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.

Though the importance and dependence of social media in society this meaning has been developed. The third principle of symbolic interactionism is that “meanings can change or be modified through interaction” (Ferris and Stein, 2014, pg. 32). This principle proves that social media does not have to be a negative influence is the dependence and meaning of it in society changed. If society, particularly younger generations, did not place such a heavy importance on social media it would not have the meaning that it does in our society. If social media did not have the importance in society that it does it would not have the power to negatively affect the mental well-being of so many individuals.

Americans are slowly being separated from one another through electronics. In fact, most of that is due to the social media that is easily obtainable on devices such as IPhones, Computers, and TV’s. Social media is what keeps people away from family and keeps them from going outside of the house and actually bonding with others. When people choose to connect over social media rather than connecting in person it means they are disconnecting from society and its causing human interaction to steep downwards. People socializing through social media has become a serious problem, and it happens more and more each day as technology continues to advance. Disconnection is caused by social media and technology because the latest devices are so easily obtained and it creates the elimination of human interaction.

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.

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.

Social media can be both an extremely positive and extremely negative part of today’s society. In our current day and age, a majority of teenagers use social media apps every single day. Social media allows people to connect with friends and family, allows you to see what is going on in the world, and gives you the ability to express yourself to a large audience. As nice as that may sound, there are also negatives to social media. For example, some people use the power of social media to do harm. For most teenagers body image is extremely important. Even if you’re confident in yourself, nowadays people base their self worth on how many likes their picture gets, or even worse, by comparing themselves to the unrealistic, photoshopped pictures of celebrities that clutter the internet. Over time many people around the globe have recognized this problem and small steps have been taken to create a change; however, more people need to band together to solve this problem on a global level. The longer this problem goes unsolved, the more our youth is affected. I’m sure that everyone has looked in the mirror at least once in their life and pinpointed one specific thing they dislike about their body, and in many cases these people do not like that specific feature because it is not celebrated in the media. Every day that the problem of unrealistic photoshopping in the media is not solved, the number of people affected increases drastically. Celebrities and news outlets should work

Back in the day, if two people were to have a falling out most of the time the problem would be solved either by confrontation or they would stop talking to each other. As times have evolved, so has the way that we communicate our emotions to others. Over the last decade, social media has started to become more prominent and important in everyday life so that people can keep in contact with each other from many miles away. Unfortunately, will new ways of communication comes new ways of trying to hurt other people. Almost every single person in the 21st century is connected to the internet one way or another and has at least one social media account. Although it is true that being connected to the web can help people all over the world to

Social media plays a monumental part in young adults’ lives. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, people aged 13 to 35 have been constantly discovering new ways to interact with each other through a digital medium. But given the enormity of social media, it can only be expected that its effects are just as great. One of the key areas social media affects in these people is language. Therefore, messaging in social media and other forms of digital communication are expanding American young adults’ vocabulary, their attitude towards language, and the forms in which they communicate.

We torment each other each and every day. We claim we want the hate to stop. We want the rumors, disrespect, harassment and bullying to end. We cringe at the bitter words spoken about us online. And yet we persist to tag along through sharing of photos and videos. The virtual world called social network continues to corrupt the minds of the innocent and the young. The popularity of social network site will continue to grow in number regardless of whether we love or hate it. Coupled with the advancement of technology social networks promote an accessible way to manipulate people. The world within our computers not only provides a smooth way for bullies and predators but also negatively impact the health of young teens, productivity

Technology is rapidly advancing, and in today’s day in age, social media is integrated into the majority of people’s everyday lives. Individuals should take into consideration their professional persona when it comes to social media, due to the fact that it will be beneficial for them and any future companies they are involved with. Take for example the incident that occurred over Twitter with American Red Cross. The company recently tweeted out an inappropriate tweet saying, “Ryan found two more four bottle packs of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch beer… when we drink we do it right #gettingslizzard.” (Huffington Post 2011). Now instead of dealing with the backlash and negativity that emerged from the tweet, the company was thankfully able to turn it around and even launched a blood for beer campaign that gave beer to people who donated blood. Not all companies are able to turn around and save their reputation like American Red Cross however, and it is important to make sure what you post on the internet will not get you in hot water.

their advertising, only brands who spend large amounts of money get the luxury of advertising on these social networks. With the use of only picture, these sites are limiting the amount of conversation about politics to occur. However, just like Twitter both of these sites appeal to millennial’s as well and can slightly influence the younger generations. If a politician were to use Instagram or Pinterest as a way to advertise for their campaign he or she they may want to think twice and use Facebook or Pinterest instead, due to the lack of conversations that occurs as well as the lack of individuals who tend to not be as influenced by these sites to turnout and vote. Nevertheless as each one of these social media sites have their own benefits and drawback, it would be up to the candidate whether or not, they decide to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. However as the data proves the best social networking site to use would be Facebook a candidate would be able to receive a higher voter turnout overall.

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.

In the past, many people were limited to who they were able to interact with, and most online communication occurred through electronic mails. The amount of information exchanged was very limited because many computers were not yet capable of holding vast amounts of data and the speed in which the information was transferred was not fast enough. But with the advance in broadband technology, also came the expansion of communication channels. The thirst for instant communication resulted in the creation of social networks such as Facebook. After its beginning in 2004, Facebook revolutionized the way people interacted with each other online, and gave users the opportunity to directly connect and communicate in a much faster way. Companies can