Social Media And Social Networking

Social networking sites (referred to more broadly as social media) are a collection of websites and applications that enable users to swap ideas, post updates and comments, and participate in activities and events while sharing their interests with other users. From general chit-chat to propagating breaking news, scheduling a date to following election results, gentle humor to serious research, social networking sites are used for a variety of reasons by various user communities. Nowadays, nearly every person who has access to a computer and Internet indulges in some kind of social networking on a daily basis. The introduction of social media has changed the entire dynamics of our lifestyles: the ways we live, work, and maintain our friendships. Despite its numerous advantages, social media does yield some negative effects. However, the benefits of social media greatly outweigh its negative effects.

Social media allow persons from all over the world to remain contact and communicate with their friends, family, at the same time make new connections. As stated by Amedie, social media sites are known for allowing people to make new connections with people who share similar interests, creating new relationships, and people end up being good friends (4). In fact, people create groups that accommodate subscribers who have similar interests or life goals where they assist each other. Again, there are friends or family members who are a thousand miles away; and through the use of social sites, it is easy to often communicate with them, increasing intimacy at a reduced cost. Furthermore, social networks have encouraged the users to come up with an online persona, which establishes a personal network of friends who connect to an open worldwide community.

Using online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter enable users to establish groups comprised of people with similar interests, values, and beliefs. These include personal stories, many different forms of entertainment, work- and school-related information, social events, and a wide variety of other social functions (Cheung et al., 2011, p. 1340).

The selfie assemblage is a means of self-expression and representation of oneself. It is one of the ways to communicate and interact with others. Emerging technologies and new platforms are enabling individuals to interact with each other more conveniently. As a result of these emerging technologies, everyone is always connected in one way or the other. These interactions through devices are affecting behaviors and practices of users in a variety of ways. Some ways of communication can affect users’ measure of worth. Therefore individuals’ view of themselves and each other is sometimes dependent on their interactions with social media platforms. This age of emerging technologies and digital media has had many mixed effects on society. In some ways, social media has given users the opportunity to express themselves and discover their identities through interaction with others across various platforms. They have also had an impact on how network identity differs from one platform to another. As well as, increase ways in which individuals are able to promote themselves online.

Many people will come to realize how constantly using social networks can affect a person’s self-perception, the relationships with family members as well as their friendships. Bringing people together making it a smaller world, but that small world can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic. Friends and family that have not been seen in a while, are now involved in one’s daily life. Helping one feel interconnected and not quite as alone. Depending on how the user partakes in the social networking sites, the effects on the user’s life could ultimately be positive or negative.

Nowadays, Social Media plays a majority role in our daily life’s, seriously we can’t live without it. Before the digital age, socializing and networking weren’t as popular, but now Social Networking Sites and Digital Social Media platforms such as vine, Facebook and Instagram has officially brought a new era for socializing and networking. However, this doesn’t simplify that this is making a positive change within our society. Even though, Social networks can

* What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them "social network sites."

View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. (Greenwood, 2014).

Now, with social media being an enormous part of our daily lives, businesses have to keep a close eye on what their employees uncover or talk about on social media websites. With that said, businesses and labor agencies must enact laws that outline what an individual can display online involving their businesses. In Hill’s article “When You Can and Can’t Fire employees for Social Media Misbehavior” and the other two articles apart from Hill, such as Fyfe’s “Fire Someone for Slamming Their Nonprofit Employer on Social Media: Legal update” and Broeke’s “’Facebook Got Me Fired!’--- Social Media and Employee Termination”, acknowledge in some way that agencies have established only concerted activity is allowed online and can be protected if an individual is fired for it. Whereas, personal opinions and harmful remarks are not protected thus allowing a business to legally fire an individual over the comment or comments. There are established policies for businesses too. These policies basically describe that a company policy over social media cannot be overly broad. All the articles will tie in together with at least two of the three topics overlapping with each source.

Social network sites (SNSs) such as such as Friendster, CyWorld, and MySpace allow individuals to present themselves, articulate their social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others (Ellison, 2007). These sites could be used for work related situation, romance, connecting with individuals with shared interest, or creating a connection amongst college students. Facebook enables its users to present themselves in an online profile, accumulate ‘‘friends’’ who can post comments on each other’s pages, and view each other’s profiles (Ellison, 2007). Individuals can write on the wall of friends, send private message, comment on posts, as well as chat via instant messaging. Much of the early research on online communities assumed that individuals using these systems would be connecting with others outside their pre-existing social group or location, liberating them to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography (Ellison, 2007).

Although social networking sites are still in their infancy, they have certainly become a primary means of communication and connectivity for millions of consumers. While most Internet users have heard of the largest online social networks like Facebook and MySpace, thousands of smaller networks exist that connect individuals through specific user communities (e.g. educators, physicians, professors, etc.). Boyd and Ellison (2007) define social networking sites as:

The phenomenon of social networking has taken the world by storm, becoming part of a daily routine for many children and adults. Billions of people around the world use social media to share information and make connections. Nonetheless, parents and researchers argue that social media is can cause emotional damage and lower one’s self-esteem. To understand the role of social media, this essay aims to provide a discussion of how social media has led to greater self-expression among individuals, since it is harder to feel embarrassment over the internet then in person. Next, it closely examines social media in relations to keeping in touch with family and friends, whether they are close or far. Finally, it focuses on how social media has enabled large groups of people to unite and achieve some specific objective, and how this brings change in society. In short, the influence of social media on society has allowed for individuals to openly express themselves, open communication between friends and family, and to unite large groups of people for a common objective.

According to dictionary.com, the word media is defined as the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, that reach or influence people widely. By definition, the media is constantly swarming the public audience day-in and day-out while never coming to a halt. National and global coverage from the media is essential for all people who desire staying up-to-date with the current events that are occurring all over the world. Although there are many different forms of media, while reflecting over a three day period of how I personally use media, I have come to realize many things. Most of my observations will be discussed throughout this essay.

With the development of advances in technology, communication through social networking has risen immensely. Communicating is not only less complicated, it is also relatively inexpensive. “Many teens in relationships view social media as a place where they can feel more connected with the daily events in there significant other’s life, share emotional connections, and let their significant other know they care” (Lenhart, Anderson, and Smith). However, the ease of access to social networking has allowed many adolescents to become overly involved. Networking has the potential to influence adolescents both emotionally and physically which in turn may lead to negative behaviors. An article from procon.org stated, “The use of social networking sites is correlated with personality and brain disorders, such as the inability to have in-person conversations, a need for instant gratification, ADHD, and self-centered personalities, as well as addictive behaviors” (ProCon.org). Essentially, social networking has rising negative influences on teens because of increased cyber bullying, lack of respect for personal privacy, and its addictive qualities.

Social networking can be thought of as using internet based websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as other services, such as applications and mobile-based technologies, to interact and communicate with people from across the world, and to share information, pictures, and resources with a very large audience. Social networking sites can also be used to find other users who have similar interests as you and is a reliable way to keep in contact with people who you are regularly in touch with as well as family or friends who live throughout the world (Social Networking, 2016) and (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).