Media, And Prosocial Uses Of Media And Social Media

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Conclusion
Media, from traditional television to the “new media” (including cell phones, iPads, and social media), are a dominant force in children’s lives. Although media are not the leading cause of any major health problem in the United States, the evidence is now clear that they can and do contribute substantially to many different risks and health problems and that children and teenagers learn from, and may be negatively influenced by, the media. However, media literacy and prosocial uses of media may enhance knowledge, connectedness, and health. The overwhelming penetration of media into children’s and teenagers’ lives necessitates a renewed commitment to changing the way pediatricians, parents, teachers, and society address the use of …show more content…

As described by Livingstone (2008): ―Social networking sites enable communication among ever-widening circles of contacts, inviting convergence among the hitherto separate activities of email, messaging, website creation, diaries, photo albums and music or video uploading and downloading. From the user‘s viewpoint, more than ever before, using media means creating as 20 well as receiving, with user control extending far beyond selecting ready-made, mass-produced content.‖ As youth culture assimilates communication technology, the rapid pace of change makes it difficult to grasp the nature and scope of what is happening, never mind appreciating all the positive and negative implications. There are suggestions that the changes are fundamentally transforming the concept of community. These and a host of other matters related to youth and social networking through new technologies are topics for ongoing exploration and …show more content…

This is particularly the case for young people. As early as elementary school, many students are carrying cell phones. With ready access to the internet and mobile phone technology, social networking has become a phenomenon of unprecedented proportions and is expanding the concept of a social network. As Bryant, Sanders-Jackson, and Smallwood (2006) stress: ―Socially interactive technologies (SITs), such as instant messaging and text messaging, are beginning to redefine the social networks of today‘s youth. By offering fast-paced, inexpensive, online communication, SITs allow for new online youth social networks to form and evolve. New text-based technologies are picking up where phones left off. Email and text messaging allow for rapid, asynchronous communication within one‘s peer network: IM allows for synchronous communication among many friends at once.‖ Because so much of the discussion about the use of technology for connecting interpersonally uses the term social networking, we need to begin by looking at the concept of a social network. A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called ‗nodes,‘ which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency‖ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network ). Personal and organizational social networks are common among those who have shared interests,

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