He’s Just Not That into You portrays ten people’s perspectives on relationships and dating in the 21st century. This movie was written as interweaving stories that come together in different ways that make a point. People find the world of dating to be complicated and most times confusing. There is always a fear of cheating and falling in love with manipulative people. Social media has also become a huge part of modern dating. Everything from texting to dating websites can influence how people view potential mates. The Facebook status was invented expressly for discovering if someone was single within the first couple seconds of being on the page. You can practically advertise that you’re single to any of you friends in hopes of finding a date. Dating today can be fraught with conflict and miscommunication and is vastly different from the dating world fifty years ago as it now includes a “hookup” culture, a non marriage centered mentality, and the use of modern technology.

those they look up to. They want to feel what their hero’s or idols feel when they are performing in their music videos or acting in their movies. If exposed to violent media, teens are more likely to repeat what they have seen to hopefully achieve the same results or sense of nostalgia as previously viewed. These criminal acts would not only damage the individual and remain on record forever, but society as a whole would reflect and would only help deepen the wound of social media’s single story. Although logically when read on paper or perhaps seen through the news, such acts seem like obvious activities to avoid, but using social media, huge entertainment diligences have glamorized the lives of those who perpetrate such acts. “One of the disadvantages of the social media is that people start to follow others who are wealthy or drug addicted and share their views and videos on the web. Which eventually inspires others to follow the same and get addicted to the drugs and alcohol” (Ahmad). This goes to prove and suggest that many real physical influences have been put on a pedestal for teens and appear to be ways of life that will satisfy artificial needs. It has become well know knowledge across the United States that an excess of alcohol, drugs, or narcotics can lead to dangerous physical and mental health disabilities. Through social media though they appear harmless and even sometimes necessary to be a part of a culture that rules popular teen opinion. Through the

High school is a mosh pit of youths, no longer teenagers, but not yet adults. When hundreds or thousands of them are grouped together under one roof, a breeding ground for both insecurity and narcissism is forged. Forced into a pressure cooker of judgement, harassment, and competition, they seek approval from various sources. Some look to trusted advisers, focusing on academics, sports, and extracurriculars. Others look to their peers, potentially falling into a vicious cycle of drugs, alcohol, partying, and other unhealthy behaviors. Left alone to identify themselves, teens rely on the confirmation of their environment. Whether they live in a small town or an urban city, social media has established a worldwide public platform for the scrutinization of this generation of emerging adults. During these tumultuous years, teenagers find themselves seeking the approval of others. While healthy sources of validification exist, the effects of unhealthy, attention-seeking actions are more damaging and longer lasting.

Over the years the view of marriage has changed. Society has constructed the views of what a marriage should look like and what roles should be played even who should be married. Today’s social media glorifies all aspects of marriage, from prenuptials to annulments as well as overdramatized weddings and divorces. Respect has been lost as there are more and more reports of infidelity and less privacy of family and home life. Marriage was something that was once significant and held in high regards has fallen victim to the social construction of a newly defined meaning. One aspect that has changed marriage is the cohabitation between two individuals. Cohabitation encourages premarital sex. Society accepts cohabitation and

Social media in today’s society has some positive aspects but there are many negative aspects to living in such a social media world. Cyber bullying, hacking, cyber stalking, and other cybercrimes have taken off since social media became so popular. Job growth, e-commerce via social media, families staying connected, and information that is beneficial to society has made many things possible that was not available before social media became the norm. Social media in the last 10 years has become almost unstoppable. It keeps getting bigger and in some cases better than it was before it started but there has been trials and tribulations to social media where it is in today’s world. Social media is a way of life now for most people in the United States, there are many different forms of social media and different ways that it is used in everyday life.

Social media do not simply mean communication, sharing information, and playing games. Social media has also helped businesses increase revenue for the company by contacting customers, and introducing their products and services to consumers. According to the social savior.com (N.D.) in 2013, marketers argue that was important for business for about 86 percent. A year later that number increased to 92 percent. However, social media expansion was important for their business. Internet users in the United States, with an average usage per day, spend 37 minutes per day, while in 2015 Facebook had nearly 1.5 million users. Other sites are growing quickly as well, although not as much as Facebook is. Therefore, it makes the owner company turn its attention to social media more and more because they will benefit enormously from social media. For example, if Facebook has 1.5 million users, and a company will have consumers from advertising on Facebook, than viral marketing as Facebook has users all the time and advertising on social media that will have people to see it more than another (the social savior.com, N.D.).

When one is struggling trying to figure out one’s own identity, there are resources available. For example, YouTube may have makeup tutorials. However resources for figuring out one’s sexuality may be harder to find. Trying to turn to loved ones may result in judgment. So the Internet is the next best choice. In most cases, blogs are the ideal option because they allow for people to share the personal struggles and triumphs with the world. Upon research Tumblr may come up on a search engine. It is a social media website that hosts millions of blogs.

Social media isn’t just for updating people on what you are doing in your life but it can also be used to help generate sales for your business. This can be done on nearly any platform that you’d use for personal purposes. Social media sites have millions of people on them and they could be your next customers if you seek to gain more exposure through social media. Not only can you have your brand out there to create awareness, you can also run campaigns to create sales, build relationships with customers, gain feedback on your products or services, give promotion details, create loyalty programs, tank higher in search engines, and it can minimize your advertising costs (Adweek). Some of the main social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Yelp.

Every business hears those terms being bandied about every day. They are made to feel less than and that their business will go under if they are not on the cutting edge of whatever is happening in digital. The reality is, there is some truth to it, but not in the way you think.

In the 21st century, the Internet has become more and more popular by the day in several areas around the world that has access to the internet, and the use of social media has basically become a new way of living and communication between people. Some people stated that the social networking sites has more advantages than there is disadvantages. This statement is somewhat reliable since people can chat with friends, family, and other people that are in different countries through some social networking sites. However, there are also some serious problems that come up with social media if people cannot use it in the right way or spend too much time on them daily. Which has a negative impact on their lives, if social networking is abused or misused.