Social Web And Its Impact On Society

Millions of people are posting pictures of themselves and their life experiences online for the world to see. And of course, people only post things that will make themselves seem more cool, adventures, and pretty, basically, a better person. People make an effort to present themselves based on what others like to gain popularity. This effort to be “perfect” is now being seen through people in the real world. People view others based on what they see of them online rather than in the real world. In the articles, “Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?” by Don Tapscott and “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the scourge of the Selfie” by John Paul Titlow. Both authors show us without question, how the internet and social media have impacted the ways we view others and how we present ourselves to others negatively.

As an outcome of the new technological innovations, many people have turned to more convenient and virtual means of developing relationships as opposed to tangible and more meaningful ones, and this is harmful as it can erode the possibility of contributing personal views to society in an effective way. Social media is a rather broad platform, and within it, lies a myriad of websites that would allow for individuals to communicate ideas, for example, through Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and many more alike. And while convenient communication may have its benefits, it is safe to argue that the consequences may outweigh them. For instance, the detriments of not maintaining physical relationships can be seen in Scott Brown’s Facebook Friendonomics, where the author notes that “people have become mere collectibles” due to the increasing dependence on social media as a mean of forming social relationships (2). This is significant because it evident the ways in which dependency on social media can be hindering in both, in maintaining a sense of individualism, for example because what is presented on social media might not always be accurate, and in contributing to society, because the relationships or ‘friends,’ that many people seem to have on Facebook, cannot truly be

“Internet and mobile technology seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society” (Nilles, 2012). The ‘real world’ in my considerations is decades ago we used to go in person to speak to someone yet now with enhanced technology we can address to someone with one click through social networking sites. We send wishes, information and condolences all through text and messages as before we used to go in person to send these thoughts. The basic social networking websites being accessed at school concludes to be a risk factor that affects the students and the environment around them. Social networking is frequently turning into a swap for building and setting up associations in our society today and on a very basic level it’s leading to negative impacts. Human connections are rich and chaotic. We tend to choose technology as a way to communicate rather than conversation for mere connection. (Turkle, 2012). In this paper I am going to discuss about recently developed social networking websites are destroying community.

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?

The third way social networking has a negative effect on society impacting physical interaction with people is it can slowly break down someone’s self-esteem. This should be one of society’s major concerns for the future of our children and young adults. John A. Bargh and Katelyn Y.A. McKenna wrote in an Yale University article, “Several scholars have contended that internet communication is an impoverished and sterile form of social exchange compared to traditional face-to-face interactions, and will therefore, produce negative outcomes (loneliness and depression) for its users as well as weaken neighborhood and community ties (Bargh & McKenna, 2004).” This tells me that internet communication

Although some words begin with an innocent meaning, the word’s original intentions can be replaced with derogatory implications. This is apparent in the term gay. The words evolution to a negative label can be paralleled with the shift in popular modes of communication.Throughout the lack of empathy built in the growing use of textual articulations, specifically newspaper articles and social media, the term was able to build a hateful connotation enabling our society to have an applied view of the current hateful, politically incorrect intentions of the word gay. Although the now grown use of distant interactions is what caused the surge of negativity, it now combats the incorrectness of the word’s new meaning by the instantaneous abilities provided by the world wide web. This juxtaposition of empathy versus indecency and the sudden widespread knowledge of the word can explain the power brought on by technology. When looking at this phenomenon it is important to consider the real impact of what is posted online.

Social media is defined as websites and applications (app) that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. (Google) Instagram, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Snapchat are just a few of the thousands of social media sites that are used all over the world. Social media are computer mediated technologies that uses Web 2.0 internet based applications that allow the creating and sharing of ideas, thoughts, information, and forms of expression. On these sites, users create personalized profiles for the app or website that are maintained by the organization that connects their social networks to other users within the same organization who usually have similar interests.

Communication and technology has turned a new leaf in the chapter of the age of globalization, where the entire world has been turned into a small village. Today, one can sit in one corner of the world and access information with the minutest of details, through the click of a button. For many, whether teenagers, young adults or even mature middle aged professionals, the internet is a second being, sometimes an extension of one’s own self. This has been facilitated by the emergence of social networking – a tool to socialize with friends and make new friends through a virtual medium and also a platform to express one’s views. Observers, thinkers and even psychologists have been debating the good and the bad of the phenomenon of the internet and the effects of social networking that has brought upon ‘a digital era’ and have presented several arguments to highlight their views.

Society is constantly changing and will continue to change in the future. The change is predictable because people change their ideas, routines, and views frequently. One of the topics that is typically brought up when discussing the influences on how society is changing, is social networking. There are two sides to every story. One side of the effects of social networking is that it is beneficial to society by informing people on particular situations in the world and on current important events. The other side views social networking as dangerous and drama filled. While there are benefits and dangers to social networking's effects on society, I will argue that social networking has changed society more negatively than positively.

Social networking (the use of websites to interact with people) has dramatically changed the way society communicates, all within in a period of 20 years. What used to take weeks can now be done in a matter of seconds. Essentially all limitations as to whom a person can talk to, even if that person lives thousands of miles overseas, have been demolished. Social networking has fashioned a more convenient and controversial life for those who have access.

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.

The users of social networking, increase the amount of social networking being used each and every day. From January 2008 to January 2014 “the use of online social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest went up from twenty six percent to seventy four percent” (“Social Networking ProCon.org”). Spending too much time on social networking, causes some of the people to become distracted from their school, work, and their everyday lives. Social networking is a distraction, and it puts one’s life in danger. Social networking has negatively impacted society.

According to Clay Shirky (2008), “Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society; they are a challenge to it’’ (P. 107). From my experience and reading, the social networking websites harm our society as it takes away the need for humans from interacting face to face as this weakens family ties. Most people think that the social networking websites do us more good, but I am of the view that the social networking websites do us more harm than good. We have come across statements such as “I am considering disconnecting the Internet connection at home since it is affecting the performance of my children who keep face booking and chatting most of the time instead of reading” (Baron-Cohen, 2010, p. 8). Also, we hear that the Arab Spring was aided by the social networking websites such as face book and tweeter.

Due to my interest in information technology and the quickly-growing social networking world on the internet, a combined topic would both be interesting for me to research, but also a relevant investigation in today’s world, with a connection to the beginning of the topic, being MySpace (2003). One of the biggest debates about social networking is privacy, so I decided to delve into the topic myself and created a research question of, “To what extent does social networking, beginning with MySpace (2003), affect the privacy of a United States citizen?”

Social life is the first sphere that was influenced by the Internet. As far as communication is one of the most important things for a human being, the Internet became very helpful in this field. We still remember the time when people could exchange the latest news and ideas with the help of telephones and written mail, which practically does not exist anymore. Due to the fact that the quality of telephone communication was poor and the delivery of the written letters required much time, the new digital means of communication introduced by the Internet were revolutionary. The web introduced such an innovation as social media or the ability of the unlimited and high-quality communication in the Internet (Claywell, 2013). It is easy to log in