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Impact of social media on growing up children
Impact of social media on growing up children
Impact of social media on growing up children
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Social networking has increasingly had a huge impact on society. Technology has opened the door to a vast amount of information and to the ability to relay that information to practically anybody at anytime and anywhere. People are constantly checking their email, updating their status on Facebook, sending tweets on Twitter, instant messaging, and texting. The debate of whether the use of social networking is a negative or positive aspect is a continuous one. In the case of Steven Pinker, his essay “Mind over Mass Media” argues that media technologies have a positive effect on mental development. In contrast, Sherry Turkle’s essay “Connectivity and Its Discontents” asserts that technology has a negative effect on interpersonal relationships. Although Pinker makes many excellent points on how technology is improving intelligence and Turkle provides exceptional ideas of how technology is damaging to relationships, neither Pinker nor Turkle provides the best answer to this question due to their lack of credibility and inclusion of logical fallacies. Instead, we should, while aware of the risks and dangers of social networking, use the Internet to its full potential.
In his essay “Mind over Mass Media,” Steven Pinker proposes that media technologies are beneficial to mental development. According to Pinker, the rise of new forms of social media have been linked to the reduction in crime. He supports this claim by stating that the emergence of “video games in the 1990s coincided with the great American crime decline” (3) and that “the decades of television, transistor radios and rock videos were…decades in which I.Q. scores rose continuously” (3). He also mentions that new technologies have made more resources available, and in turn,...
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...ile Steven Pinker believes that social networking is improving society and Sherry Turkle finds it to be harmful to individuals, the real answer lies in-between the two positions. “It is a well-known fact that the web is a valuable asset for research and learning,” stated Sue Scheff in her article “Social Networking Sites Can Limit Interpersonal Skills and Physical Activity,” “…[but] it can also be a very dangerous place” (1). While the Internet is beneficial in gaining knowledge and connecting with others, it will always come with downsides as well because it can become addictive and an easy source for predators and bullies to prey on those who are vulnerable. Ultimately, “it is in our collective interest to ensure that the Internet lives up to its potential as a revolutionary connective medium” (Pariser 11) while being aware of the risks and practicing self-control.
In the21st century, Amazing changes in communication has affected interpersonal relationships. Some prefer to use technology like Facebook, Line, and Wechat to communicate with their friends rather than talking in person. Communicating with technology will make them alienated. Interpersonal relationships are also important by personal talking, which may lead to improve relationships. In her essay, “Connectivity and Its Discontents”, Sherry Turkle believes technology weakens interpersonal relationship among friends, and relatives. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan claims talking with her mother and husband in a personal way can improves their relationship. Using technology to communicate will alienate and widen the distance between friends; talking
He feels as if critics need to take a reality check, “When comic books were accused of turning juveniles into delinquents in the 1950s, crime was falling to record lows, just as the denunciations of video games in the 1900’s coincided with the great American crime decline.” He feels that the advances in technology has no affect on our brain’s cognitive functions feels there is no evidence on disabling our learning capabilities. Pinker’s disposition on the positive outcome of technological advances is so profound, he feels it is even correlated with the rise in IQ”s in the modern years. He acknowledges that access to mass media is a powerful tool that can engulf one’s life. Pinker just feels that all humans have self-control and are able to put their phone down when the time is
In Steven Pinker’s article, “Mind Over Mass Media”, he argues that every advance in media technology has sparked accusations of declining intelligence and morality. Pinker believes that these “moral panics often fail basic reality checks” by pointing out that if technology were as bad as critics painted it to be, it would be impossible for society to be at its current level of progress. Instead, Pinker concludes that “far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only thing(s) that are keeping us smart” by helping us leverage large amounts of information. Pinker’s argument contains some faulty logic, such as suggesting a questionable correlation between the popularity of television and rising I.Q. scores and citing anecdotal evidence about the failure of multitasking rather than facts. Indeed, he mentions a study on multitasking, but fails to cite it, which lends false credibility to his argument.
The author illustrates the intellectual benefits obtained from mass media and argues that the media doesn’t have a negative effect on our brain. His examples are the great American crime decline not because of new technologies like comic books, video games, television and transistor radio mainstream. The predictions that the new technologies would be harmful were wrong. Not only just the
In “Mind over Mass Media,” Steven Parker talks about the positive impact of innovative technologies on the brain and it’s growing mentality. Steven Pinker, a Harvard University psychology professor, writes about his research and understanding of the language. In this essay, he acknowledges the decreasing crime rate, technologies enhancing the brain, brain evolution, and self control. Firstly, Pinker argues that critics “[cause] moral panics” (893). Moreover, critics are scaring the world of the development of technology even though, the “denunciations of video games” (893) helps in the fastest decrease in crime rates.
