The internet is such an important invention and offers a ton of capabilities. There are hundreds of different social media sites that people use to express their feelings and occupy their time. The internet comes with many different affects and influences that can be positive or negative. Facebook is a very popular social media web site where a lot of different things are going on between different people all over the world. When so many people are using a site like Facebook almost all day long, it is going to have effects on the person using it.
Keeping in touch with friends and family that may not live so close to you is a huge positive effect of Facebook. "Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with your family and friends that live far away. With instant messaging and even video chat, Facebook is the perfect environment to stay connected." (Barricella)A telephone may be an easy alternative but with Facebook you could be chatting with multiple people at once without taking up the phone line. Another positive effect Facebook has on people is that if you aren’t friends with people who are going to act irresponsibly, then Facebook can be a great place to express yourself and your own opinions. You can get a lot of feedback and learn new things on Facebook by letting people comment and share their own stories and experiences. Also, "It is a lot harder to feel embarrassment over the internet than in person, so people find it easier to ‘vent’ their feelings on Facebook." (Barricella) This may not be true for a lot of people, mostly younger kids, but that is only because most of their ‘friends’ aren’t really friends and someone’s feelings can easily get hurt without them thinking about their actions or caring what they are saying.
Facebook has a lot of fun and addicting capabilities that can be taken advantage of in a negative way, hurting the user’s health. Staying on Facebook for an excessive amount of time every day for weeks and months will have effects on the way you act and think. For responsible users, Facebook can have many positive effects but to someone who is careless and irresponsible, Facebook could change them into an unhappy and unhealthy human being. "It has been discovered that young adults that spend excessive amounts of time on Facebook show more signs of other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviors, mania and aggressive tendencies." (Rosen) Facebook can be very bad for younger children especially ones with less guidance. Facebook is extremely distracting to people of all ages but it is worse for younger kids because they need to be focused on school and their future. "Some studies suggest that so-called teenage ‘hyper-social networkers’ are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, drug use, fighting and promiscuity." (Rosen) The earlier kids learn and get into these things, the more difficult it will be to become successful in the future.
I believe that as long as you aren’t trying to negatively express your feelings and try your best to be civil and responsible toward everyone else on Facebook then you will experience more positive than negative effects from it. Your friends have a lot to do with it as well. If you are friends with people who are going to be nasty toward you and treat you bad then it is going to take a toll on you mentally over time. If you are using Facebook the way it is supposed to be used then the positive effects will outweigh the negative effects.
Nick,
Barricella. N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014.
<http://nickbarricella.hubpages.com/hub/The-Positive-and-Negative-Effects-of-Facebook>.
Rosen, Larry. N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014.
<http://www.lakesidecares.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145:the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-effects-of-facebook&catid=44:blog&Itemid=154>.
Both of your positive and negative effects Facebook has on our society are true, especially in adults. However, you bring up younger kids for some examples. I do think that social media in general has effects on kids but not Facebook. What I have noticed is that the younger kids (under twenty) don’t use Facebook as much as I did when I was in high school. A lot of those kids have a Facebook but don’t nearly use it as much as people ages twenty and up. Twitter is where you will find most of the kids because they don’t want to be on social media with their parents. Your negatives are definitely true but I don’t think Facebook has those types of negatives on the younger generation.
ReplyDeleteHi Kraigums! Your blog post was great! I really enjoyed reading it and you put ideas into my head that I didn't think of! I didn't think to relate Facebook to a phone, which makes perfect sense! With a phone you can only carry on a certain number of conversations. but with Facebook it is endless! You can have a conversation with five people at once that is not something that came into my mind when I was thinking about Facebook! I do disagree with one of our sources though; I do believe people can feel great embarrassment from the Internet. Think about all the stars that have made mistakes or have had embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions, that stuff is plastered all over the place for eternity. For a more recent example, look at John Travolta, he is all over social media right now, I mean I cannot tell you how many memes I’ve seen with Idina Menzel on them, they’re all over the place. And when it comes to Facebook, I’m sure that you’ve had a friend post a God awful picture of you that you wish had never even existed! That’s happened to me more than once, and now everyone who views my page or is my Facebook friend will see this super “adorable” photo of me every time they scroll! So I do think you can feel embarrassed over the Internet! In an article by the nerve it stated “Science understands your plight, which is why researchers from Northwestern University are examining why and in what ways we are severely embarrassed by what goes on within that little blue and white interface”(www.nerve.com) (Northwestern is getting involved in this business!) They listed four different kinds of embarrassment you can feel through Facebook which were the “You’re Caught “ embarrassment, the “But that’s not Who I Am embarrassment, the “I Barely Know That Person embarrassment, and the “Now Everyone Can See That embarrassment, it’s a neat article! And In closing I really agree with your last statement! I one hundred percent agree that if you’re using Facebook that way it’s meant to be used then the positive will out weight the negatives! Be smart people! Again, enjoyed reading your article!
ReplyDeleteCited Sources:
"The 4 Ways You Embarrass Yourself on Facebook According to Science." Nerve.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014
Hey, I definitely agree with the points you made in this post. Both the positives and negatives you mentioned I find to be true but I think in the end that Facebook ultimately does have more negatives than positives. One thing that you didn’t exactly mention is cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is clearly a serious thing and results in a number of suicides every year. Although Facebook does provide people with a way to connect with their family and friends, as I said so in my post also, there are other, greater ways to do that same thing that often doesn’t involve the negative aspects that come along with Facebook. Also, the negative thing you mentioned in this post are both very serious things and I just cant see how those could be worth the other positive things that come from Facebook. I sort of feel bad posting this, but it’s the assignment
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