Dangers Of Social Media Essay

Social media brings a world of instant communication and updates all to the touch of a finger, but can it also bring danger? To most, the benefits of social media rightfully and easily outweigh the risks but most people fail to realize that social media can pose a threat to its users in a variety of ways that they are likely not prepared for. Dealing with a situation after it arises is not the ideal moment, hence the need to use preventative measures such as stricter privacy settings. Although the threats over social media are nearly endless, a few of the most notorious include internet initiated sex crimes, cyberbullying, and the possibility of placing one’s employment in jeopardy. For many, social media has opened a world of relationships

Although the stereotypical predator is a middle aged man, any given stranger on the internet can be a predator. In modern society, social media provides an environment where predators can disguise themselves amongst potential or current friends to bait in their targets. In 2010, The Journal of Adolescent Health conducted a study revealing that “33% of all Internet-initiated sex crimes involved social networking sites.” It is shocking to learn that a third of all sex crime is initiated on social media considering all the measures users can apply to prevent the crimes. Social media users have the ability to control who can and cannot communicate with them via privacy settings. Even in the instance that users come into contact with a stranger, they can still use good judgment to determine if the stranger is a risk or another harmless user. I believe the amount of sexual crime committed on social media can easily be reduced if the proper precautions are

Almost every user of social media has witnessed or experienced a form of cyberbullying and it is especially prevalent in one demographic, teens. According to Justin W. Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center, “On average, about 25% of the students…have said they have been the victim of cyberbullying at some point in their lifetime.” Any problem that affects one- fourth of all students on social media is easily the leading problem on social media; and at times, cyberbully can have serious consequences. Traumatic events in the last decade have shown the worst that social media can bring to vulnerable users. Every day parents, teachers, law enforcement, other students, and countless others with the possibility of students harming themselves or another individual because of the suffering experienced on social media. Unfortunately, a school or public shooting by a bullied teenager feels like an annual occurrence in the United States. Although the mass shootings receive all the media attention, the thousands of teenagers who commit suicide because of cyberbullying do not. The reason preventing cyberbullying is such a difficult challenge is due to the inability to stop an offender from cyberbullying. The most effective way for a victim to stop cyberbullying is to ignore it or preventing a situation that allows it to begin. The blame is not being paced upon the victim;