Social Networking Playing A Role In Our Generation Media Essay

Social networking websites play a major role in our generation as time increase. Social networking is all around us any where we go. One Famous website consider a social networking website is schoolnotes.com .Websites like Facebook allow for relationships to be created on their website. Thiers is a lot of hidden benefits you may not see at first. Small and invisible things like these websites builds creativity and help develop computer skills in younger generation as well as old. When there is good in something there are lots of negatives that come with these kinds of websites such as; the information post on theses website causes a danger for the user. These websites can also be used for evil with crimes such as cyber bullying. These social networking websites come with many benefits such as reconnecting family and many down falls for example these websites have many sexual predators “Networking Today”.

The way Social networking works is fairly new to this generation but is greatly embrace at a rapid speed. These websites work by you signing up to their website. Once you are stored in their database you can add friends you know by searching for them. Once you find your friends that you know you are part of their network and they are as well a part of you network. From this connection you can see who else is in your friend network and see if you know them. You can even see who is in your friend’s friend network “Social Networking in Plain English”. These websites just connect different users who know each other together with the middle man being the website removing the position of a postal service. This can be problematic too because different people can search and find you and add you. This can be very bad allowing all your information posted on these websites to be view to many unwanting people. The first of its kind was sixdegree.com “social networking.” and followed other major websites for example Facebook, MySpace, eHarmony. A major websites implanted in our life is YouTube. “YouTube is a video-sharing Web site on which users can view, upload, and download video” (“YouTube”).

Social networking websites can be used to build relationship with other users with the user accessing the website “Networking Today”. Websites like MySpace and Facebook can be international accessed for almost any country. Many families in other countries can communicate with distant family in real time. From personal experience of being an immigrant in the United States of American i can personally say that this feature is very helpful. This feature that allows me to keep international connects with my family in Trinidad helps keep the bond that was broken with the migration. These features are available absolutely free with these websites. Many of my friends are created in school, but these websites offer a whole new way to communicate with these individuals. Instead of text messaging or emailing students can communicate real time using IM or Instant Messaging. These services are free to the standard user. This website gives a user the ability to learn new information about their friends and find out what might be the best present for their birthday the next time. Social Networking websites also builds creativity in students in many ways. Websites like MySpace give the ability to anyone to create and edit photo and videos for the world to see, rate, or comment on the image they created. Other opportunities rise from these websites like the way of being invited to a social event and entertain and have fun meeting new people. Social networking websites is close to eliminating the social hierarchy in high schools allowing everyone to talk and share information about their selves. Social networking has many opportunities to be very potential. President Barack Obama used websites like these for his presidential race “social networking”.

The President right now gives weekly updates on Youtube about what was accomplished the current week in the White House. This is very important because it involves the youths in more important subject matters and gets them involved in what the government is doing. This is why the President chooses Youtube because it has a larger group of youths accessing this website. Fans can also find these websites of great benefit for their craving desire for their favorite musician, actor, and other symbolic figures of their choice. Many celebrities create their profile on websites like twitter and keep their fans updated with the latest information happing in their life and upcoming performances to keep their fans updated and interested in events.

As for the good in anything there is always a bad. The bad in these websites is mostly concentrated on the privacy and security of the user. Websites like Facebook state in their term and conditions for all signing up users “WE TRY TO KEEP FACEBOOK…SAFE, BUT YOU USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK” (Facebook). This statement must be put heavy on the scale of signing up for one of these social networking websites. All the information anyone posts on these websites is saved and poses a danger to the user. Whichever information you post on these sites you leave a virtual “footprint”. This “footprint” can be easily tracked back to your exact location. Any one that can view a photo or video of you on these websites or on a computer to be in general can save it their computer and print this image and share around or save it for their own sake. Plus that embarrassing picture or video of you gulping down a keg of beer even has the potential to mess up your next job interview or review. Companies looking to hiring can view these embarrassing moments and have doubts in hiring you leaving you looking for a new job opportunity “Networking Today”. Many sexual predators also prey on these can of websites to

manipulate their victim into thinking they are safe and friendly. There is no way of blocking these can of inhumane acts when signing up. Anyone can create a fake user name and convince their victims to meet them. Many shows like Dateline: To catch a predator gives us a glimpse on how easy someone can manipulate young teens into setting up conference with them to do sexual activities. “MySpace identified 90,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the site” (“Networking Today”). Cyber bulling is the official name for when kids go on these websites and make fun at other children, these the acts can lead fatal (Cyber bullying). Cyberbullying is what I like to call killing the youths from the inside out. Teens go on to these websites and just taut and make fun of other children to make them depress and keep them down. This constant barrage of false lies and abuse can easily lead to suicide. This soon became a true reality check for Tina and Ron Meier when their daughter Megan Meier hanged herself after being cyber bullied. Not only are teens are doing these crimes adults too. It is also said that the use of Social Networking websites can lead to the brain disorders in children. When workers using these websites during work hours they cost their business millions of dollars. A 2007 study found that workers using Facebook in the office were costing Australian businesses up to $4.5 billion (US) per year “Networking Today”. The productivity of the workers drop immensely when they search the internet all day talking on websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and not complete their daily task “Networking Today”. These companies are now forced to emplace proxy servers and remote computer monitors to view if their workers are staying on task. They servers can cost millions annually to install and maintain.

In many ways social networking websites affect our daily life today. Whether for the good or the bad these websites are here to stay. These website help children in poverty ,with the access, to the internet to build basic knowledge on how to operate computers and design pictures and edit videos. Websites like MySpace help develop many computer fields skills like edit, write, and understand HTML with picture and video editing. Social Networking Websites does not even charge the user any money to learn these skills. The user learns these skills by the interface provide by these websites to customize their own homepage. However certain websites like Facebook does not offer much customization of the user page. In contrast to these wonderful befits these websites can cause personality and brain disorders in kids (Derbyshire). They also have many of evil people with access to these websites. If they have access to these websites that means they have access to our children and their profile information. In addition when some teen post information like school, location, age, grade and other information about themselves on these websites they are opening the doors to sexual predators. These website cannot offer real protection to our children on these websites and they hold no responsibility for anything that happens on their website.

Work Sited Page

“Cyberbullying”. What Is Cyberbullying?. 12/7/2009 http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying

David Derbyshire, “Social Websites Harm Children’s Brains: Chilling Warning to Parents from Top Neuroscientist,” Daily Mail, Feb. 24, 2009 

“Facebook”. Social Networking Website. 12/7/2009 .

Jones, Steve. “YouTube.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2010. Web.  7 Jan. 2010.(Book)

“Networking Today”. Are social networking sites good for our society?. 12/7/2009 .

“social networking.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2010. Grolier Online. 7 Jan. 2010 .

“Social Networking in Plain English”. Common Craft. 1/7/2010 .(Video)

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