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Social media's effects on self esteem and image
The positive and negative effects of social networking
The positive and negative effects of social networking
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Online social networking sites, like Facebook, are simultaneously good and bad for its users. Facebook is both a useful tool and a waste of time depending on the view of the user. The positives of Facebook’s tools provide and maintain the ties and nodes from face-to-face interactions. Through posting comments, photos, and personal updates, whether likes or status updates, the user gains more social capital. In counter to these positives, Facebook promotes the notion of normalizing stalking, a continuous cycle of envy and the fixation upon oneself. To conclude the negatives of Facebook far out-weigh the positives, suggesting that people need to understand their virtual privacy, and that Facebook should be used as a service rather than convenient way to communicate between friends. Facebook is a facade of the user’s identity that provides a false sense of empowerment and ownership of their life.
One way that Facebook promotes networking is through posting comments. These comments are quick snip bits of communication that allow the person to know that you are thinking of them, and thus create a convenience communication (Young, 2011). Posting comments on friends’ profiles is the same as talking to your friends physically; some users of Facebook post “private and direct questions in public rather than via private
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It allows for strengthening of virtual relationships without the need of physical connection. Facebook provides a service to maintain and organize virtual relationships between friends, as well as promotes a normalization of stalking, a cycle of envy, and narcissistic behaviours. Facebook is a facade of the user’s identity that provides a veneer sense of empowerment and ownership of their life within the virtual realm. The user may believe that they are in control of what they put on the web and whom they show it too, but default privacy settings, number of friends and more dwindles the control that the user thought they
“The standards of what we want to keep private and what we make public are constantly evolving. Over the course of Western history, we’ve developed a desire for more privacy, quite possibly as a status symbol…”(Singer) Technological change leads to new abuses, creating new challenges to security, but society adapts to those challenges. To meet the innate need for privacy, we learn what to reveal and where, and how to keep secret what we don't want to disclose. “Whether Facebook and similar sites are reflecting a change in social norms about privacy or are actually driving that change, that half a billion people are now on Facebook suggests that people believe the benefits of connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging outweigh breaches of privacy that accompany such behaviours,”(Singer) This is obvious by the continuous and unceasing use of social media platforms, but what needs to be considered is that this information is being provided willingly. “More difficult questions arise when the loss of privacy is not in any sense a choice.”(Singer) When the choice to be anonymous it taken away through social media, the person loses the ability to keep their personal information
One’s amount of Facebook reflects how popular one wish to appear online more than how healthy one’s friendship truly is. Constant usage of Facebook allows user to potentially feel like they have a meaningful social life, when in reality, they are missing something. In Stephen Marche’s 2102 article, “Is Facebook making Us Lonely?” he notes that Facebook was introduced to the world in the midst of spreading and intensifying loneliness, an idea to which he greatly attributes Facebook’s appeal and success (Marche 26). Initially, social networking sites seem to be evidence of modern-day social interaction being easier and more convenient than ever. However, they can just as easily convince users that they are missing out on having a social life. Marche quotes a woman named Moira Burke, who has conducted studies on Facebook interaction (34). Bruke claims that the way in which the site is used is the greatest factor in determining if it increases the loneliness of users or not, stressing the importance of actually communicating with people one knows personally instead of posting about one’s own activities or simply clicking “like” on the others’ posts. If a Facebook user simply sits back and watches the activity of others without interacting with them in any way referred to by Burke as “one-click communication” and “passive consumption”, it could result in feelings of stagnation, being left out, and loneliness. As one could probably guess, motivation plays a key role in how users choose to interpret their Facebook news feed. Some could be inspired by what they see on their feeds to go out and have an exciting social life. However, for those who already feel even slightly lacking in social skills, having a Facebook profile may simply emphasize to them what they are missing. These studies and findings ultimately reflect the negative effect of Facebook on
Known for his proactive essays, William Deresiewicz who was once an English professor at Yale bluntly explains to us his view on the “friendships” of Facebook. Deresiewicz ask how you can have so many friends and yet none at all. He considers friends on social media a simulacra. Comparing them to just any old collection of cards. “Posting information is like pornography, a slick, impersonal exhibition.” (Deresiewicz, 16) Social media, in this case Facebook, is just a generalization (not a personal) way of keeping in touch.
The 21st century has brought a lot of modern ideas, innovations, and technology. One of these is social media. The invention of Facebook has completely changed the way we communicate with one another. Instant messaging, photo sharing, and joining online groups have created a way for families and friends to connect. Some argue that Facebook is the greatest invention however, while it is seemingly harmless, Facebook has created an invasion of privacy. The accessibility of Facebook and its widespread use has created privacy problems for users, teens, and interviewees by allowing easy control to viewers.
“I didn't know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time –Betty White (“Betty White Quotes,” 2014, para. 1).” This quote can be interpreted to fit with several of the social media avenues that many people spend their time on. Day in and day out people post, tweet, share, and pin countless times throughout the world. These different forms of communication were first created for an easier way for people to connect with others. Yet now, so much time is spent on these social sites that it has warped the interactive part and is causing more damage than good. Many are growing a desire and are living for the amount of “likes” they can receive on a post or how many re-tweets they can generate. Instead of going to these outlets to participate in a partial portion of their social lives, people are filling that time with the technological aspect of communication. As White said, this can become an inordinate amount of wasted time and can ultimately grow into further damaging circumstances. These different social media channels can cause emotional harm through disparaging the relationship between friends, conjuring of a narcissistic personality, and the retrogradation of ones self-esteem.
