Social Media Is Pointless And Detrimental

According to the Pew Research Center, “41% of social media-users have experienced at least one negative outcome as a result of using a social networking site.” In this article, Norton uses logos, pathos, and ethos to explain his standpoint to his audience. Logos are used when Norton brings up the legal issues of social media such as privacy concerns. Bringing the reader into Norton’s own personal experiences of abuse and name-calling uses pathos. Finally, ethos are used indirectly in the article due to the fact that Norton is a writer and has experience with social networking and the negative impact it can have. Norton uses logos, pathos, and ethos by establishing evidence and logical points in his article to persuade his audience against using 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.

In the aftermath of the Arab uprisings the role and influence of social media became a contentious issue among news media outlets and political analysts. In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism, “New research suggests that the primary role was in spreading news outside of the region, connecting a global audience to the events through tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.” While the mainstream media focused heavily on young protesters mobilizing in the streets with smartphones in hand–much of the attention was on whether social media played a causal role in the uprisings.

In today's time, social media is widely used by most people and most who use it claims that it is beneficial to their everyday lives. Many people argue that social media is bad for others because it is distracting them and causing themselves harm by falling or running into others but that is because they dont pay attention, with the right amount of awareness it is very helpful. For some the only way to stay connected to businesses, familly, friends, and world problems is through places like Facebook and Twitter. Social media is more helpful in more ways than one especially when trying to get communications long distances.

As we look back over the past few decades, social media has started to evolve more quickly while pulling in people from all different age groups. Even older adults are joining in on Facebook and Instagram to try and fit in with the new norm social media has created. In a world that is so fast paced, it is difficult to not be pulled into the newest trends, as they are advertised almost everywhere. There are even ways to find a romantic partner with apps and websites. The power social media has can be observed all over the world in many different settings. Sadly, this power can be both positive and negative. Though, it may be hard sometimes to see the negative aspects since our society has become so enthralled with social media. First, I

Ever since World Wide Web came out in 1990, it has opened a floodgate for sharing and communicating over the internet in the form of social media. People can keep in touch with their friends and families from across the world, know what they are up to, and see all the interesting things that goes on in their lives. Keeping up with everyone and everything no longer requires tedious phone calls and email messages. Instead, we have easier, better looking, more interactive, and all around more fun ways to communicate. These new, and seemingly better in everyway, methods of communication is of course a hit with tech savvy young people and more surprisingly, also their old folks. Every new thing that came out, from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram to Snapchat, is hailed as groundbreaking and completely essential to daily lives by its users. Yet they all come with less recognisable, but just as important dangers. And I am not talking about drunk tweeting, either. These are bigger and much more complicated threats. Yes, social media is a new and wonderful way to communicate and share. However, this new way to communicate has created a new face for crime and a new class of criminals, and this new way to share has destroyed our privacy and personal security. For all their savviness at using these social media outlets, many fail to realize that there are people with less than innocent intentions following their every move through their shared feeds. Social media is a threat to our

As a middle eastern, I did not realize how much Facebook was considered a main role in these uprising and how it was reported here in the U.S. and the west. These uprisings were not just a result of a “Facebook revolution,” but the thousands of people who took to the streets and protested against dictators and demanded change. As someone who lived there, I believe that the political, religious, and economic problems were there already and Facebook was a tool that happened to be accessible to help protesters organize. It certainly was not a main factor in these revolutions. As a matter of fact Facebook was also used and still being used by governments to spread propaganda. In the Syrian conflict Facebook, twitter, and video platforms like YouTube are being used by terrorist groups like ISIS to spread their radical ideology and even reach like-minded people in the west. This was not possible few years ago and is definitely an example of how social media could play a negative role in

If there is a strong leader, new media can gather groups together to protest conflicts, raise money, and hold meetings with governments. It can connect people internationally, giving humanity the ability to communicate to others about the importance of a particular conflict. The more people helping to bring peace and prevent future crises, the easier it will be to end the conflict. ‘[R]eal leverage for human rights and peace will come when the people who benefit from war will pay a price for the damage they caused’ (Trussel 1). Youtube videos can be used to leverage peace because they raise awareness. They can be shared instantly, not only on Youtube itself, but on other social media sites, therefore expanding the window of viewers. They show firsthand evidence of conflicts. Facebook is the perfect medium to form humanitarian groups, protest, and connect the world to crises. It can be a tool for peacebuilding by using hashtags like ‘Team Darfur’ to gather individuals to discussions pertaining to the Darfur Crisis. Creating pages to raise money for a crisis or to discuss ways to bring humanitarian groups into areas of conflict is another method that can be used. Clearly, no matter what the conflict is, new media can be used by everyone to raise awareness about crises and to influence the world to help build peace and prevent future