He connects with the decrease of crime rates with new technologies of how radios and video games were in a decade that made IQ’s rise non stop. He also notes that if someone took the use of medias from a scientist’s perspective and if it were hazardous towards intelligence, “The quality of science would be plummeting,” Pinker mentions (1030). He argues more about media critics towards consumers experiencing new technologies, and also mentions that people have
When you think about social media what do you think of. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Vine. Well social media is more than that. Social media is not just Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Social media is any online website that lets you interact with other people, share photo and information and keeps you updated. Or do you think about how it’s made a positive or negative impact on today’s society. In my personal opinion I think social media has made both positive and negatives impacts on today’s society .Some of the negative impacts are cyberbullying and addiction, and the positive impacts are spreading the word and increasing business sales.
We as a society reap many benefits living in the information age. These benefits include, but are not limited to the internet, television (TV), cell phones and more. The three devices named are technological properties that enable humans to gather desired information at a fast rate. This form of information can consist of updates on the lives of many individuals, newsfeed, entertainment and etc. However, according to authors Neil Postman and Sherry Turkle, these benefits have detrimental consequences on society. Both authors raise awareness in regards to the negative effects of technology on the human mind. A lot of creations produced in the Information Age are directly related to social dysfunction. The issue only grows worse when innovative
The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.
This research is unique because it will give light to the individuals who are against social networking that will not take to consideration that it has any positive outcomes at all and to those who believe that social networking has no downfalls and are too blinded by the social networking to even notice the affects it has on their own lives.
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
Social media has impacted everyone that has used it some point in his or her life. Since the world is increasing in technology advances, so is social media which can be good and bad. Technology has made a huge difference in the world and definitely how people are doing things now. Yes, the Internet can be good for the majority of things we use it for such as finding research, keeping in touch with family or friends who are far away, and saving time and money. Others like to take advantage of social media and use it in a way that can hurt people; it may not hurt them physically, but it can hurt them emotionally. Examples of how some people use the Internet in a bad way include cyberbullying, identity theft, or cyberstalking. Social media has impacted the Millennial generation for sure.
There are about one and a half billion users of social media worldwide. It can be used to meet new people, find old friends, chat the day away, join interest groups, or even to share pictures. Social networks were mostly created so people could meet and find new friends. What most users of social media don't know, are the dangers of using social media. One example is when you meet a person online, because they are not always who they say they are. If someone is not who you may think they are, who could they be? They can be a stalker or a person that wants to steal your identity; which could be done easily thanks to new developments of new technology. Also thanks to new technology it is now easier for people using your information to track you. Posting personal information can risk your family and friends lives. Social media can be used as a weapon against you. It can even lead to a kidnapping, or even someone's death. Many people use social media to help to waste time, but could also become an unhealthy addiction. Also social media can damage your future. When you are a teen you tend to post pretty much anything you want. This is dangerous because you can post too much personal information. What most teens don't realize is that what they do on social media now can affect them for the rest of their life. It can even come back to haunt you in the future. Social media is dangerous because it makes it easier to be stalked, identity theft to happen, kidnappings and murders, and also can ruin your future.
The rapid growth of technology in our society has become more dominant than it was in the 17th and 18th century. Today, technology is used for almost everything in our day to day lives. But the most common usage of technology is for communication and industrialization. However, every good thing has its disadvantage if it is over used, and since technology has become very dominant, it is used by both young and older people but more predominant among the youth of the today. Even more, technology has brought about social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, my space, piazza.com, instagram, tango, and last but not the least texting. According to socialnetworking.procon.org, “47% of American adults used social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com in 2011, up from 26% in 2008. [26] on social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (procon.org. 1). Although these sites help many Americans to connect with their family and friends, have we really thought about how these sites are discouraging some students to spend less time with their books, how young adults are losing their marriages, the indecent behavior it is promoting, and how it has escalated texting and driving in our society? Obviously not!
In our day to day lives we socialize and interact with many different types of people, including family, friends, colleagues, or even complete strangers. Before technology people stayed in contact via regular mail, writing letters, telephone calls and face to face communication. Today the way in which we relate to others is completely different. We use social media for finding romance, seeking employment, or getting advice. This is where social networking and social media come into play. Many people may think that the use of social media is making them more social and more interactive with society. But others question if that is really the case. Is social media making us more or less social? Is it changing the way we interact with people on a daily basis? Is it having a more positive or negative impact on society?