The Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking Sites
According to 2015, 76% of adults in the United States use social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Users on such sites typically create accounts, conduct research, connect with friends, and share links, music, photographs, and other media. Online communities, according to proponents, promote contacts with family and friends, provide students, librarians, and teachers with vital access to educational materials and support, communicate critical information quickly, and facilitate political and social change (Kandadai et al. 1). On the other hand, criticizers of social networking suggest that these sites deter people from communicating face to face, affect children's behavior and brains thereby predisposing them to ADHA, causes time wastage as most people engage in frivolous activities and facilitate the spread of potentially dangerous and false information (Kandadai et al. 1). While 'there seem to have a valid reason on many con arguments against social networking sites, they are outweighed by the many advantages they have brought since their creation, and thus they are good for the society.
The Role of Social Media in Spreading Information
Social media assist in spreading information faster compared to the mainstream media. According to a survey carried out recently, 78% of reporters employed in the traditional media sector used social networking sites to check for breaking news (Kandadai et al. 1). Of all the participants polled, 31% of the Facebook users and 59% of Twitter admitted to using social media as the primary tool of the information source with regard to breaking news (Kandadai et al. 1). Compared to other news sources, 46% of Americans use social media, 665 use television, 23% radio, and 26% printed newspaper (Kandadai et al. 1). Users of these platforms have been found to be responsible for reporting events as they happen earlier before the traditional media outlets like in the case of the November 13, 2015, attack in Paris, France. In a recent interview, President Donald Trump acknowledged that the main reasons for using Twitter compared to other available channels of dispersing information such as a press conference is because of its immediacy (Su et al. 1). However, though helpful in cases of crisis as information is received almost immediately, social networking sites enable the spread of false and unreliable information (Allcott and Matthew 1). For instance, about 64% of Twitter users claimed to have encountered something they later found to be untrue in a recent survey (Allcott and Matthew 1). One of the most remarkable examples is the stories about two candidates in the last presidential election, which was shared about 3.7 million times on Facebook (Allcott and Matthew 1). Such misuse of these media is detrimental as damage is already caused even though the false information is corrected. Nonetheless, users can be enlightened on taking precautionary measures about information they encounter on social media as well as shown credible walls where they can get accurate news.
The Role of Social Media in Assisting Law Enforcement
Social networking sites also offer better tools for law enforcement agencies to catch and prosecute criminals. In fact, 73% of the local, state, and federal agents surveyed perceived that networking sites assisted in solving crimes quickly (Trottier 1). Also, survey results carried out by the International Association of Chief of Police showed that 85% of police departments use social media to help them solve crimes. For instance, the New York Police Department is one of the first enforcement agencies to add a Twitter tracking unit and utilize social media in making apprehensions of offenders who brag about their criminal activity on these sites (Trottier 1). Among the many crimes solved using social media include the professional soccer player that was charged with having inappropriate activities with an underage in Britain 2016, the rioting Canadian hockey fans in Vancouver back in 2011, and the gang that was charged for beating up a gay couple in Philadelphia 2014 (Trottier 2). However, although solving crimes is one of the excellent advantages of social media since security is easily maintained, critics say that it lacks privacy and exposes users to corporate and government intrusions. In fact, 81% of individuals polled asserted that they felt somewhat insecure when using social networking sites to share their information while 48% of them reported having come challenges in managing their privacy. For a government or any other entity to read somebody's information, it has only to enter someone's username into their system and all details pertaining the individual emerge. Privacy is paramount as part of the liberty that is provided in the USA constitution. However, it is upon users to understand what to share on social media since these sites were created to help people interact and market themselves on a broader scale, and therefore they are more public than private.
Social Media's Impact on Education
Additionally, social networking sites assist students in advancing their knowledge. 59% of learners with access to the internet said that they utilize social media to discuss useful topics, and 50% use the media to chat about assignments (Sutherland and Jalali 1). In the Journal of Applied Development Psychology published in 2015, the author asserted that college freshmen should use social media to build networks of new peers, which would assist in integrating into the new school community and reduce stress and dropping out risks (Sutherland and Jalali 1). Indeed, social media when used constructively by students can be of great help in bettering their grades and school stay. However, many of the young learners, especially the heavy users of social media, have been found to lower their grades (Sutherland and Jalali 2). News and things shared on social networking sites such as Facebook are not educational; instead, they are more of entertainment. As such, they quickly disrupt ones' attention and concentration while studying, thus reducing performance. Nevertheless, when used correctly, social media can be beneficial to students since sharing of information is faster and at the same time offers one of the easiest ways to relax after studying.
