The Importance Of Social Media And Networking

Over the past two decades technology such as electronic devices has truly grown to

massive proportions. The only natural thing to follow is the growth of social media and

networking along with it. When it comes to social media, it is a great way to communicate with

others easily and be able to be connected 24/7 with anyone across the globe in a split second.

Astonishing as it sounds it unfortunately can come at a price. Social media has changed

the entire world of communication allowing humanity from all corners of the world to say what

is on their mind. Now from the looks of it, that might seem like a good thing right? To most yes,

but there comes a dark side to social media and networking that the public needs to be aware

about.

There are a variety of issues that need to be examined such as cyberbullying, sexual

predators, lack of privacy, less social interaction, and the fact that there are people who are

purely addicted to social media and their devices. Even though we have the choice to be

connected at all times does not mean we HAVE to. The public needs to see the decline of social

interaction with teenagers and even adults and know how to prevent this from happening to their

children or even…themselves.

Social Media is an important area to discuss because of how rapidly it is continually

growing despite the fact that negative outcomes have come along with it. According to author

Jose Dijck, “In December 2011, 1.2 billion users worldwide--82 percent of the world’s population over the age 15--logged on to a social media site, up 6 percent in 2007”(4). Knowing

that even teenagers at that age are already connected to social media just shows us a glimpse

what is to come.

Methods

Ge...

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...d in software that blocks the use of social media but it does not stop employees from

using it on their mobile devices.

As we move forward with technology the lack of privacy has been a huge issue since the

beginning. A huge amount of people have been fired and lost jobs over social media sites like

Facebook and Myspace due to photos that have been published online that companies or

supervisors have considered inappropriate even though the activities were done outside of the

workplace. In 2011, news hit that a high school teacher named Ashley Payne was spotted on Facebook by a parent with a picture of her holding a drink while traveling around Europe. The parent complained and she was immediately questioned and then terminated. When it comes to what needs to be shared and not shared, users have to be extremely defensive when making that decision. The