Social networking refers to the use of social media sites to facilitate the interactions between people (Sherchan, 2013 p.47). Currently, the world is a global village. The various social media sites have eased communication considerable and all one needs to do is engage with others through the networks. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tinder and Linked In are amongst the most popular, having millions of users access them daily (Russell, 2013 p.3). Young people use the sites the most, with numbers increasing each consecutive period. This essay will analyze the effects of the rise in social networking on young people and the possible future consequences.
Social networking has brought about considerable development, particularly in communication thus facilitating young people’s interactions with each other. That notwithstanding, a number of disadvantages also accrue to the continued and frequent use of the networking sites. Before the development and growth of social networking sites, the prevalent form of communication was through telephone calls and text messaging. The world was therefore closed to the other parts of the world as the only way they could learn about them was through books and teachings from knowledgeable people. The development of social networking sites has considerably helped in the demystification of uncertain theories, and young people are more open-minded as they are exposed to more truthful information (Shabnoor et al., 2016 p. 71). Further, the developed communication systems mean that they are exposed to the possibility of getting more friends from any part of the world.
That notwithstanding, there are continued concerns about the adverse effects of social networking on the young people. Many reports continue to prove that more young people are slowly becoming more addicted to the sites, which affects then negatively ultimately. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council, most health concerns that affect the young people can be related to the various media platforms (Strasburger et al., 2013 p. 960). Amongst the most common health concerns are mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, body image disorders as well as learning disorders. Currently, there is increased pressure about the need to be perfect, all instigated by social media. Studies prove that most body image disorders do not only come from body shaming but by the fact that social media has its definition of beauty. The models and well-built men are considered the most attractive and the young people develop the need to attempt to fit in, with some developing conditions such as anorexia.
Through the addiction and continued use of social networking sites, the young people level of face to face interactions has considerably reduced (Shabnoor et al., 72). Most young people are almost always on their phones and would rather communicate through sites such as WhatsApp than going out and having actual conversations with friends. Communication has changed so drastically that even the dating scene has considerably been re-defined. Sites such as Tinder match people, allowing them to communicate without actually meeting and a number of people end up beginning their dating experience through such sites. The replacement of real people with the virtual ones leads to increased loneliness and inactivity, significantly affecting communication skills (Shabnoor et al., 2016 p.73).
Social pressure among the young is also greatly influenced by social media. Sites such as Instagram, where people put their pictures may mislead others causing undue pressure, gradually having negative consequences (Sherchan, 2013 p.49). When the young people see the flashy lives that others live, they become pressurized to adopt similar lives. It is a fact that people cannot be the same and some people are undoubtedly more successful than others. The young people may fail to recognize the fact and in the attempt to be just as successful resolve to unscrupulous habits such as crime, drug trafficking, and gambling. Social pressure also results in disorders such as depression. When some of the young people feel that they are the only ones not successful like their social media counterparts, they may become anxious and even develop conditions such as depression.
Cyber-bullying is also becoming prevalent among young people. This form of harassment involves the use of the social media sites to instigate problems such as spreading of rumors, instances of hate speech and victimizing a person through the revelation of other’s personal and humiliating information (Shabnoor et al., 2016 p.75). When a young person is a victim of cyber-bullying, the increased humiliation leads to the prevalence of issues such as suicidal ideations and depression. Worse is the fact that information shared on social media cannot really be easily removed thus having permanent effects.
With the ever improving technology, it is evident that social networking is bound to continue progressing. In future, the networks will undoubtedly optimize the sharing of experiences, ideas and opinions currently done. When the sites were first developed, they were solely used for entertainment and interaction of friends. However, popular sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are currently significantly involved in social media marketing. Almost all serious companies have business pages on these sites, and it is expected that in future, businesses will benefit more from the social interactions and immensely facilitate marketing.
Bibliography
Russell, M.A., 2013. Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, GitHub, and More. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.".
Shabnoor et al., 2016. Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects. international Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research Volume, Volume Volume 5, pp. 71-75.
Sherchan, W., Nepal, S. and Paris, C., 2013. A survey of trust in social networks. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 45(4), p.47.
Strasburger, V.C., Hogan, M.J., Mulligan, D.A., Ameenuddin, N., Christakis, D.A., Cross, C., Fagbuyi, D.B., Hill, D.L., Levine, A.E., McCarthy, C. and Moreno, M.A., 2013. Children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132(5), pp.958-961.
