Discussing The Pros And Cons Of Social Media Essay

Impersonal Communication:

ABSTRACT
The greatest change that modern technological advances have caused is how we communicate. From the beginning of internet chat rooms to present day social media, communication via technology has swept society and has had both, positive and negative impacts. While there are several positive applications for social media there appear to be far more negative side effects that need to be addressed. Social media is often misused and abused. Presently, social media is destroying the value of face-to-face relationships, diminishing interpersonal communication, is not endorsing diversity as was hoped, anonymity is making users less compassionate and, in many ways, are making user’s world smaller, not larger, most importantly, even placing them at risk of harm. Social media, like all technology, is not going to disappear. In fact, greater and greater technological advances are being made every day. When used responsibly it can be a fantastic convenient and beneficial tool for communication. However, fortunately, it is a rectifiable situation. Once people take the time to seriously address the negatives with tangible change, then social media has the potential to be far more beneficial than it is at present.

INTRODUCTION

It goes without saying that the modern technological innovations that surrounds us on a day-to-day basis has changed the way human beings live, here in the United States and nations and countries all over the world. Technology has changed the way that people live, how we eat, travel, and entertain ourselves. The greatest change that modern technological advances have caused is how we communicate. From the beginning of internet chat rooms to present day social media, communication via technology has swept society and has had both, positive and negative impacts. Those who defend social media offer that the positive aspects far outweigh the negative. We are able to stay connected and in contact in ways never before possible, it can endorse communication among people who otherwise may not communicate, endorses diversity. Social media is playing a huge role in globalizing the people of nation all across the globe (Baruah, 2012). However, there are many people, who feel that social media is having a negative influence on society. They argue that social media encourages a number of undesirable behaviors that may be change for the worse. After reviewing the information it is clear that while social media does have positive contributions, the negatives are far more pressing and worthy of concern. Social media is destroying the value of face-to-face relationships, diminishing interpersonal communication, is not endorsing diversity as was hoped, anonymity is making users less compassionate and, in many ways, are making user’s world smaller, not larger, most importantly, even placing them at risk of harm.

HISTORY

Human beings are communal and social creatures. In ancient times people traveled long distances to see and interact with others. As technology advanced, travel became easier, people moved farther and farther apart, letters became the nature of communication, which could take weeks if not months to receive responses. The invention of the telephone revolutionized communication and allowed people to communicate in ways they have never had before. That said it is no wonder that communication via internet became such a desirable industry. In 1997 through to 2001, SixDegrees.com is credited as being the first social media site to appear online. Today there many more such sites; the most common include MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have billions of members and active users 24hours a day, seven days a week (ProCon Organization, 2014).These sites allow users to play games, post photos and comment on the posts of others. In moderation this is an amusing and harmless action. However, social media is not be used in moderation by most Americans, they are engaged in social media constantly, via cell phone, laptop and home computer. In fact, you may see a great many people who are together in a large group, yet they are all looking into their electronic devices and completely oblivious to one another. Truthfully, social media seems to have the means to change the ways that human beings interact and communicate (Baruah, 2012). However, it is up to society to decide if those changes will be positive or negative.

