VanessaPalomino

English0492
ProfessorHughes
9December,2015

SocialMedia:Good?

Fromthebeginningpeoplehavebeensayingsocialmediaisdamagingthelives
ofoursocietyespeciallytheyoungergenerationbutIamheretotellyouitisallamyth.
Wellnotcompletely,thereisalwaystwosidestoeverythingsometimesonesideleaning
towardstheother.Herearesomeclaimsassociatedwithsocialmedia:preventsfaceto
facecontact,damagesourbrains,bringslowselfesteem,makesuslazy,destroysour
careersthelistgoeson.YetotherexpertssuchastheMacArthurFoundationreasons
thatweareactuallydevelopingimportanttechnicalandsocialskills(raisesmartkid.com).
Socialmediainwayscanbeanegativebutnotatmuchaswedisplayittobe.Thereis
awrongandrightwaytouseandsofarweareonlybeingtaughtthewrongway.Once
peoplebegintolearnonhowtouseittheproperway,moreimportantlytheyounger
generationIthinkeveryonewouldseethegoodthatalwaysbeentherefromthe
beginning.
Ithaslongbeenstatedthatsocialmediacanbringnegativeeffectstoourmental
health.Oneofthetopargumentsagainstsocialmediaisthatitismentallyharmingour
youthandhowitcanchangetheirpersonalities.Suchastheinabilityofhavingafaceto

faceconversation,whichleadstobeinglesssocialaswellastheriseoflowselfesteem
duetoonlinebullying.Stillthisdoesnotmakeit100%trueforeveryone,actuallyit
increasestheirsocialskills.Theylearnhowtointeractwithpeopleandmakefriends
thattheyneverknewtheycouldmake.Theserelationshipsonlinehelpbeginthebase
ofafriendshipwhichleadstoanactuallyinpersoninteraction,notjustkeepingitonline
forthemost.AsofmatteroffactPewResearchCentersInternet&AmericanLife
Projectfoundthatmessagingonsocialmedialeadstofacetofaceinteraction
(procon.org)..Thisbenefitspeoplewhohaveahardtimemakingfriendsinperson,who
maybeshyorselfconscious.Afraidtogouptosomeoneandthenendupbeing
embarrassedifthatpersonrejectsthemasafriend.Allthissocialnetworkinghelpsus
gettoknowpeopleandmakesuswanttolearnmoreaboutourpeersthatwecometo
interactwithonlineandmakesachangeandbeamorebetterperson.Forthethelow
selfesteemitisjustforasmallcaseofyoungpeoplewhohavethatfeelbadabout
themselvesduetobeingonline.Accordingtoareportfromachildadvocacygroup
calledCommonsensemedia,oneinfiveteenssaidsocialmediamakesthemfeelmore
confidentcomparedto4%whofeltitwasmoreinbetween.Togoevenfurther28%out
ofagroupof1,0001317yearoldssaidthatitmadethemfeelmoreoutgoingverse5%
whodisagree.Inthatsamestudy29%saiditmadethemlessshythanthe3%whosaid
itdidnot(KellyWallace,CNN).Toaddonthementalhealthproblemonethat
contradictsitselfishowwearebeinglessempathicbutastudybyLarryRosen
(professor)claims,thattoomuchsocialmediacanresultinadecreaseinempathybut
alsonotes,thatpeoplearedevelopingtheabilitytoshowvirtualempathyfordistressed

