Social media is not good for society. It may make communication easier, but how can we ignore the ugly side of it? According to an article called Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, who actually thinks social media is a good thing had to admit that there are some very ugly parts to social media. Social media has changed the way we go about our daily lives. People just hide behind their screens now and have very little human interaction compared to how it used to be before social media was created. Social media makes us feel like we are being social, but it is very hard to build a great relationship with someone behind a screen and when you aren't actually interacting with the person. Even when out in public, almost everyone has some type of technology in their hand or pressed up close to their face. People don't realize how impolite it is to go on social media sites while you're spending time with someone because it's such a normal thing now. There's not a connection being made between two people anymore. Another big issue is that no one is productive anymore because of social media. Instead of getting work done, people will take many "breaks" to go on social media and then never actually finish things that needed to be done. A big thing that is popular these days are relationships between people ending because of social media. Social media makes it easier for someone to cheat or do things that overstep the boundaries of a relationship.
An article called "The Negative Effect of Social Media on Society and Individuals" had a lot to say about the negative effects social media has on people. It covered things such as false senses of connection, a decrease in productivity, and a big issue which happens to be cyber bullying. Social media makes it so much easier to become a victim to bullying. People think since you're safe behind a screen, it makes you tougher and you can say whatever you want about somebody. Social media has made it possible to become completely anonymous and say the most hurtful things to people. Innocent people become victimized and tormented and there is nothing anyone can really do about it because they are protected behind their screens. These online attacks lead to horrible mental scars and has led far too many innocent people to suicide. 42% of youth have reported to being cyber bullied. This would not be nearly as high if social media didn't give so many people the impression that they can get away with saying whatever they want, no matter how awful or hurtful it can be. Another big issue they talked about was a person's privacy. Social media encourages people to share information they probably shouldn't be sharing such as their address, phone number, or the exact location they are at. Even posting a picture can give away the slightest details and can be viewed by anybody. Any post or picture can be viewed and if an employer happens to witness a photo or post they are unhappy with, that can cost you a job that you could be in desperate need of. There are just so many negative things about social media that can't be ignored.
Lastly, in an article I read called "What Impact Has Social Media Truly Had On Society", it talked about both the positive and negative things of social media. While there are obviously some advantages to social media such as advertisement and reconnecting, the negatives outweigh the
positives. They covered the same things as the other two articles. Cyber bullying and online harassment being one of the biggest and most important ones. It is so easy to become a victim to cyber bullying, especially women, children, and young girls. They also spoke about productivity and how companies have actually had to block social media at work because workers couldn't help themselves from logging on instead of getting their work done. Many companies have lost billions of dollars a year to the decrease in productivity because of peoples' addiction to social media. Finally, they discussed the big issue of privacy. Posting information can make people vulnerable to crimes such as identity theft and even stalking. Again, employers can check your social media at any time, so if you have posted something questionable, you could completely jeopardize your chance at getting a job. Simply because of something you've posted on a social media website. What you post on social media could make it back to loved ones as well. You could post something they do not approve of and get in a bit of trouble for it. So, as great as it is to be able to connect to people and have easy access to things, the negatives of social media are too serious to be ignored and have negatively impacted society to a great extent.
Video: http://youtu.be/FYVvE4tr2BI?t=4m47s (Watch til 6:23)
Sources:
1. http://www.seochat.com/c/a/social/social-media-and-society-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
2. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html
3. http://www.business2community.com/social-media/impact-social-media-truly-society-0974685
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