Social Media And Networking. Online Social Media Sites

Social media is nothing, but a distracting, timewasting, nuisance to everyone surrounded by it, right? Wrong. Social media has changed the world as we know it. People can share information quickly, publish their thoughts, and exchange their ideas. Social media is becoming a certainty in this modern age, which is why it should be embraced rather than criticized. Although there is concern over potential for cyberbullying and lack of privacy, the use of social media is inevitable in teenagers’ lives, and necessary to the positive development of adolescents because it allows adolescents to gain confidence when interacting with others, it encourages users to create and maintain friendships, and it can facilitate learning while promoting educational growth.

Social media itself is a huge danger to society. It causes many suicides within the world because of the cyberbullying and spreading of rumors. “Recent studies have shown that one out of four teens have been the victims of cyberbullying and one out of six have admitted to having cyberbullied someone” (Trautner 1). The internet and social media is supposed to be used to communicate with friends and for searching information, “Kids use technology different than their parents do. Sometimes it is hard for adults to understand that this can even be a possibility” (Trautner 1). It is not supposed to be used to bully someone, especially not to the point where the victim would think about suicide. “One of the statistics that has been highlighted within this news coverage is the threefold increase in the suicide rate for girls ages 10 to 14. The rates for girls in this age group increased from 0.5 to 1.5 per 100,000 during this time period. The increases for boys in this age group were not as high, climbing from 1.9 per 100,000 during 1999 to 2.6 per 100,000 in 2014” (Olsen

Social media has become a major part of life, but the controversy is, whether it has a positive or negative impact on society. As this topic is timely relevant, there has been many research and studies, as well as people have formed various opinions about it. Some people see it as a form of entertainment, a medium that allows rapid communication, and a virtual place where they can share the best moments of their lives. Others argue that it is toxic, distracting, and “a disease that seems to have infected [the] entire generation and the subsequent generations” (Nestor, 2016, para 1). Nonetheless, a wide variety of individuals, from children, adolescents, and adults are attracted to it. Although it can be a valuable tool, it is extremely

Parallel the development of technology, social networking becomes widespreadly with people in the world today. Everyone is spending a large amount of time using these websites in order to satisfy their demand in life by surfing the internet and having many social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,… The statistics in the article Social Networking Fact Sheet present that 74% of online adults use social networking sites (January 2014), 56% of internet users do at least one of the creating or curating activities we studied and 32% of internet users do both creating and curating activities (August 2012). In addition, according to 30 Statistics about Teens and Social Networking, written by Taylor Thomas, studying with American teens, 73% of teens are on a social network and a lot of teens ages 12-17 go online, accounted for 93%. As a result, many people have not fully understand what benefits that social network can bring to users. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of social networking and to show the advantages and disadvantages when using it.

Social networking is the mainstream way to communicate with anyone. Teenagers are obsessed with social networking, no one calls each other unless it’s extreme circumstances or their mother. Sharing pictures, sharing life stories, and sharing opinions online has been the way of life and the norm for kids growing up with computers and smart phones. The parents to this generation have not grown up in the same environment and have different standards for online activity. In the Article “ 10 Reasons Why I Avoid Social Networking Services” written by Alan Norton, he lists why he does not use social networking services. His personal beliefs are backed up with statistics and hold true to many people in his generation but not in the younger ones.

Rebecca Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl, committed suicide after being repeatedly cyberbullied by 15 girls for many months. Once again, cyberbullying through social media has led to the suicide of a child. (“Phillips, Suzanne”) Social media allows hundreds of ways to communicate with others with electronic devices. Sometimes communicating with strangers, and sometimes unanimous. This idea of constant messages, notifications, and texts can be very dangerous when it comes to cyberbullying because the victim feels like they have no way out, or nowhere to hide. Social media for kids and teens ultimately has only negative effects because it leads to cyberbullying, a decrease in education, and suicide.

The common technological tool, social media has introduced many more dangers to the world. Some of the dangers included internet scamming, online predators and cyberbullying. In Magliano study, he gathered information about the amount of people who have experience cyberbullying on social media, 38% of people experienced cyberbullying on Facebook, 45% on Twitter and !3% on Instagram. Many people especially teen who are active on social media and are cyberbullied fall into depression. Some even take their own lives

Social media has dramatically changed the world and the way we communicate with each other. We are now in the era of Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Anyone in the planet is just a click far from us and every information is handy in our smartphones. Social media has evolved as the tool that created a gigantic difference in the way individuals interact, promote their opinions, share thoughts, and even impact others. Especially teenagers and youths spend more time in social media than anyone else. According to the report by Pew Research Center published in 2015, 92% of teens go online daily including 24% who go online almost

As of 2016, suicide has replaced homicide as the second-leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers because of social media bullying. Social media has taken a significant toll on our society, one that affects millions of students around the globe. Every day, online platforms are gaining in popularity. So much that study now shows that the average person spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping! While social media offers some benefits in regards to education and relationships, the risks of cyberbullying, social anxiety and identity theft far outweigh these advantages.

