Social networking is an interesting subject to talk about because there are many different viewpoints in which a person may stand beside when debating, “Is social networking harmful to society? ” In the new digital age, it is tough to argue the harmful effects of such an innovative idea such as Facebook or Twitter, because most of us will be deemed guilty of having an account, and many of us are nonetheless avid users of our accounts.
The issue only heightens itself when we question what exactly are people using these accounts for? What are their intentions of having an account? nd Is social networking an unrealistic transparency of a true personality from reality, Or is it a way of expressing one’s personality and qualities in a way that is beneficial to ourselves and society? For this assignment i was asked to read two articles, both in regards to social networking and then abstain myself from logging on to a facebook or twitter account for one whole day. This actually seemed like too short of a time to abstain from facebook because for me it can easily be done but i’m sure that a reasonable time limit had to be established so it is understandable.Before i took action in disengaging myself from the infamous facebook, i decided it would be interesting to throw a little twist in the assignment since this is something i have been pondering for quite some time. What i decided to do was, log into my facebook account and take notes on every single last post by one of my facebook friends, and then analyze the information found.
What type of information are MY friends sharing? and what is driving them to do so? Now its inevitable that, not every person who is an internet friend, is also a personal friend of mine but this is what could ultimately make my assignment slightly more random.Since i am not a total facebook junky who is utterly popular in the social networking world, my research covered 100 participants, but i felt this was enough people to draw some sort of conclusion for what i was trying to uncover. Also, since demographics in a study are very important in random studies, most people analyzed were between the ages of 20 and 30 so that could be the reason why most FB posts seemed to correlate in some way or another and were boring to read after the 15th time seeing it…. sorry friends but what seems trendy is not always interesting for others to hear about!However what i did find interesting and completely against my original hypothesis was people surprisingly were not continually trying to promote themselves as if they were the best thing to walk the planet.
They actually seemed to have nothing more important to say than things such as “What should i do today? ” (Instead of getting off the computer and finding something to do. ) or “Long week, but had soo much fun. ” or “Tebowww” (As if his name has not been all over TV and in everyday talk anyways). It almost made me think…Geez people don’t you have anything else better to do than talk about pointless bullshit?Although it may not be bullshit in their eyes, if it is analyzed on a whole scale, it looks like a big jumble of network crap that has no importance except for the cyberspace it consumes.
I found that about 60% of posts were regarding boredom and their status of what they’re doing or should do, 15% were quotes or catchy sayings, 10% were about their child, 10% was promoting themselves in one way or another, and 5% was other miscellaneous posts such as talking crap about somebody and other irrelevant things. After reviewing what people were posting, i then secluded myself from the facebook world.I felt no sense of anxiety to log on but that could be simply because it was a busy weekend. It turns out i didn’t miss much from sustaining from it.
I actually have come to believe and realize that facebook shouldn’t take a lot of importance in my life. After all, there has to be more important, exciting, time filling activities which should take precedence over any website on the computer unless it is for informational purposes. Otherwise, what happened to filling your time with a walk at the park? Without adding your location on a facebook post for everyone to see.This actually brings me to a very important curiosity of mine…Could there be harmful consequences of allowing people on the internet to know your location and status periodically throughout the day? I don’t believe that it is far-fetched to assume that releasing this type of information into the cyber world where everyone can see, could consequently be freely handing out tips to people such as stockers, or serial killers.
Think about it! In a world so big, in just one second, your whereabouts and complete life story are given on one detailed page called facebook!So is social networking harmful to society yet? I believe it can be and if it’s not already, it will be! Since most people are guilty of having an account for some type of social networking site then we most definitely should be careful with what we are using these accounts for. It is important to keep in touch with old friends in order to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle, but it also is important to not take advantage of the benefits that a social networking website has to offer. Facebook can either portray and define yourself or it can mask a true identity.The way in which a person chooses to use their facebook can be the fine line between who you want to portray yourself to be and your intentions on doing so.
The truth will set you free if used wisely. My intentions are not to lie but to improvise slyly! To finalize, having a facebook motto with standards on its usage is nonetheless crucial! To say Facebook is a phenomenon would be an understatement. Approximately, 1 in every 13 people on Earth is a Facebook user. In addition, 57% of people talk to people more online than they do in real life.
So, is our obsession with Facebook a good or bad thing for society?Sociologists will say there isn’t a clear cut answer to this question, but they are looking into what Facebook says about our society in general. In the movie, ?The Social Network?, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and begins working on a new idea. Six years later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history. Though Facebook users may not necessarily be wealthy, they are reaping the rewards of instant gratification, friendship, and in some cases.
Immediate gratification. Consider this: Facebook has more than 500 million active users. 0% of the users log on to Facebook in any given day. What does that say about who we are? Professor Jeffrey Nash has been looking into this question.
He is the department chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at UALR. “American social networks are becoming more fragmented. People are reaching out less to strangers and more cocooning — the cocooning effect,? said Professor Nash. “On the other hand, maybe we have over estimated how much that is going on, and there’s some research that shows that may not be the case, and Facebook and other internet mediated communications are actually compensating for that.
So if they are compensating for the fact that we are spending more time in our cars, and we go 30 miles each way, and we don’t have time to connect the way we did before, and one way of looking at what’s happening is that internet mediated communication is pulling us together. ” Many will say that’s an optimistic view of the Facebook effect — that our old ways of communication are being supplemented by new ways. Professor Nash says there is some truth to that, but he calls it normal. Anytime a technology drives us to change what we’re doing in a very dramatic way, like changing from horse and cart to automobile, there’s always a period of time in which there’s a lag between the practices and the rules for how you are to practice it,? said Nash.
A perfect example of that was the Midland School Board Vice President, Clint McCance who posted messages on his Facebook profile, suggesting gays should kill themselves. McCance later resigned. Lucky for us, Professor Nash says we will eventually find our way of navigating Facebook, with some type of etiquette, and rule book.
