ICT CA Part 2 - The Negative Impact of Social Media

The two articles I chose explore the negative impact social media can have on people. In both, the journalists argue that while social media enables us to connect with anyone in the world it can also have its disadvantages. Some of these include:

A False Sense of Connection

In the first article Steven Strogatz of Cornell University claims that social media makes it hard for people to differentiate between the genuine relationships we make in the real world and the superficial ones we make online. He worries that by directing our attention and energy on these less meaningful relationships it could damage the valuable relationships we hold in real life. In the second article KoiKai discusses the same points and also mentions that social media has vastly changed how we make friends and how it is for the worse.

Cyber-bullying

In both articles it is made clear that the convenience of social media can be misused. Cyber bullies can cause significant emotional damage to innocent victims with their humiliating online attacks. These perpetrators also have the option of anonymity which means that they will not receive punishment for their abusive behaviour. This anonymity can also allow people who would have never before abused another person online to do so. This form of bullying can have devastating consequences as numerous vulnerable young people have been driven to suicide. This new age of social media has made cyber-bullying an ever present and ever growing problem

Decreased Productivity/Distraction

Both articles also discuss the substantial distraction social media has on people at work, school, home etc. While Jung notes that employers use social media to communicate with their clients, he also argues that it distracts employees from carrying out their duties at work.  People are more interested in checking in on their friends and what they’re posting online. In the first article, Jung provides an example of just how much social media negatively effects productivity with him noting that British corporations lost over 2 billion annually to this social media boom. He also observes that while technology that disables access to social networks is emerging, their effectiveness remains ambiguous.

Privacy

These two articles also make the point that social networking sites actively spur us on to publicly share confidential details about our lives. These personal details remain in cyberspace forever and could come back to haunt social media users depending on the extremity of the details shared. KoiKai points out that we are extremely susceptible to identity theft and hackers. Jung presents us with the example of employers doing background checks on potential employees and disapproving of photos of them taking shots in a bar. Jung also makes the point that while most social networking sites allows users to control who can see their posts, photos etc, it unfortunately proves to be inefficient for a number of reasons. KoiKai, in the second article, consilidates this point by mentioning the inefficiency of certain anti virus programmes as they are constantly being defeated by these hackers.
Addiction 
The second article I chose on this issue explores the problem of addiction. KoiKai remarks that someone who is constantly utilizing social media could be considered a social media addict. She also wonders whether some people are even conscious of their attachment to social media as she argues that it is just the normal way we keep updated these days. She also mentions research that found excessive social media use is linked to certain psychological disorders such as depression.
Constant Comparison with others
KoiKai also discusses how we tend to focus on the positive aspects of our lives when we use social media. When we see everyone else saying how great their lives are, we begin to compare when ours is not so great. People end up miserable when they see everyone else enjoying their lives but what we fail to realise is that people usually only broadcast the good times in their lives and not the bad.

In conclusion, I believe social media has benefited society in many ways as a learning aid and a means of communication for example. However, I think it is important that we don’t lose ourselves amidst this social media boom and are aware of the many dangers and negative consequences that these two articles discussed.

 Article 1: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html

Article 2:   http://themoose.no/2013/05/08/the-negative-impact-of-social-media-on-our-lives/