Social networking sites like Facebook can have both negative and positive effects. Facebook can leave us feeling like we are not good enough if we don’t have enough likes on our pictures or if we do not have a certain amount of friends. While on the other hand it can make us feel empowered and worthy when we have a significant amount of likes on our picture and thousands of friends on Facebook. The following two articles argue whether or not social networking sites like Facebook, have a negative or positive effect on one’s overall well-being. As the old saying goes, there are always two sides to everything.
and family, and also “meet like-minded people” ( Metz, par. 1). In some cases, business people such as Ron West, claim that he uses Facebook “to become acquainted with new customers”( par. 8). Yes, these types of websites are great tools to stay in touch with old classmatesand faraway family members. It is a great source of communication, but there is always a con to every pro. Even though users are connecting with others, users of social networks never know exact...
In our day to day lives we socialize and interact with many different types of people, including family, friends, colleagues, or even complete strangers. Before technology people stayed in contact via regular mail, writing letters, telephone calls and face to face communication. Today the way in which we relate to others is completely different. We use social media for finding romance, seeking employment, or getting advice. This is where social networking and social media come into play. Many people may think that the use of social media is making them more social and more interactive with society. But others question if that is really the case. Is social media making us more or less social? Is it changing the way we interact with people on a daily basis? Is it having a more positive or negative impact on society?
Facebook was causing problems for University IT departments long before it was ever called Facebook. In 2003, Zuckerberg created an Am I Hot or Not? application on his facemash.com site and was accused of “breaching security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy” (Kaplan, 2003). So it isn’t surprising that Mitrano, the Director of IT Policy and Computer Policy & Law at Cornell seeks to warn the Cornell student body of possible consequences of irresponsible use of Facebook in the article Thoughts on Facebook. What is surprising is that IT policy guidance is typically found in an actual policy document, rather than an essay or article. Mitrano sought to provide Cornell IT policy guidance on the ramifications of Facebook via friendly Facebook advice from a credible source. Because of missed opportunities to inform, overriding concerns over policy, and lack of knowledge regarding the controls within the Facebook application, Mitrano’s article was not as persuasive as it should have been.
In Betty White’s opening monologue to Saturday Night Live, she said, “I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I would never say the people on it are losers, but that’s only because I’m polite.” Originally intended for the use of students at Harvard University in 2004, Facebook grew exponentially to be an online phenomenon in the years following. In 2006, it became accessible to anyone and everyone with internet connection. Aside from the advantages that give the site its popularity, creating a profile comes with a number of significant disadvantages inherit to online social networks. What do more than 500 million active users use their Facebook for? Communicating with long distance friends and spreading awareness of causes are common responses. Unfortunately, Facebook has it flaws, from limiting the privacy of relationships to creating a form of almost unmanageable bullying, making one reconsider their involvement and think, “do I really want my Facebook account?”
Upon the advent of social networking websites, an entirely new level of self-expression was formed. People instantly share updates on their lives with family, friends, and colleagues, reconnecting with those they had lost contact with. Social networking has now become an integral part of contemporary society – a modern analog for catching up with friends over slow, conventional methods or finding upcoming events in newspapers. However, along with this freedom of information, the danger of revealing too much personal information has become apparent. As such, online social media poses an imminent danger to society as it blurs the line between private and public information, creating an obsession with sharing one’s personal life online.
In this day and age, many individuals simply cannot go without some sort of socialization. Specifically speaking, most participate in online social networking sites. The most popular and used one is commonly known as Facebook. Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. By 2007, Facebook had over 21 million users, adding up to 1.6 billion page views every single day. The typical user spends over twenty minutes per day on Facebook and two thirds of the users log in every day at least once. It is not questionable as to why many people have a Facebook account. Facebook is generally efficient, easy for socialization, and not difficult to manage. Most organizations are affiliated with Facebook, as “almost 22,000 organizations had Facebook directories,” as of November 2006. A year after that in 2007, Facebook was named the seventh most popular website (Ellison 1). However, with anything well known, many oppose to using Facebook and hold criticism against the popular network. There are many flaws in the website and the relationships it starts online. Facebook is risking dangerous activities, ignoring privacy laws, and demeaning healthy socialization.
Most social networks make it possible for individuals to upload their entire life to a public profile. You’re not only sharing personal information with your friends but also the friends of your friends. Personal information spreads rapidly on a Social Networking Site than through a real-life network and sometimes provides more information than we would have thought. A social networking site is defined as a network of individuals related to each other based on a common interest or a real-life connection. The popularity of these sites introduces the use of a new and easy form of communication. People spend countless hours interacting with their ‘friends’ on these sites with the help of a ‘comment’ and a ‘like’ button.
Facebook is beneficial to one's social life because they can continuously stay in contact with their friends and relatives, while others say that it can cause increased antisocial tendencies because people are not directly communicating with each other. But some argue that Facebook has affected the social life and activity of people in various ways. With its availability on many mobile devices, Facebook allows users to continuously stay in touch with friends, relatives and other acquaintances wherever they are in the world, as long as there is access to the Internet. Users can upload pictures, update statuses, play games, get news, add people, like and share photos, videos, memes
Nowadays, we are living in the “ technology world”, digital’s century, science and technology are being devolopped like a rain-storm, people try their best effect to serve for human’s infiniti demand. Internet in general and social network in particular are exceedingly funtional tools. Indeed, with over 1.3 billion active users in June,2014 ( Wikipedia), there is no suprise that Facebook has been becoming a leading social network in the world, “Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected” – CEO of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg (google). Facebook truthly brought many useful; however, it is still “ a double-edged sword”.