Social Media And Its Impact On Society Essay

On the very first day of the class, Introduction to the Black Experience, we learned that people are defined by their culture and geography. We are also defined by the gaze of others and our own gaze. This realization led me to contemplate what the “black experience” means to me. As a first generation Haitian-American woman at Wellesley College, it has become clearer to me how important the language and culture of parents has been in shaping my identity. I have also begun to think more critically about how my identity as a woman of color separates me from black brothers as well as my white peers at Wellesley.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, what do they mutually have in common? They are all social media websites. Social Media has become the number one way to communicate with other people from around the world. It has been beneficial and helpful to many, on the contrary harmful to some. People use social networks to catch up with a childhood friend, endorse their business, or develop news faster. Other people use it to steal identities, cyberbully, and abuse others. It has stated that social media’s are “websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts” (“social media.”) With this in mind, how has social media influenced

In studying the success factors of high achieving Black males in high school, Allen (2015) found that parents were proactive in teaching their sons to have racial pride and resilience while understanding the dynamics and barriers of racism. One father stated, “For some reason, because of the color of our skin, we’re looked down upon as being nothing and if we don’t do something supernatural and achieve way beyond everybody else then you’re never going to get out of that box” (Allen, 2015, p. 221). Therefore, it became essential for the fathers to teach their children to “achieve way beyond everybody else” (Allen, 2015, p. 221) in order to achieve racial justice. The idea of racial justice as a motivator is significant in giving the Black male students agency to be Black academically talented men.

Thesis: Even with the creation of Black Studies as an academic discipline, the culture and influence of white dependency still seem to block people of color’s mental potential, and inherently their ability to progress as a group.

In the development of racial identity in black American youth, there are 5 stages in developing racial identity between persons of color and 6 stages in developing racial identity in whites. Differentiation of self, people of color in the United States can experience racism from one’s own race with societal stereotypes that carry a negative connotation become internalized. Prior neighborhood experience matters when examining how black youth identify with their race. How black men and women develop racial identity differs and mass media takes a affect on how youth see themselves not only how they see themselves but how they see others who are the same race as them.

I decided to do my annotated bibliography on Black American youth and racial identity. Each one of the articles that I have chosen addresses one or more of the issues in regards to sociocultural and international contexts that influence individual differences in the cultural group, how individual differences influence beliefs, values, and interactions with others and vice versa, as predictions on how interaction among diverse people can challenge conventional understanding of psychological processes and behavior. Young Black Americans often battle racial discrimination which can heavily influence how they perceive themselves as individuals and as members of their own racial

As we all know, social media has a tremendous impact on society and has affected in some way our daily life, relationships, and/or business. Every day, people around the world access famous social media network sites such as facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and so on to find out about other people, others might use social networking to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, or even meet their spouse. The excessive use of social media websites might bring negative effects; while for other people, it might bring satisfaction or positive effects. Technological advancements such as the internet, have given us the opportunity to connect with other people anytime and anywhere in the world. Pretty much all around the world, everyone has access to the World Wide Web via a desktop computer or smart phones. The fact is that no matter our current location or destination we might go, social media will always be following us as long as we have that direct connection. The main focus of this paper is to identify the good and bad of social media, and the current and future problems it will bring.

Social media has gained immense popularity, following increased access to the internet and technology devices including smart phones. Social media is used to denote platforms in which people build and share social connections; thus enhancing information sharing and interaction. Major examples include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Through social media, people can connect, interact and exchange information such as pictures, videos and other digital media by registering as users in these platforms and updating information affecting their lives on their profiles. When social media applications came into existence, these were mostly used for interacting and sharing with friends, relations and new friends acquired through these platforms. Social media has however been constantly abused, as people turn it into a ground to vent, lie, insult, bully or threaten others. The social networks no longer serve their intended purpose in the society and users have taken advantage of the free space to say whatever they want with no regard to how it affects others. People have used such domains to brandish their selfish acts and gains.

As technology evolves, so does our way of communication, from writing letters, to sending emails, and now through different social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The topic social media has always been a phenomenon, and has led to interesting debates and research on whether or not social media have made us more social or, ironically, more unsocial. An article written by Winter, parents stated that children would rather play online games with other Internet friends, rather than actually go out and play with them (Winter, 2013). People are in a way more connected, but they are not together.

While many people put off and ignore the issue of social media and its downfalls, others say that people should think about how our lives are being affected by this advancement in technology, including, lack of human contact and precious time being lost due to consumption with social media. Social media is currently a highly controversial topic in which numerous people have mixed feelings. Society has typically viewed new advancements in technology as beneficial and a sign of success within their country. But, has it solely caused successful outcomes, or are there downfalls to these advancements?

At this very moment, there are thousands of people worldwide who are retweeting posts on Twitter, liking pictures on Instagram or posting a status on Facebook. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are few of the many social media platforms that have become prevalent in our society. Because social media applications and websites allow users with easy access to communication with others around the world, individuals all across the globe are able to socially interact on a daily basis. Erving Goffman, Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead, three of many sociologists who viewed society through the interactionist perspective, would use these daily interactions to make generalizations about society as a whole. The paradigm of symbolic interactionism reaches conclusion about different groups in society, generally by observing everyday social interactions. Accordingly, interactionists would view social media as an aspect of society that consists of constant social interactions that continuously influences and affects individuals and the whole of society.

Social media has become prominent parts of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without stopping to think what the effects are on our lives, whether positive or negative. Are we as a society becoming more concerned with Facebook "friends" than we are with the people we interact with face-to-face in our daily lives? What will the longterm effects of today 's social media use be? There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs. Social media has both negative and positive effects on society, it is up to the user to decide what impact they want to make. In order to make the right choices, we must dig in and research this topic thoroughly.

Social media is a controversy topic in today’s society. Some people think that social media destroys human interaction and real life human relationships. While others think that social media is a bless to humanity. Social media makes human interaction much more convenient and much faster than real life human interaction, it makes globalization a reality, it gives a chance for introverted people to express themselves, and it also benefit develop international relationships whether its business or social.

The term ‘social media’ has become a broad-term to describe a large number of online systems that serve as a platform for the generation, and distribution of user-generated content. Social media creates a virtual social space, where a large number of users come together and interact with one another. These interactions can be either structured, such as responses that are moderated on blogs, semi-structured, such as a discussion between an extended network on Facebook, or unstructured, such as the anarchial functioning of Twitter.

In 1997, the first social media site broke the surface of the internet world. Six Degrees allowed its users to create their own personal profile and make new friends online. The first blogger sites arose in 1999, creating an almost instant sensation. The popularity of social media exploded. Between 2000 and 2006, a handful of new social networks—MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—were created that enabled users to communicate and share with other people across large distances (Hendricks). With the advancement in technology, social media has allowed people to connect with others from all around the world. In today’s society, social media has almost become a necessity. It has benefited people’s everyday lives by helping spread awareness, increase business reputation, and has even pushed its way into the education department by implementing new ways to connect students and teachers. Although there are some disadvantages, the benefits of social media outweigh them in every respect.