The Pros And Cons Of Social Media

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 society today, we as a whole have replaced communicating face to face and have switched to expressing our ideas behind a screen. Because of this, a good number of arguments have arose from post and publications that state someone’s opinion about an issue. One of the most highly used forms of media in our world today is social media, which are websites and technological apps that enable a person or group to create their own websites and pages for a specific purpose. Social media creates a second “ world” where people can communicate with others across the world in a matter of seconds. Whenever you have a large collection of people in the same area, each stating their arguments and sides to something, there are going to be conflicting sides to every situation. Another way of describing the word argument is by using the words ethos, pathos, and logos. These three words are used when arguing on social media every single day.

One danger that is often overlooked by social networking users is social comparison. The phrase “social comparison” refers to the idea that people determine their own self-worth through evaluating and comparing themselves to others. This is especially prevalent on social networking sites. Users of social networking sites often strive to make their lives seem perfect. In order to achieve this, users will only post their “highlights” or positive points in their lives. One author states, "When you're on a site like Facebook, you get lots of posts about what people are doing. That sets up social comparison — you maybe feel your life is not as full and rich as those people you see on Facebook,” ("Social Media: Does social media have a positive impact on the world?"). However, it is not the fact that the users may unintentionally be posting only their highlights that could be potentially dangerous. Rather, it is the fact that another user may compare their own life to another user’s. For example, a user could be scrolling through a site and see another user’s highlights and begin comparing their own life to the other user’s. As a result, a user could start to develop a lower self-esteem. Their sense of self-worth may also be damaged in the process. This obsession of one’s self-image can have severe consequences such as feelings of depression or loneliness ("Social Media: Does social media have a positive impact on the world?").

Internet and social media have allowed people to stay connected more easily with others but unfortunately for some it has done the complete opposite and has made them lonely and isolated due to their virtual lives. Social isolation has become a problem in our society. Some people seem to lack the skills necessary to carry on a normal conversation with another person face to face due to them relying on social media. “I don’t know a more urgent problem than this,” Harris says. “It’s changing our democracy, and it’s changing our ability to have the conversations and relationships that we want with each other” (Lewis, 2017). When people find themselves in a social setting that is uncomfortable, people often turn to their smart phones for a way to escape from the situation. An example of this would be, texting someone in order to avoid the conversation that is going at that moment. Social media provides some people with the belief that they are socially connected, for example having lots of “friends” or “followers” may give someone the impression that they have the same type of friendship they have with their family and good friends. People need to remember the value of honesty and practice being honest with their selves and others. At times this can be hard especially for someone who is experiencing isolation issues, so it is important for those around them to show them the truth and help them get on the right path again. An example would be for someone to reach out to their friend or family member and show them that all their “friends” on social media are not truly their friends and could lead them down the wrong path and get them into trouble. Unfortunately isolation can cause depression especially when the person realizes they have been isolating themselves or come to the realization their social media friends are not truly their friends or have their best interest at heart.

In today’s century social media is the main way to communicate with people with people all over the world. It has become very popular... even more popular than a text or video message. Social media is a computer technology that facilitates the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via communities and networks. The variety of social media services that are currently available can help benefit businesses, introduce an event, or even help you find a friend, family member, or long lost soulmate. Some social sites even help you find love. However, there are many positive things that can come out social media but there are many negatives too.

Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, text messaging, and emailing, are just a few ways that people communicate through technology daily. Social media has made it simple for individuals to converse with each other instantaneously no matter where they are. While social media can be a good tool, it also has its cons. With the increase in social media popularity over the past century, social interaction has been negatively affected.

While some fear that if humanity does not disconnect from this always-on culture that Turkle spoke of, people will become alienated from one another. According to Turkle’s theory, when people become alienated from others the isolation brings to light that people have allowed their overworked and overscheduled lives to affect how they connect with other people. Hence, people no longer have time to sit down and make a phone call. Instead, they send out a quick text, thus allowing texting to become a central form of communication (Alone Together 3). Although people are not physically shutting themselves off from one another, Wendy Leung, a journalist for The Globe and Mail and author of “Does social media bring us closer – or make us loners?” conveys a valid point. “We often live in our own bubbles, simultaneously reaching out and closing ourselves off to others through the use of technology” (Leung).

