social networking sites, more harm than good?

Since the late 1990s, the proliferation of social networking sites has grown to permeate the lives of not only Americans but also people worldwide. Beginning in 1997, the use of social networking sites has grown to the point where “Facebook reported one billion monthly users worldwide on October 4, 2012” (Procon.org). Established less than ten years ago in 2004, Facebook is currently the world's most popular social networking on the planet, counting one out of seven people worldwide interacting with its site. Academic literature has exhaustively researched the use of social networking in recent years but one question has yet to be resolved: Do social networking sites cause more harm than good? This discourse takes the position that, despite the many harmful effects observed by the use (or misuse) of social networking sites, on balance they been of overall benefit to both individuals and societies across the globe. While this brief discussion cannot hope to unequivocally determine the question of good versus harm, it will present an argument to support the conclusion that social networking sites have both useful commercial, with personal applications, and should be considered a boon rather than a bane to our 21st century world.

This paper outlines a brief history of the beginning of social networking sites followed by an examination of privacy issues regarding the use of social networking sites and concludes with a comparison of the pros and cons of user interaction. As thoughtful observers may draw different conclusions from identical data, it should be stressed that individual mindsets can color one's perception of the use of social networking sites. Thus, the perception of social networking sites often depends upon how one prior...

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...their popularity among peers but establish their own self-enhancement and self-esteem. Furthermore, social networking sites are also used as way for users to identify themselves with a cyber social footprint. The theory of self-presentation applies to a person's quest to project a distinct identity and image to peers. Another concept social researchers posit is impression management, which is the blueprint that people use to “plan, adopt and carry out the process of conveying to others an image of self in interaction with the communicative context” (Zywicka and Danowski). Thus, social networking site users likely construct a profile to cultivate a specific image to other viewers. These two concepts suggest that social networking sites play a large role in not only creating but also reinforcing a sense of self for the site user as well as other viewers or “friends.”