Edith Flores (Affects of Social Media)

The Affects of Social Media in our Community

Action: As technology has progressed throughout the years, it has brought along social media or as some people see it as the community killer. The revolutionary growth of the sites like Facebook, twitter, Instagram  and Snap chat are promoting communities whereby physical contacts with people are being downgraded to secondary activities. Today we now live online, sharing every detail of our lives online. 
 
We have now noticed that nowadays we don't see children gathering outside to play. Or to even going out to greet new neighbors by giving them baked goods, or by getting to know the people living on their street. Even to just have a conversation  with the neighbors to borrow tools, or lend a hand by fixing each others cars and exchanging knowledge. All of this is becoming extinct, thanks to social media that has taken over our social lives and because we refused to engage  in this activities but the way we look at these activities are been influenced by social media.

No one borrows from their neighbors anymore. People have a fear of borrowing from neighbors and finding out on social media is scary. That people would rather pretend that they have these things or suffer in silence. Lots of people rather keep their problems to themselves rather than share it with someone else or even to just seek for help. It is seen that people are frightened to have their private life broadcast on social media. Which affects our community as a whole.

Disadvantages

• With social media, information can be spread to millions of people in a very short amount of time. This is an advantage because this can cause severe misinformation and panic by how their can be fake news that can cause a misunderstanding.
• Cyber bullying is a huge issue caused by how social media platforms as having 24 hour access into someone's life can lead to issues, especially for the younger generation as users can leave a hurtful and intimidating messages on each other's profiles.
• Social media can become extremely addictive as some individuals are more worried about portraying a perfect life on their social media profile. (Bishop, 2017)

 General tips to keep in mind.

• Use social media at certain scheduled times. Don’t let it interfere with your work, studies or offline relationships.
• If you have difficulty getting off social media, try productivity apps that limit your access to certain sites. If you have a serious addiction problem, seek professional help.
• Use social media to research health issues, but always consult with your own doctor before taking any advice.
• Stay off social media and any communications platforms while driving or doing anything else that’s potentially hazardous.
• Stay positive. Don’t waste time arguing with people online.

Negative effects on health

Researchers have found that there appears to be a positive correlation between hyper networking, which is more than three hours of internet time, and negative health behavior such as depression, drug abuse and isolation among teenagers. In extreme cases, the negative effect can even extend to suicide.

Identity theft

Another area that has correspondingly increased with the increase of social networking sites is identity theft. With personal information so easily available it can also be easily stolen. The cases where information is taken from social networking sites are soaring. (Marsh, 2012)

Georgina Felix

"Social media can affect your health by how lots of people are always on their phones checking on their social media which can then lead to eye problems. You can get eye strain from staring at screens  for too long .for too long. Not just that but can always have fatigue, which is another

symptom of overusing social media. If you’re staying up too late posting on Twitter of Facebook, you may be losing your valuable sleep."

Jackie Medina

Invasion of privacy

"When we post something on social media like our pictures and information on our page. But, don't realize that we are often posting information that we would probably never have given away in real life, in which can be dangerous if random people are stalking you and knowing all your private information. It can even fall in to the hands of bad people, which can be a problem".

Julianna Martinez

Lack of socialization

"Let's face it, our thousands of friends in our list are really not the ones we call on when we are alone. Instead, the time spent on the internet takes away the time we would otherwise have spent socializing and meeting real people in a real environment. In which can affect the way one socializes with other people and can make people seem difficult to approach others to be able to talk person to person".

Important Facts About Social Media

In 2013, a study showed that 79% of all adults in the United States had at least one social network profile.

2.1 billion people in the world have social media accounts.

Mobile phones now make up 72% of internet traffic to these sites.

70 million photos and videos are uploaded to Instagram every single day, and that is a number that is steadily rising.

Sources

Marsh, Kelly.How Social ,Media Networks Can Affect Society Negatively. 7 May 2012.

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/15/74730.html

Bishop, Luke.What is Social Media Having on Society.25 November 2017.

https://umidigital.co.uk/blog/affect-social-media-society/