SOCIAL NETWORKING- GOOD OR BAD?
Unfortunately it isn't that black and white. I've always been pro-social media, but as I get older I can see some of it's negative effects. Social networking isn't going anywhere, in fact it's only going to improve and advance, so any of you negative Nancy's toward social media should just accept the facts. (YES GRANDPA I'M TALKING TO YOU.)
Let's start with the bad.
I think most of social media's negative effects are on our youth.
Real life example:
Over the summer, my family rents a cottage in Fort Erie, Canada, RIGHT on the beach. It's beautiful and we have all the cousins there. One of the best parts about being there is not having cellular service or wireless Internet. A chance to unplug from the world and relax for a day or ten.
This year at the cottage, on a rainy day, my sister Megan (Age 12), had the nerve to ask me this question:
"Katie, will you drive me to the library down the street so I can check my Facebook?"
I LOST IT.
"MEGAN. DID YOU REALLY JUST ASK ME THAT?"
She's 12 and she wanted me to take her to the library, not to CHECK OUT A BOOK but to CHECK HER FACEBOOK.
It hit me that kids must not know what to do when they're bored anymore and I don't think Facebook is the right place to waste time, at such a young age.
Another example lies in the lost lives of a number of young teens who committed suicide after being cyber-bullied.
When you put a kid behind a computer, without having to be face-to-face with their victim, it gives them a confidence in getting away with saying the worst things they can think of. It's a shame that some victims of cyber-bullying were so emotionally-scarred by just typed words, that they would take their own life.
However, sometimes when kids get the right guidance and/or parental controls on the Internet, these scenarios can be prevented and we can start focusing on the POSITIVE side of social media.
Social Media connects us in an unbelievable way. We can stay in touch with friends from other countries on Facebook, we can join conversations on Twitter with our favorite companies or even celebrities. We can even post our resume, network with professionals and find jobs on the website LinkedIn. Some people have been lucky enough to earn their way in the spot light by simply posting videos of themselves singing on YouTube. (Cough, Justin Bieber, cough.) What about the people who are too busy or have a hard time getting out there and finding true love? We now have websites that find your match. I know most of my friends including myself don't read the paper, but we're kept up to date on current events by the convenience of the Internet at our fingertips.
Maybe all of this makes us lazy, or maybe it makes us 'stupid'. In my opinion, it all depends on how you use it and how much you use it. If you're smart enough to realize that talking to your friends on Facebook isn't a substitute for seeing them in real life, or if you're smart enough to realize that your child needs an off-line hobby, then you're smart enough.
Reading this was both hilarious and informing, which to me is an amazing mix, hard to find on such a painfully boring topic. You have a gift to make things interesting that’s for sure.
ReplyDeleteAs for the actual post, I felt that I had some valid points to it. Your personal story about you sister wanting to be on Facebook, while at the beach was crazy. Who in their right mind doesn’t know what to do at a beach to have fun? It seems that its time for people to teach these young things what life is about.
The subject of cyber-bullying I thought was a very important one to discuss. With it being such a major threat to thousands of people, even millions, many people don’t realize how serious it gets. I felt that you did a good job at covering the subject wish a serious tone, as was needed. It isn’t something easy to talk about, but you seemed to handle it quite well.
The end, when you talked about positives of social media, you didn’t need much to make it stand strong. I think that you put enough information to make people agree on the positives and not let the out weight the negative too much. This was very well balanced.
Katie starts off with fun headings grabbing the attention of the reader, allowing them the notion that the post will be an amusing read. Proving this point to the true, Katie adds humor in the last sentence of the introduction completely attaching the reader to stay tuned in. Personal experiences where are used after negative points, which were enjoyable to read. It can’t be stressed enough how personalizing the post permits not only more readers, but a more grasp on the argument being made. Having had the reader’s attention for an extended period, Katie incorporates more serious obstacles concerning the topic. Katie is sure to only deliver the facts, but leave the reader to come up with their own personal judgment of the scenario. The post starts off in separated sections of text from the main points of the passages, but does not end that way. There was not separation from the negative to the positive, and the inconsistence could have thrown off the reader of the passage. The intensity of the positive could have been boosted, had a personal example been added. The entire passage was effective in stating Katie’s pros and cons of social networking, while succeeding to inform the viewer on the topic.
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