Social Media's Role in Employment
Social networking sites assist employers in finding employees and job seekers in finding employment. Nowadays, positions in companies are advertised on social media where the majority of youths, who are the majority of the job-seeking population, can be found. Statistics show that 96% of recruiters utilize social media in the hiring process (McCall 1). 47% of them were found to use Twitter, 55% Facebook, and 87% LinkedIn (McCall 1). On the other hand, 48% of those seeking jobs acknowledged social media as the platform that assisted them in attaining their current positions. According to the data, 40% of individuals search post using LinkedIn, while 45% use Twitter, and 67% use Facebook (McCall 2). Critics assert that using social media in such a way may harm employment prospects and job stability. To some extent, this has been found to be true in a survey conducted recently where 70% of job recruiters reported negative reactions to sexual content, grammar and spelling mistakes (66%), profanity (63%), and illegal drugs (83%) (McCall 2). However, this is not a sufficient reason to advocate for the closure of social media networking since even in traditional recruitment methods, fraud was still there. The best approach is for recruiters to find better strategies of hiring, which enables them to find suitable candidates after the advertisement on social media, as it is the cheapest way of advertising and the easiest way to reach a wide audience.
Social Media and Relationships
Furthermore, with social media, people are able to make new friends and improve their relationships. According to the data collected recently, 93% of adults using Facebook utilize the platform to connect with family members, 87% interact with friends from their childhood or earlier ages, while 91% use it to communicate with current acquaintances (O'Keeffe, Gwenn, and Kathleen 2). In addition, 72% of teenagers reported feeling more connected to information about their friends using social media, 83% of them it assists them in connecting with friends, while 57% made new friends using the platform (O'Keeffe, Gwenn, and Kathleen 2). Interactions and formation of new friends are an essential part of interaction in society as it assists in progress and development. However, it can cause stress and offline relationship problems, especially in teenagers. A 2016 study established that the overuse of social media may affect one's capacity to build a successful relationship in the future (Fuchs 2). In fact, investigators have found that many active users of social networking sites tend to encounter social media-related conflict in their relationships regularly. Such a problem can be successfully addressed because as it seems the question arises due to addictive behavior by the users. By encouraging and teaching children to use these sites responsibly, such challenges will decrease remarkably in the future.
Social Media and Democratic Participation
Social media also increases public awareness of their democratic rights and encourages them to exercise them. The majority of Facebook users said that they were more likely to vote if they saw their friends' pictures online showing they voted. In the 2016 presidential election, 35% of the students that were unsure about voting were influenced to exercise this democratic right by posts on social networking sites (Hampton et al., 4). This number is high compared to other mediums such as radio, which lures only 14%, television 30%, email 5%, and prints 9%. Furthermore, things such as civil disobedience and advocacy of human rights have been enhanced by social media (Hampton et al., 4). Through the platforms, people post anything they see that undermines or defies human rights, including when law enforcement agents use excessive force. Through such approaches, the government is put in check, and people's rights are safeguarded. Social media further facilitates political changes in a country. A good example is the case of 2011 in Egypt where part of the Arab Spring mobilized people via social media leading to protests for several thousand people leading to the resignation of Mubarak, the president then in the same year (Hampton et al., 4).
Conclusion
As depicted in this discussion, social networking sites are good for society. They have advanced the way of interaction and made communication more accessible regardless of the distance in between. Moreover, when news is shared, it is received by a wider audience than any other media since they quickly spread. Things such as recruitment, dissemination of knowledge, and increased awareness of people's democratic rights have been made possible by social media. As such, though primarily criticized, social networking sites are powerful tools for transforming society, which consequently advances people's living standards. Henceforth, as technology expands, these sites will be of great help to the community, although caution needs to be taken when using them to avoid addiction as well as false information.
Works Cited
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Kandadai, Venk, et al. "Measuring health information dissemination and identifying target interest communities on Twitter: methods development and case study of the@ SafetyMD network." JMIR research protocols 5.2 (2016).
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