Social media is the trend in modern society. Human beings have come to depend on social media as a functional unit in their lives. The first recognizable social media site was Six Degrees which was created in 1997 and allows users to interact with each other (Ellison et al. 211). Since then, various social media sites have cropped up and become popular in the world. With the development of this technology, come various effects and implications to the society. The phenomenon of social has been so impactful that it has come to define how human beings live and interact in the society. This, therefore, leads us to some discussions and soul-searching on the pros and cons of using social media in our day to day lives.

Social media is becoming a very popular way to communicate. Social media is “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking”(“Social Media”). Many political figures such as mayors, senators, and presidents use social media to express their feelings and share news. Having social media as a political figure has its advantages and disadvantages; Donald Trump frequently comes across these issues.

Social media nowadays is a thing that has become unimaginable to live without in this modern world except for the last few decades, everyone did. Social media has connected many corners of the world together. Without Social Media the World might not have progressed this much. Social Media is a term that has been heard even by the most remote areas of the world. Since the formal rise of social media there have been many apps, created for virtual communication with each other. There are many examples for the apps used for virtual communication which help you see another individual on the other end of your computer or smart phone screen, some of them are Microsoft Skype, Apple facetime, Google Duo etcetera. There are also many examples for chat based communication applications which are WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, i message and so on. What I want to say is that in this modern world there are many types of applications and computer software’s that have made our lives easier by connecting us to every part of the world via internet. However, we all know that there are two sides to a coin a bad and a good. In many individuals point of view Virtual conversation is not only lowering the value of physical conversation and meeting but is also spreading people apart from each other rather than keeping them together. There are many websites and blogs that serve in favor of this perception of social media being a foe to the society. However there is one that states both sides of social

To start social media has multiple positive things about it. The first of which is the speed of how fast information travels. People used to rely on the paper to find out a majority of their news, but now the public is more informed of the world around them than ever before. Stories are shared and reposted and each time more and more people are being exposed to that information. The more the public knows about the world around them the better people can make informed decisions, to benefit themselves and the people around them. Also another major positive of social media is that is creates jobs. There are many opportunities in social media, from the developers

Social media is a huge trend occurring throughout all ages of the population in 2017. In this article, there are a few examples of breaches in HIPAA. There is a photo of a dentist, dental hygienist and a young girl posing and giving praise for proper teeth cleaning. The photo was posted on Facebook. This causes an issue because even though there is nothing wrong with praise, they are giving away patient identity without consent for the whole world to see. Patient identity such as name, birthdate and looks should kept private and in this case, it was not. Another problem also encountered in health care is the concept of the professionals sending patients friend requests via Facebook. Health care professionals should not have any contact with their patients outside of the workplace. The right thing to do is keep personal accounts confidential. Taking pictures while in an office of any health care professional should not happen. There could be things within the office that have the identification of other patients that should be confidential. The health care professionals should also refrain from taking pictures because with Apple products now-a-days, every picture/video taken is sent to the iCloud. Things on the iCloud are not always safe, even if they aren’t posted to any social media. If you are a professional and take a photo but your iCloud is hacked, you can be fined with breaching patient confidentiality without any control (Emmott, 2017).

In our day and age, everything and everyone seems to be online. Social media is how we connect, how we express ourselves, how we get the news, and so much more. “83% of Americans have a social media account, and a lot have more than just one” (Walters). Social media is communication through electronics. While on social media you can share messages, information, pictures, videos, and endless other content. People can log on to their accounts and in less than two minutes later they can share something with their friends/followers. Everyday there is something new being put out on the internet. Social media is never standing still, there is always new ways to get your message out there. Kids are growing up in a world full of social media and technology. Now social media can be seen as a really good think or a really bad thing. Whether it is bad or good, this is becoming the new norm and I want to understand it a little better. So the question i am wondering is social media beneficial or harmful?

Too many parents these days think that social media can be a weapon for kids to hide in. People just don’t know what social media can do for their kid between boosting self-confidence and helping them build real friendships. Just because they spend who knows how long looking at a screen during the day, it doesn’t mean they’re not socializing with friends they already know, and it doesn’t mean they are talking with random people, though that does happen, it’s not all that bad.

Social Media helps businesses to have meaningful conversations with their customers. Relevant social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Each of these different platforms have pros and cons. Facebook can help to connect with the community, boost traffic and sales, as well as find new customers. Twitter is best used as a real-time way for businesses to connect with the community in short, easy to read messages. Linkdin helps to connect businesses to other proffessionals and businesses in their industry. Instagram is a good place for photos and videos and can help promote the culture of the brand. Youtube can be used to promote new products and services, and use a series of