Compared to the affects associated with the bully, cyberbullying has a greater impact on the victim. Victims try to withstand the online harassment, so their parents will not take away their means of socialization (Klein 21). According to the National Crime Prevention Center, more than 40 percent of all teenagers with Internet access have been reported being bullied online (99). As technology develops, the younger generation is inclined to stay connected through social media. Many students have different accounts and applications on their smartphones to socialize. Although social media can be a useful way to be in contact with peers, it also is

Social media is the ultimate platform for bullies. Using social media, perpetrators can bully their victims to the point of anxiety, fear, low self-esteem, suicidal ideations and in some cases to the committal of the suicidal act. Cyberbullying is defined as the deliberate repetition of hostility toward a group or persons with the intent to induce psychological, emotional, or physical harm through the use of digital communication (Niels, Menno, et. Al, 2013). A study conducted in 2014, stated that nearly 75% of school age youth have been the victim of cyberbullying (Giumetti, Kowalski, et al., 2014).

With the widespread presence of teen suicides, parents can 't help but wonder and worry, but they never find out where the child’s depression came of. A review of data collected between 2004 and 2010 via survey studies indicated that “lifetime cyberbullying victimization rates ranged from 20.8% to 40.6% and offending rates ranged from 11.5% to 20.1%” (PubMed Central) There are several specific ways that social media can increase the risk for the suicidal behavior. Cyber bullying and cyber harassment are serious and prevalent problems, as “approximately 2000 middle school children that indicated that victims of cyberbullying were almost two times as likely to attempt suicide than those who were not” (PubMed Central). Although cyberbullying cannot be identified as the only factor for suicide between teenagers, it increases the risk by intensifying feelings of isolation, instability, and hopelessness. According to the recent study, “approximately 43% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying during their lifetime, and 15% of students admitted to cyberbullying others during their lifetime” (Patchin, 2015). There are even more statistics showing how cyber bullies affect teenagers’ emotion and push them to self-destruction. Nowadays, social media has created virtual

(High School) The effects of cyberbullying can lead to many harmful decisions, including thoughts or acts of violence, depression, and even suicide. (Martin, Florence, et al.) An article written by Anke Görzig-PhD, states that “Victims of cyberbullying have shown symptoms of depression and emotional difficulties, while cyberbullies have shown externalizing problems (e.g., stealing, physical assault, damaging property).” Görzig concludes by saying that cyberbully-victims are perhaps the most psychologically vulnerable, and need the most support out of all bully victims. The results of a study Görzig conducted supports the fact that “practitioners and policymakers” need to have support for unifying prevention and intervention strategies- not just for the victims of cyberbullying, but the bullies themselves. A study done by Carla Zdanow and Bianca Wright in Africa on “The Representation of Self Injury and Suicide on Emo Social Networking Groups” reported their findings and concluded that in any social media group, there is a feeling that teenagers are getting the need to want to ‘fit in’- and in doing so, they are even willing to engage in dangerous, pre-suicidal behavior. Social media, without a doubt, has taken over societies life, but is it as great as people make it out to

Despite the positives, there are many negatives associated with social media. Using social media can make a person more vulnerable to predators and cyber bullying. In this age, “Cyber bulling is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and tragically suicide” (“American Academy of Pediatrics”). Cyber bullying impacts society in a negative way because it is harming young teenagers’ minds. Bullies, torment, threat, harass, and even embarrass their victims by using different forms of social media. Using social media can also decrease privacy for an individual. People often give out their personal information not knowing who can see it. To average internet users, “A false sense of security may leave social networking site users vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking, leaking sensitive information, and sending viruses” (“ProCon”). Furthermore, Social media can also lead to brain disorders and can cause people to have a hard time interacting with people face to face. “Social networking entices people to spend more time online and less time talking to a person face to face.” (“ProCon”)

At any given time of day, anyone can access an abundant amount of information at the click of a button. Men, women, kids, teenagers, adults and even the elderly are learning how to use the internet to their advantage. Among all the benefits the internet has provided to us, online communication has proven to be the most beneficial. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have made it easy for everyone to stay in contact with each other. Regardless of how far apart a family member or friend is, everyone is just one click away. If someone is not having a good day, they can share their feelings with everyone in a matter of seconds. These social networking sites have become quite popular among adolescents. They allow teens to stay more connected with their friends outside of school. Now teens have become more obsessed with their friends Facebook or Twitter status than engaging in outdoor activities like football or