Facebookfriends.Inwhichsocialnetworksactuallymakeusmorerelationshiporiented,
considerate,andempathetic.Additionallysocialnetworkingsitesspreadinformation
fasterthananyothermedia.Over50%ofpeoplelearnaboutbreakingnewsonsocial
media(procong.org).AsurveybyMediaInsightProjectdoneonmillennialsonhowthey
reacttosocialmediaseemtonoticethattheonesthatusesocialmediatogettheir
newsaremoreengagedintoitonceitbecomespresenttothem.Thesurveyrevealed
thatthe91ofthemsevenin10clickontoreadorwatchnewsstoriesorheadlines
postedbyotherpeople.Sixin10saytheyregularlylikeapostednewsstory,headline
orlink,that's42%whosaytheydoitthemselves.Thisdaterevealsthatsiteslike
Facebookisincreasinghowmuchnewstheysupplyontheirsiteandthatisoneofthe
manyreasonswhypeoplestillgoonit.Thisgoesforothersocialmedianetworkslike
Twitter(Americanpressinstitution.org).
Conclusively,onetopbenefitfromsocialmediaisitcanhelpyourcareer
especiallyforyoungerpeopleandsmallbusinesses.In2013,about86%ofmarketers
saidthatsocialmediawasimportantfortheirbusinesses(thesocialsavior.com).Having
astrongsocialmediapresenceisavitalwayonbuildingyourbusiness.Itcanimprove
brandidentity,andreachtonewcustomers.Updatingonyourproductsandwhatnew
thingsyouhavetoofferhelpscustomersandfuturecustomersseethatyou'realways
activeandthattheyknowsomeonewillbethereiftheyhaveaquestion.Withthis
constantactivityyouraudienceinreturnwilllikeandshareyourcontextthatwillshow
upontheirfeedinwhichtheirfriendscanseeyourbusiness/brandnowwhichwillbring
inmorenewcustomersandalsomeansfreeadvertisingforyou.Aswellassocial

networkingsitesarenowanalyzingtheiruserssearchhistory,seeingwhattheylikeand
searchwhichwouldthanbeusedtoonlyputadsthattheywillbeinterestedbasedon
theirresultsandthatmakeiteasierforpeopletoseecertainads.Thebiggestadvantage
ofsocialmediaisthatitiswaycheaperthantheoldschooladvertising/marketingand
thatallyouneedtodoishireaprofessionalmarketingadvertiser.Basingyourbusiness
whateveritmaybeisalsoagreatwayforentrepreneurs.Thisnewideaofmaking
moneyfromInstagram,YouTube,Facebookandsoonworksbecausesocialmedia
expandsyouraudienceby1,000xthatboostyourvisibilityasanartist/creative
developer.Itworksbecausewhatthesepeoplearedoingiswhatthousandsofotherare
lookingfor.Thisideaisespeciallybeneficialidealforyoungentrepreneurswhowantto
getaheadstartwiththeircareerthatwillintheendhelppayfortheireducationand
alreadybegintobuildtheirresumes.Withsocialmediayoumakeanaideabecomea
reality,forexampleCourtneyNolzwhoat16startedherownbusinessthatisstill
growingattheageof20now.businessismostlyallrunbysocialmediaandstaredon
facebookwithalmostnomoneyformarketing.CofounderofAlphaBrandMediaand
socialmediaconsultantBrentCsutorasnotesSocialmediaissupersuccessfulright
nowbecauseadoptionofrateoftechnologyamongtheworld.Mostpeoplehave
smartphonesandcomputersinthehome,andthathasreallychangedthelandscapeof
thewebdramaticallyoverthelasttwoyears.Beingonlinealsohelpscareersinanother
waybyfiguringoutwhatsomeone,whoisstrugglingonwhattheywanttostudyanddo
asacareerfindsomething.Forexampleastudentinalowincomeschoolwasaclass
dropoutriskdiscoveredhehadatalentusing3Dsketchupsoftwareinhiscomputer

classandhebegantoredesignfamousbuildings.Thiskidwhobarelyattendedschool
andwhowasnotevenclosetopassinghisclassesnowhassomethingtoworkforand
areasontogotoschoolandtry(theguardian.com).
Socialmediaisforevergoingtostaywithus,itjustgoingtokeeponexpanding
sothebestwecandoisjustlearnfromit.InfactAmericanshavespentmorethan
121.1billionminutesonsocialnetworkingsitesalonein2012(procong.org).Itis
growingcultureintoday'ssocietyandIamnotsayingthatitisokaywiththeamount
timethatwehavespentonsocialmediabutwecanchangeifwespreadthisnew
knowledgeofpositivity.Notonlyteachourselvesbuttheyoungergenerationaswell.If
wekeepfocusingonthenegativethentherewillbenoroomforchangebutifweshut
outthatnegativitythereisachancewecansurvivethissocialmediacraze.

WorkCited

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Wallace,Kelly.Theupsideofselfies:Socialmediaisn'tallbad
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