Social networking can simply be defined as the use of dedicated websites and applications to communicate informally with other users, or as a form to find people with similar interests to oneself. Through social media people share information and personal opinion. Over the years social networking has had a rapid growth among teenagers. Far too much of their time is spent online chatting with friends or family, uploading pictures, watching videos and playing games online. The most famous social networking websites are; Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Instagram. With the misuse of these sites teenagers suffer extreme consequences such as depression, bad grades and severe embarrassment. On the other hand they can benefit from these sites as their communicational networking develop, connecting with old friends and they can be used as an educational tool just to name a few.
CYBERBULLYING:
“Cyber-bullying is the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or threaten (Holladay 2)”. Since the invention of social media teenagers have suffered by online bullying which is referred to as cyber-bullying. This form of bullying has lead to bad effects such as depression, suicide and loss of privacy.
A study by Henry J. Kaiser has shown that “ Today, 93% of children of the ages 8 to 18 have computers at home, 66% have cell phones , and 76% own another multimedia device such as an IPod ( Haolladay2)”. With these devices teenagers have access to social media’s such as Facebook, twitter and MySpace to name just a few. While on these sites teenagers tend to share personal opinions and speak ill of others. Girls are often called names such as “whore” “bitch” “ugly” and “fat”. On the other hand boys are called names such as “gay”. Such hurtful names create an emotional breakdown that can lead to suicide and a decline in academic performance.
DEPRESSION:
Victims of cyber-bullying experience depression. “A few signs of depression include a looming sadness, irritability, hopelessness, trouble sleeping, fatigue weight change and loss of appetite. These symptoms can throw the victim into a downward spiral and may lead to aggression, panic attacks and thoughts of committing suicide (Thomas 1)”. Victims who suffer from depression can visit a doctor for a step to recovery.
SUICIDE:
A number of victims who have been harassed and ashamed online have had suicidal thoughts. The thought of suicide must have been triggered with an aggressively strong harassment. “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC (bullyingstatistics.org 1)”.
There are many ways to prevent or solve Cyber-bullying. Parents, Schools, the social sites and even the teenagers can play an enormous role. Parents can take control of their child’s online activities such as opening a Facebook account and observing their updates. They can limit the amount of hours spend on social sites and block sites they suspect can lead their child to be a cyber-bully. Social sites such as Facebook have begun the process of tightening the privacy of users with the recent update of privacy settings. Users are able to block certain people therefore they cannot view there profile or communicate with them. Users are able limit their privacy settings and decide who can read their status or see them online. Schools as well can block social sites. Teach online safety skills. They can set up rules such that any student who is involved in the act shall be punished. Teenagers should speak up and say something if they witness any slight form of bullying.
COMMUNICATION:
Social media has become part of many teenagers daily life. With new social networking sites to join it makes it inevitable to keep our hands far from our devices. “From MySpace to Facebook and now the more popular Twitter, these social networking websites have introduced ways to communicate that was not present 10 to 20 years ago (Brodie 1)”.
Before the invention of social media friends would communicate verbally “face-to face, telephone, and letter and class room notes (Stone 1)”. However these methods of communicate are no longer in existence with today’s teenagers. Instead of going out and catching a glimpse of the outside world with a friend, teenagers now prefer tapping on their phones and communicating via social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter and MySpace or through text.
EATING DISORDERS:
Sometimes friends and romantic partners with an obsession for appearances can create pressure and end up in eating disorders. People vulnerable to these disorders face more relationship problems and loneliness. Some others seem to be living exciting lives, but truly feel that they don’t fit into it. A study says that Facebook triggers eating disorders. Teenage girls who spend hours together on Facebook, flicking photos and albums have chances of developing body image related problems and lead to eating disorders. Doctors say that, posting selfies on the Facebook and constant sight of many photos and albums can make them think they are fat and hence have eating disorders. Researchers Evelyn Meier and James Gray reported: ‘It is not the total time spent on the internet or Facebook, but the amount of Facebook time allocated to photo activity that is associated with greater thin deal internalization, self-objection, weight dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness.’ The problem is that for almost all teenagers, Facebook has replaced the traditional way of meeting and talking to each other, said the researchers.
ANTI SOCIAL AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES:
Social networks may have brought many good aspects in the life of people; like making new friends, finding friends whose contacts were long lost, finding the right person to get into a relationship. However, when not used properly and when social life seems to really get out of our hands, it makes the life a complete chaos. As social media and networking sites are widely popular, they enable easy spreading of unreliable and false information. Children may tend to endanger themselves by not understanding the public and viral nature of social networking sites. These days, there are a lot of young people in distress and mental illness due to excessive social networking. These sites make people to be easily prone to strangers who disturb by sexting, black mailing, sending anonymous mails, messages or pictures to family and friends, etc. These sites encourage amateur advices for health problems, which may result in life-threatening situations. Teenagers who spend most of their time online tend to become socially isolated. They start avoiding their families’ companionship and ultimately may result in a situation of mental illness where they may even lose their minds. Recent studies show that, use of social networking sites is correlated with personality and brain disorders, that the victim may become incapable of having in-person conversations, a need for instant satisfaction, self-centered personality, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and addictive behavior.
Someone said in earlier days that, “Excess of everything is bad.” That is a universal truth. Some people, most of them females complaint that misuse of personal information and security problems like lack of privacy online are the main reasons for the problems in their lives. Athanasopoulos et al stated that “We define anti- social networks as a social network, deviously manipulated for launching activities connected with fraud and cyber- crime.” Most of the information posted on social networking sites are fake or concocted or half- truths. While crossing these information, we feel annoyed on one hand while on the other; will be motivated to post misleading information. This tends to change the socio-psychological behavior of the human being. This proves that, e-world is taking its toll over the real world. People are making more friends virtually, just for the sake of numbers. But in reality, they remain isolated. People are becoming more and more individualistic. It is very clear that, future generations are in complete control of the social networking sites; which is a very bad indication for the nation.
P.S. insert the sources which you have used. I ve cited only the ones which I used for my part.
REFERENCES
Anthanasopoulos, E., et al. "Anti social networks: Turning a Social Network into aBotnet." n.d. Google Docs. 14 Jan 2014 <https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:DQPVSHC0YrwJ:i.zdnet.com/blogs/facebotisc08.pdf+%E2%80%9CAnti+social+networks:+Turning+a+Social+Network+into+a+Botnet%E2%80%9D&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgKMl9GS7DWhUH7awoLxXJr_UDsIWLEM_RJwUi8Q-o3uh9uZBw1VNOa>.
Innes, Emma. Could Facebook trigger eating disorders? Teenage girls who spend hours looking at posted photos 'develop poor body image'. 4 Dec 2013. 12 Jan 2014 <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2518062/Could-Facebook-trigger-eating-disorders-Teenage-girls-spend-hours-looking-posted-photos-develop-poor-body-image.html>.
Kapoor, Teena. "Pros and Cons of Social Networking: A Review Paper." n.d. academia.edu. 12 jan 2014 <http://www.academia.edu/619443/Pros_and_Cons_of_Social_Networking#>.
Pros & Cons of Social Networking. 5 June 2013. 12 Jan 2014 <http://www.proconlists.com/list/computers-internet/social-networking/9762>.