DISCUSSION

There is a value to face-to-face communication. There are contexts, nuances, visual and physical characteristics of communication that is entirely lost in an online environment. Without the ability to make deeper connections with these individuals can cause social media friendships to be incredibly shallow and lacking the real facets of friendship (Keller, 2013). Users respond to one another in abbreviated posts, like “lol,” or click a “like” button to show their loyalty and support. “Friend” was once a term granted to special people in one’s life, generally, second only to family, the rest of the world were strangers or acquaintances. However, today we dub anyone who agrees with us or asks to be “our friend” as being friends. These are people that you will probably never meet in person, yet are welcomed them into your inner circle.
Supporters and defenders of social media argue that social media encourages diversity in a globalizing world. However, modern research and practical use appears to show quite the opposite. For the most part people only engage with those that agree with them, those that approve their posts, and share their ideologies. Those who differ may be overlooked as friends (ProCon Organization, 2014).This does nothing to encourage diversity; in fact, if anything it is endorsing the development of online “cliques.” We have seen that social media sites have become a platform, not just for entertainment and picture sharing, but as a means of sharing opinions on controversial issues, political debates and societal arguments. That said, social media, has led to many widespread disagreements that may result in the two sides of any issue ranting, name calling and disrespecting of those with differing opinions. That is not an example of embracing diversity.
One of the most negative aspects of mass social media communication is that the lack of human interaction is making people less compassionate and less invested in the feelings of others, even those they call “friend.” Even with your name and icon present, there is still a certain amount of anonymity, being miles from the person who you are talking to, that has allowed people to be less respectful, unkind, and cruel on occasion. We are not directly exposed to the consequences of our comments and criticisms. One of the profound examples of this is the prevalence of “Cyberbullying” (ProCon Organization, 2014).This is the same constant name-calling, ridicule and endless criticism experienced by many children, teens and, sometimes, adults in the outside world, translated into the digital format. The number one location for this kind of bullying is, of course, social media. These relentless attacks follow people around wherever they go and have resulted in a number of young people who end their own lives due to this heartless and perpetual social media attacks on their person, character and self image.
There is also a worry that while social media, like all technological innovations, offers the opportunity to ideally broadens one’s horizons, in many cases, that is not the effect seems to be having. In some ways social media is making individual worlds much smaller. Again, people are more attracted to social media friends that are most in agreement with them. So there will be little if no contrary opinions on any subjects (Keller, 2013).Worse, peoples’ fixation on the events of their online social media world is causing them to miss what is going on in the real world all around them. They may know that Susan went to Disneyland, John stubbed his toe and Joe’s dog learned to do a back-flip, but they may have no idea that there was a hurricane in the East Coast, a terrorist attack or a warnings involving threat of infectious disease. They become invested in their online lives that they lose site of the physical world. This is not beneficial for these individuals or for society as a whole.
There is one, final danger, that is worth mentioning as well. The internet is full of people who pretend to be something they are not, everything from prank identities to predators seeking prey. People have no idea who they are sharing their likes, dislikes and day-to-day events of their lives. This applies most often to children and teens that befriended and regularly interact with individuals who pretend to be their peers. Many adults find themselves sharing information that could allow one of their “friends” to steal their identities (Keller, 2013). That said we are entering an era where innovations in technology will only improve upon social media, which means that people, as a society, must learn how to interact with such media wisely, responsibly, and in moderation.
No one is insinuating that social media does not have a positive uses and applications, whether as a place for entertainment or engaging in conversations through the internet. No one is insinuating that those who imagine developed and presented these social sites intentionally created something that was knowingly negative. As with all things there are people who abuse the privileges of technology and use the forum for spreading hate and encouraging argument between people’s of differing views. However, now that we see that people are misusing and taking advantage of the medium then it is time to consider ways to improve these apparent flaws. First and foremost, change must come from the users. Social media is not an alternative to your living life (Keller 2013). It is meant to encourage communication, offer entertainment and endorse positive conversation, but not in exchange for the real world. All things in moderation, that is the old adage, and it is wise advice in this case as well. Social media should be part of one’s world not the bulk of it.

CONCLUSION

Social media, like all technology, is not going to disappear. In fact, greater and greater technological advances are being made every day. When used responsibly it can be a fantastic convenient and beneficial tool for communication. However, when used less responsibly it can be a means of minimizing one’s world, allows for bullying and attacking of others, limit the definition of friendship, and, even, place some individuals in legitimate danger. Technology, like social media, can be very much a double-edged sword. In order to reap the benefits society must be more willing to address the flaws and negative aspects seriously and effect positive change. Social media has the potential to do a great deal of good, but, also, a great deal of bad when misused. Ultimately, when accessing the lists of advantages and disadvantages of modern social media, unfortunately, the list of “cons” seems to be lengthier than those attributes that fall under the list “pros.” However, fortunately, it is a rectifiable situation. Once people take the time to seriously address the negatives with tangible change, then social media has the potential to be far more beneficial than it is at present.

REFERENCES

Baruah, T. D. (2012). Effectiveness of social media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: A micro - level study. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(5), 1-10. Retrieved from http://www.ijsrp.org/research_paper_may2012/ijsrp-may-2012-24.pdf
Keller, M. (2013). Social Media and Interpersonal Communication. Social Work Today.12(3). Retrieved from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/051313p10.shtml
ProCon Organization. (2014). Are social networking sites good for our society?. ProCon Organization, 1. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/