The Virtual World Called Social Network

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

These drawbacks include too many people being reliant to talking online rather than in person and not verbally communicating with friends even though they are in the same room. Jasmine Fowlkes shows the reality in how social media is affecting our new generation through her article, “Viewpoint: Why Social Media is Destroying our Social Skills.” After discussing the results conducted by several researchers, Fowlkes states,“As more generations are born into the social age, social media will continue to be the favored communication form among young people. However, this shift may begin to affect their ability to properly communicate in person with peers.” Many start to rely on applications on our devices to talk to people, but this results in less verbal communication. In addition, Kelly-Fay’s Talktrack research study showed that conversations held in person are much more impactful than on social media. Rather than making social media a huge part of your life, Fowlkes wishes that people would look up from their phones and engage more with others since that could change their lives.

With the social media sites we have seen a rise in cyber-bullying, a CBS News report showed over 42% of people have been a victim of cyber-bullying (Jung). These sites have also given us a false sense of connection, it is increasingly more difficult to distinguish between ‘real’ life and what is online (Jung). Social media has also impacted our politics and businesses. From politicians and business on social media trying to reach a larger audience, it has become so commonplace we hardly notice the ads that have begun popping up on Instagram

The age of technology has provided the world a much easier life. The ability to communicate with others around the world or with someone locally with just a few taps is astonishing. Although with a lot of advantages with technology there are also a lot of disadvantages. The use of the internet sometimes can cause more harm than good in some cases. Cyberbullying is todays common type of bullying. Traditional bullying resulted in the form of aggressive behavior with the specific purpose of harming another over time. The main reasoning of this was the rush of power play that the tormentor would take pleasure in (Hase et al. 2015). Usually social media is an enjoyable place to be for young teens and adults. However, it’s very hard to predict what someone may see on the internet and how it can affect them. With the advances of technology and different social media websites available, a mass load of peers can connect with each other for good or for worse. This is where the disadvantages of technology come into play. Young people especially love to partake in the online world, it also helps them “fit in” and become updated with other peers’ lives.

The use of social media is ruining this generation’s real life social skills. According to Social Media Today, an online community for professionals, “The amount of time people spend on social media is constantly increasing. Teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction.” Texting or online communications does not allow people to truly express themselves for who they truly are. There is a loss of social and personal development communicating through social media. For instance, people online are unable to use body language, tone, voice and facial expressions through a text. An article on The Telegraph, pointed out that “One in four people spend more time socialising online, using sites such as Facebook, than they do in person, according to research.” The study also found that even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead. (USA Today). The problem with socialising online is that affects a person’s ability to communicate properly in face-to-face interactions. The person will feel a sense of social anxiety and not project their voice loud enough for their audience to hear them. For

Every year, "over 25 percent of adolescents and teens [are] bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet." (cyber bullying stats) and "Cyber-bullying [is] becoming more and more rampant in school and after school among teens and children." (Bullying stats). Social media can be a great thing that can open doors to new opportunities and discoveries, however, when used incorrectly, the digital footprint left behind may greatly affect future opportunities. To prevent a negative digital footprint, children and teens must be educated about internet uses.

In order for future generations and today’s youth to be better communicators, it’s important that focus is returned to more face to face communications instead of social media and texts. If the youth continue to use social media as a means to communication future generations will be less educated and will not be prepared to enter the working world.

Inclusive of these platforms is the rise of social media applications. These are tools which have aided people to send photos and other multimedia files and messages to millions of people at a moment’s notice. These implements have been used to disastrous effects on many college students in various incidences of cyberbullying. [What are the disastrous effects of cyberbullying? How does cyberbullying impact students? Including the answers to these questions will help the readers understand your argument.] Research conducted has shown that 83% of adults between the ages of 18-29 use the internet while attending college. 90% of them report that they are active members of the social media (Zalaquett and Chatters 2). It is a situation that has brought many problems since cyberbullying is cited to have more lasting impacts than normal bullying. The significance of the problem is accentuated by the relative lack of research done to study cyberbullying at the college

With simple access to the internet, a lot of teens have begun using cyber space as an open space for bullying. As additional teens have resorted to using mobiles and social networks to correspond, cyber bullying has turn out to be a key concern. At the moment, "cyber bullying is increasing rapidly as a result of social networks where information can reach the world in a matter of few seconds" (Sutton & Smith, 1999).

As social media gets popular and provides an easier access to the Internet, the more difficult it gets to control people’s outburst. Many people wonder, “What is the difference between traditional bullying and cyber bullying?” “What is cyber bullying?” Traditional bullying is when a person is bullying another person face to face. However, with cyber bullying is different. Cyber bullying occurs through out social media and on the Internet. Once in a while I overhear a person questioning about how teens and young kids use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and etc. Social media has its pros and cons, pro because it gives us an easier to access to sources when we need it right away. Social media also has its cons because social media is very powerful tools, which can be taken advantage of like for example, making shanky comments on pictures or post inappropriate information about another person. Therefore, how fast is cyberbullying expending? How can we use the Internet in a positive way? Two great essays by Jesse Fleck, Leigh Johnson-Migalski, Jemica Carter, and Feleta Wilson explain these reasoning’s.

Facebook and other social media platforms have brought communication across the world to a whole new level. The rise of social media has created a place for children to communicate with others in both a positive and negative manner. Although it has made a positive impact on American youth, it has also contributed and exacerbated bullying in our schools. This new form of bullying, often referred to as cyberbullying, has created an around-the-clock atmosphere where bullying can occur even when school is not in session. Many professionals have sought to address the negative aspects of social media and have worked to develop a solution to bring cyberbullying to an end.

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”)

Social media and networking seem to play an essential part in everyone’s lives throughout the planet. Many debate whether it is improving or destroying human face to face interaction. This essay doesn’t just focus on the negative impacts but the positive impacts of communication through social media as well. Social media and networking strengthening and weakening communication skills will be explored throughout.

The label, “Social Media”, is due to its ability to encourage people to be more social and communicative through the internet. Yet, it is now known that the name might not live up to its expectation. With less face-to-face interaction, relationships and communication skills are being sacrificed. Although one may have one thousand

The widespread use of social media in our society is preventing people from developing effective social skills that they require. A study was done by the online casino, Yazino, that found that 1 in 4 people spent more time socializing online via Facebook, Twitter etc, then they did face to face. As more generations are growing up with social media, they are more likely to favour communication over social media than in person. This shift may affect how we develop our social interactive skills based on the fact that we are not communicating as much face to face (Fowlkes, 2012). The same casino also did a study that found that 11 percent of adults prefer to stay home and communicate through social media instead of seeing and communicating with people in person. If people do not socialize in person, they will lose their communication skills which will make their lives very difficult. Communication is required in doing face to face interviews, and it's also is very important if you are applying for a job (Fowlkes, 2012). Keller-Fay’s TalkTrack did a research study and found that when we are communicating offline in person, 90 percent of the influential conversation happen in that time and only 8 percent happen when we are online communicating. Although some people like using social media to have 24-hour communication, you most likely aren't having an in-depth conversation, and learning from them, as you would when talking face to face (Fowlkes, 2012). With the use of social media being used, more and more people are either not developing or losing their social skills.