Social Media
56% of people throughout the world are currently using various types of social media. The leading social network Facebook currently has over 1.2 billion members. (Internet). In the words of Clay Shirky “Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society; they are a challenge to it.” The increased use of social media has begun to take negative and detrimental effects on society. Actions need to be taken in order to ensure the safety and well-being of internet users. Since the use of social media has many negative effects on daily life, school and crime it should be monitored more heavily and usage should be limited.
Just in the month of July in 2012, people spent an overall average of 121.1 billion minutes on social media sites (ProCon) and every year this number grows bigger. Social media takes up a tremendous amount of time in peoples day to day lives. It has been estimated that 22% of teenagers log onto Facebook every day, at least once (ProCon). This greatly takes away from time that could be used for more productive things, other than social media. Many relationships have been compromised whether it is friendship, partnership or work related, in direct correlation to social media. Due to the increased popularity of online interaction, face to face interaction is becoming rare. Without face to face social interaction people cannot develop necessary social skills, which were once strongly instilled into society. The computer screen is considered a barrier between people’s emotions. It is very common for people to say things through media as an alternate way of confrontation. Many things people say online they would not say to someone in person. The computer screen provides a shield from having to “deal” with issues face to face. This may seem like an easy escape goat, but in the end ends up causing more issues. It is a proven fact that people who use social media tend to experience feelings of loneliness and exile. Studies have shown that children may
Just in the month of July in 2012, people spent an overall average of 121.1 billion minutes on social media sites (ProCon) and every year this number grows bigger. Social media takes up a tremendous amount of time in peoples day to day lives. It has been estimated that 22% of teenagers log onto Facebook every day, at least once (ProCon). This greatly takes away from time that could be used for more productive things, other than social media. Many relationships have been compromised whether it is friendship, partnership or work related, in direct correlation to social media. Due to the increased popularity of online interaction, face to face interaction is becoming rare. Without face to face social interaction people cannot develop necessary social skills, which were once strongly instilled into society. The computer screen is considered a barrier between people’s emotions. It is very common for people to say things through media as an alternate way of confrontation. Many things people say online they would not say to someone in person. The computer screen provides a shield from having to “deal” with issues face to face. This may seem like an easy escape goat, but in the end ends up causing more issues. It is a proven fact that people who use social media tend to experience feelings of loneliness and exile. Studies have shown that children may
Cited: Bicchierai, Lorenzo “How is Facebook addiction affecting our minds?” MastersinPsychology.com. n.p. n.d. Web. “Internet world stats” Internetworldstats.com. n.p. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. “Home computer access and internet use” databank.org. Child trends n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013