Social Networking: Should It Be Available To Teenagers?

729 Words2 Pages

Most people in the United States would consider social media and social networking to be the same thing. This accusation is not accurate. Social media can be accurately defined as “the use of dedicated websites and applications to communicate informally with other users, or to find people with similar interests to oneself,” and social networking is correctly defined to be “websites and applications used for social media.” Social networking has tripled over the past few years through social media. Data shows that populace who have a Facebook account, have up to 2.5 imperative pieces of private information exposed to the public every day. In the United States alone, sixteen minutes of every hour are used for Social Networking, that summates up to be 960 minutes, or sixteen hours a day. Another statistic reveals that there are more than 150 million Instagram users and 40 million pictures are posted every day on Instagram, which was launched in 2010 with only thirteen employees. Although some researchers suggest and have concluded that social networking is a necessity in today's society, there is much stronger evidence to the contrary, as a result, people are now having to face problems such as “stranger danger,” addiction, isolation, and certain affects on behavior/ human nature.
While on infamous Social Networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, one may find themselves upon making new friends whom they have never witnessed or seen before. Sometimes these mysterious welcoming “friends” ask to meet their significant other person.This would constitute as a well-known factor called stranger danger. Stranger danger has been a scare tactic used on immature prey for years and years. Not until the 21st century has this epidemic truly e...

... middle of paper ...

...Should Social Networking Web Sites Be Banned? Ed. Roman Espejo. San Francisco: GreenHaven Press, 2008. 10-15. Print.
Goff, Karen Goldberg. “Social networking benefits validated.” The Washington Times. Jan. 28, 2009. (June 17, 2009)
Guarino, Mark. “Ohio Rape Case: Evidence on Social Media Creates New World for Justice.” Christian Science Monitor. 08 Jan 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researchers. Web. 22 Oct 2013.
Jacobs, Tom. Teen Cyber-bullying Investigated: Where do your rights end and consequences begin? Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing Inc., 2010. Print.
Kang, Cecilia. “Social Sites Targeting Youths to Gain Their Loyalty. Daily Gleaner. 10 Aug 2012” A. 12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Oct 2013.
Maksimovic, Jelena. “Social Media Can Be Used to Spread Hatred.” The Global Impact of Social Media. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. 68-73. Print.

Open Document