The Great Social Media Divide

Is social media helping or harming our society? The many scandals and addictions of social media have revealed how being our society is more harmful than it is being helpful. Social media had an original purpose of connecting people and acting as a positive social outlet. There are four major drawbacks of social media, diminishing of social connectedness, increased bullying, increased access to infidelity and has drawn a barrier in individuals helping in emergency situations. As you continue to read more details and elaboration will arise in my stance on why social media are more harmful than helpful. Research shows that social media has a detrimental effect on the social connectedness (Savci et al. 210). A social connectedness is relationships or how individuals come together and interact. Subsequently social media can cause a reduction of social connectedness. Social media can lead to a weakness for social ties and social connectedness can decrease (Savci et al. 210). The question then becomes Can we have successful relationships outside of social media? The answer is no. This addiction to social media takes away that time to learn how to read non-verbal cues and pick up on unhealthy interactions. Strike one for social media.

here has been a growing concern over the last few years, in regard to cyberbullying. Additional extensive research was conducted of bullying amongst elementary schools. There is no doubt an increase in the number of online bullying incidents, as we have seen in the news lately. We have also recently seen so many deaths that have stemmed from cyberbullying. Some may argue that it is a rare occasion but in actuality it is not. In a study on cyberbullying and victimization, 83% of participants reported cyber victimization occurred outside of school (DePaolis et al. 385). Would you want bullying to follow your child home on those tiny little things we call cell phones? No! Strike two for social media. Social media has also opened doors for many individuals to date and seek out long-lasting relationships. But what happens when you catch Annie on your husband's Facebook personal messages or when you find out you husband John met Annie on Linked In? Granted, we can't get mad at the other party considering our spouse opened the door for infidelity, but we can be upset with how easy it was for them to meet and cheat. Also, people have always found ways to cheat on their spouses during hard times, social media has made it so much easier. With the increased number of individuals getting caught, we have an increased number of relationships and families ending. Strike three social media.

I have seen numerous amounts of videos finding it's way onto my social media news feeds with vulgar images of fighting, watching people die and even images of children being physically and sexually abused. These images surface more rapidly than do positive images. I have personally witnessed individuals seeing someone hurt or in need of emergency assistance but instead of helping they are recording the incident, so they can get the most likes. We are addicted to the thumbs up and hearts on our social media accounts. How can someone record another individual dying or a kid being beaten and not intervene? You are out social media! Although social media has played a very intricate role in shedding light on political concerns, reconnecting families, networking, empowerment and as an emotional outlet, it has still managed to damage the greater society. I beg parents to reduce or limit the amount of social media use for young children. I also challenge adults to scale back as it interferes with our ability to hold intimate and professional conversations. Social media was intended to be a positive way to connect and network but instead has done more harm than good. My intentions are to persuade you into the idea that social media is harming our society.

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