Negative and Positive Impact of Social Networking

The development of Internet has lead to the spread of social networks which have become the essential part of everyday life. Modern social media has formed a new means of communication which has its peculiarities just like talking via phone, letters, or messaging. Lots of teenagers spend hours surfing the net, looking for updates on the profiles of their nearest and dearest. The virtual world has become more lively than it can be noticed outdoors.

The social media essay sample aims at investigating both positive and negative impacts of social networking sites on their users. Although some people claim that social networks ruin the interpersonal relationship between people by encouraging users to go online, others state that this byproduct of the World Wide Web helps to express your personality.

It goes without saying that social media today has adverse consequences. Its main danger is that people get much involved in the virtual world and forget about real-life emotions. This influence can be noticed among children of 11-15 years old who have just begun using the Internet and registered on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If parents don’t teach their kids to measure virtual and real life, this can lead to children’s social isolation. They may be very talkative via sending messages, but in reality, teenagers may be just scared to begin communication.

This created discrepancy negatively influence the upbringing of children in the society. Different Internet sites create the illusion that the users are content and happy while in the world which is outside of these platforms people don’t have close friends, and in general they are lonely.

Another possible negative impact is that social media can change the character of teenagers. Many psychologists claim that virtual communication reduces the feeling of empathy – ability to show compassion towards others. It is almost impossible to develop perfect interpersonal communication via Internet. Despite all those positive aspects of World Wide Web, it doesn’t give people chances to show emotions spontaneously, care about somebody, receive instant answers. People’s body is built that way that we perceive more than 70 % of data from the surrounding world by nonverbal means of leading conversations: gestures, postures, mimics. Social media and networks limit people from experiencing those amazing benefits of real conversation.

Although many people say that we can find friends and even our beloved ones via Facebook or other sites of global communication, the relationship based on such acquaintance is not long-termed. Friendship cannot be called reliable unless people also spend time together in real life. It is true that people add lots of exaggerated information about themselves to paint a pretty picture. They may lie about age, nationality, preferences, appearance, and this may bring about different confusing moments.

Each coin has two sides, and social media has many positive influences on people. It has become the most significant space for self-expression. We can think over the design of our profiles, share ideas in the post, write personal blogs. Today there are lots of teenage bloggers who make different photos on Instagram and write interesting information about their life. It has become popular to share ideas about healthy lifestyle among bloggers. They advertise vegetarian food, eco-products, sweets without sugar. Bloggers show that a healthy body is the most vital advantage in our lives. Taking photos in gyms, yoga clubs, swimming pools, they encourage followers to lead a healthy lifestyle. As the majority of people who read those blogs are teenagers, this trend has beneficial effect on them.

People learn how to do their small businesses within the expanding social networking space. Looking at how teenagers manage to sell various handmade knick-knackeries, it becomes evident that the Internet develops the skills of marketing. It refers to both young generation and adults. They create profiles with the products which they produce and sell them. It is a perfect spur for people to show talents of creating handmade items, and show these skills for the whole world.

Social media are indispensable elements of our modern life. We cannot deny the development of technologies because everything is changing day by day. New advances are perceived by the society with caution and suspicion. However, we have to adapt to continuous changes in our world and try to focus on the positive impacts of them. These technological progress also has adverse influence. From my perspective, we should not abandon the idea of social networks just because they sometimes have negative effect on our conscience, but try to eliminate those disadvantages by raising these issues publicly. Children should be aware of cyberbullying, Internet frauds, difference between virtual and real life, and then we will be able to perceive those networks as ideal platforms in online communication and self-expression.

References

Christakis, Nicholas. “The Hidden Influence of Social Networks.” Nicholas Christakis: The Hidden Influence of Social Networks | TED Talk, www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_of_social_networks.

Popali, Sunny. “What Is the Impact of Social Media on Your Marketing.” Ron Sela, 7 July 2017, www.ronsela.com/impact-of-social-media-marketing/.

“The Negative Effect of Social Media on Society and Individuals.” Chron.com, smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html.