The Pros And Cons Of Social Media

Too Much of a Good Thing What would humanity achieve without the need for technology? In the 21st century, technology has offered a broad platform for people and is used for different reasons: shopping, work, for entertainment, education and communication worldwide. Although we use electronics everyday to help make our lives easier, the act of overusing technology has created an addition in society. In a recent study, 52% of teens claim that social media has made their friendships better (Wallace). While social media and all general technology are often used for positive reasons, it has also been proven that it can cause major issue within close relationships as well. Teenagers feel obligated to stay prompt and check their social media accounts

The concept of internet safety is often taught to adolescents starting as early as secondary school, however, recent research has shown that the teachings aren 't effective. Issues that stem from parents being ignorant to what their children are posting online are cyberbullying and sexting; which are common negativities that minors are subjected to in recent years. The topic of kids harassing other kids via social media has become a sensitive subject as well. Cyberbullying has become so out of control that the youth are starting to take their own lives because they cannot bare to deal with the hate. Teens like Jamey Rodemeyer who was a 14-year-old who took his own life after being bullied physically at school and harassed online about his sexuality (Hughes). These types of problems could be prevented if parents were more aware of what exactly their kids were posting on social media and limit their access to the

Businesses and companies have taken to social media as a means to advertise their brand. Social media has single-handedly given professionals a more efficient way to network with others all around the world. Additionally, it helps to connect those who share similar interests and build new relationships. Furthermore, social media is easily manipulated and obsessed over. 53% of kids from ages 8-12 own a tablet and 63% of them have a smartphone (Wallace). Consequently, children are spending more time in their rooms on their computers then they are outside doing physical activities and spending time with friends and family. The phrase "let kids be kids" has changed from letting kids play around outside to letting kids use their tablets all day long. Families are slowly but surely being torn apart by their technology use and they aren 't even aware of it. Parents are using their children for likes on sites like Facebook in hopes of whatever videos posted going viral and embarrassing their children. In 2014, a mother was arrested and charged with child abuse for posting a video of her beating her son for involving himself in gang activity. The video went viral, viewed by Michigan police and prosecutor David Leyton who says the beating “went beyond what is a reasonable level of parental discipline" ("Facebook video leads to child abuse charges for Flint mother"). Not only how much time is spent on