In our modern world, the spread of violence has increased substantially amongst the years. Terrorism and lack of civility have become a way of life and is radically growing at an alarming rate. Many concerning civilians often ask themselves “ What is causing the rate violence in the world to increase.” Thomas L. Friedman a New York Times Journalist, author of Social Media: Destroyer or Creator? answers this question using the story of “Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google employee whose anonymous Facebook page helped launch the Tahrir Square revolution in early 2011.” In the article, Mr.Friedman claims that due to the speed and brevity of social media, rumors that confirm people’s biases are believed and spread among millions allowing for online discussions to quickly descend into a rage of confusion and disorder.

Social media, what was made to be a simple way to keep up with friends, now controls most of our lives. I don't think I can even tell you how many times I came so close to deleting all my social media, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Watching the apps dance around on my phone, I just can't press the little X. What if's start to run through my head, 'What if I miss something important?' 'What if someone tries to get in contact with me?' and so on. Now don't get me wrong, social media was a brilliant idea. In just a few clicks you can reconnect with people from your past. Thanks to Snapchat I talk to three of my cousins every single day and Instagram is how I knew who my current best friend is.

Current and revolutionary events around the world raise two questions: What role does social media play in these revolutions? Should we credit social media with the outcomes of these events just because they are somewhat involved? In “Small Change,” by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell stresses how modern-day social media websites are of no comparison to the strong bonds and hierarchies that contributed to most of the reformation that happened during the Civil Rights Movement. He suggests that social media websites have networking opportunities only. “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters,” an article by Dennis Baron, supports this claim indirectly by stating that even though social media can get the word out, no website can replace the voices of people, or their rebellious spirit. I concur with both authors. People can use Facebook and Twitter all they want in order to spread the word, but without their thoughts and intuitions, these networks are useless.

The 2011 uprising in Egypt was in many ways a traditional brick-and-mortar revolution, but with a cyber-twist to it: based on their statistical analysis of a large body of tweets related to the 2011 uprising in Egypt, Starbird and Palen (2012) observed that activists used Twitter as an important tool to share ideas and information with like-minded people, because Twitter allows a high number of activists interact using its retweet and other mechanisms. In this case, Twitter was used among participants and supporters of a traditional mass movement to bypass government controlled

Despite Wall & el Zahed’s paper centering on the environment surrounding the movement of information within a single country, Syria, the same headings still ring true regardless of the boundaries of control and censorship. With the newfound accessibility to uncensored “pop up news,” control and censorship is being lifted and a true picture can be seen for the first time giving rise to social and political understanding. The conceptualization between user generated content (UGC) and journalism are evident throughout both papers in which they agree on the impact and in cases, exploitation of social platforms as well as advancements in technology. Both reach similar conclusions in the assumption that despite the method of accessibility changing dramatically in recent years, the thirst for real-time news and information is as insatiable as ever. While both Wall & el Zahed’s and Jonsson & Ornebring papers outline the evolution of journalism through multi-platforms, Jonsson & Ornebring centers on the impact and diversity of user generated content and its many aspects.

The use of Social media has flourished to a great extent in today’s world. It has played a significant role by providing a platform for people to connect, communicate, share ideas and so on. Facebook, twitter, Instagram are some of the most common social networking sites that usually intrigue us. The day is not far where everyone in this world will have a Facebook account one day. We obviously know the benefits are derived from the use of social media, but have you ever thought that it can also lead you to a serious threat? I personally liked social networking until I found that it advocates laziness by wasting my precious time. Indeed, I was just thinking about this today and how awesome it was a decade ago when friends would call me just to say hi. Nowadays, it seems everything that is posted is like my junk mail full of advertisements and borrowed quotes. I came to realize that Social Media is actually not secure these days. You’ll be surprised how the evolution of technology has had an adverse effect on this growing society. So, is social media really a blessing?

Contemporary social movements such as Arab Spring and Kony 2012 use the Internet and social media as potential tools towards change. But why are some more successful than others. This paper argues that when news outlets see the potential for change, they “premediate” (Richard Grusin) its possibilities, and make that change ever more possible in their coverage. On the other hand, extant stories that are more reactionary do not get the same amount of new exposure, and remain static. In other words, our media - not just social media, but news organizations - play a great role in shaping current events. I will compare and contrast the unfolding of the Arab Spring story, and how little changed regarding Kony 2012, as cases in point.