Example Of The Social Media Invasion Essay

[University/Institutional Affiliation]
The social media like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace among others seem to have made people across the globe closer to each other. People do not need to wait for days before their message to a friend or family abroad to reach its recipient. In just a matter of seconds people can connect to their friends regardless of the miles and miles of distance. However, the connections that people are building according to psychologist are apparently weaker. It is weaker despite the easier access, more frequent messaging and sharing of updates.
Jung (2015) cited Cornell University in his article entitled “The Negative Effects of Social Media on Society and Individuals” stating that with the advent of Facebook and other social networking sites, people can hardly distinguish between real and meaningful relationship they foster in the real world and the many casual relationships they are building in the internet. Cornell University mentioned that people are using so much of their energy for the less meaningful relationship that in return destroys the other more meaningful ones they build through contact with warm bodies.
Moreover, cyber bullying became a frequent problem. Graham (2014) mentioned in her article that because people are not afraid in the cyberspace rather than in personal contact, they tend to be braver in bullying other people. Graham cited that in more recent years, there are several cases of suicide among adults and teens due to bullying in the cyberspace by their peers. Jung (2015) also mentioned that cyber bullying is more dangerous as its mental scars penetrate deeper and eventually lead to suicide.
It is not only peoples’ personal lives that are affected with the impacts of social media because even corporations are now blocking sites like Facebook from their offices as workers are allotting much of their time checking their Facebook accounts and tweeting. Jung (2015) cited studies that show workers’ decline in productivity. Jung cited Morse claim that British companies are losing 2.2 Billion a year because of the phenomenon. More so, despite companies’ moves to block Facebook, Twitter and others in their system, the workers’ productivity remained “spotty”. It is possible that companies will be employing more drastic moves in order to stop the losses from coming as no capitalist is willing to pay an unproductive employee.
Graham (2014) cited Pew Research saying that 71% of adults online are Facebook users as of December 2013. The research also mentioned that 63% of Facebook users visit their homepage and profile once a day while 40% are doing it more than once a day. A psychologist that Graham cited mentioned that the addiction to cyberspace is becoming worse. People she said are becoming more dependent on Facebook for example that it has brought levels of anxiety every time that someone does not have an access to internet.
Tran (2014) on the other hand mentioned in her article entitled “The Effect of Social Media in Young Girls” that cyberspace has triggered depression among teenage girls who cannot, in real life, achieved what they wanted their selves to look like. It is because what they always see in the social media is not real. Photos of models are processed in the Photoshop to look magnificently perfect. In return, obese young girls tend to be more prone of depression.
Privacy is one of sensitive issues in the social networking sites. People tend to be more forthcoming in social media than in person. Jung (2015) mentioned that social media is encouraging users to be more public. Facebook for example has several options in the privacy settings but these are most often than not, overlooked by its users. Jung also mentioned that carelessness in posting in Facebook might threaten their jobs as employers might be tracking activities of their employees. Everything people post in the internet especially in social networking sites become public.
Graham moreover mentioned that the more time people spend in the cyberspace, the degree of life satisfaction decreases. Graham cited Batcho, a psychologist stating that interactions in the real life are way more beneficial than cyber interactions. People Graham said are wasting much of their time in creating empty relationships. People have to stop checking every now and then their Facebook status instead, they have to look away from their iPhones, iPad, and any gadget and start conversing with real people of warm bodies. Social media should be utilized wisely by maintaining communications, business purposes, and connecting to the world. It should not however takeover the very core of human relations which is face-to-face interactions.
Parrack (2012) mentioned in his opinion article that when there were no social networking sites yet, friendship has a simpler definition. Friends were those whom persons hang-out with regularly. Social media like Facebook has distorted the meaning of friendship especially among the youth. People whom people rarely talked to are listed as their friends in Facebook. It is creating a false throng of friends who will not be running to your house when you needed them the most or vice versa.
Parrack also mentioned that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites bring out the self-centeredness of people. Those who are shy and not posting something in their accounts are not palatable to the taste buds of the people in the cyberspace. On the other hand, people are becoming more vain and boring than ever. They post even the most boring aspects of their lives which nobody would even care like the food they ate at breakfast. Young people who are posting interesting things in their accounts will start to think that they are more important than others when they reached overflowing number of “likes” and “comments”. Indeed, it brings out the self-centeredness of young people.
Further, in the recent years, there is a considerable change in peoples’ attention span. Even Parrack himself noticed that ever since the advent of social media, his mind flits from one issue to another way faster than it did before. Focus even for the adults dissipating. Social media is indeed starting to take over the minds of even the most focused writers. From working on a paper, some writers cannot stop their urge to grab their Blackberries or iPhones to tweet something in Tweeter or post status in Facebook. These activities does not give any positive end result but they are doing it due quench their addiction.
Human beings should seriously have to live a normal life by abandoning addiction to social media. People should walk more in the parks rather than isolate their selves in one corner and mingle with superficial friends in the internet. People should start talking to one another in person and stop messaging through Facebook a friend who is just beside you. A healthier social environment will surely be achieved when people see eye to eye when conversing without their phones safely stowed in their bags.

References

Jung, B. (2015). “The Negative Effects of Social Media on Society and Individuals.” Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved fromhttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html
Graham, R. F. (2014). “Psychologist: Social Media Causing A ‘Distancing Phenomena’ To Take Place.” CBS Local Media. Retrieved fromhttp://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/16/psychologist-social-media-causing-a-distancing-phenomena-to-take-place/
Tran, M. (2014). “The Effect of Social Media in Young Girls.” Huffington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miribel-tran/the-effect-of-social-medi_b_5161886.html
Parrack, D. (2012). “The Negative Impacts of Social Networking Sites on Society.” MakeUseOf. Retrieved fromhttp://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-impact-social-networking-sites-society-opinion/