User:Sukanya Mallik

The Negative Effect of Social Media Social media can be defined as "interactive platforms via which individuals and communities create and share user-generated content or as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." i.e. they are social software which mediates human communication. When the technologies are in place, social media is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques. In the year 2012, social media became one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms like Twitter and Face book.

Communication via the Web Although there are many advantages, researchers argue some disadvantages of an internet based society. Most of these drawbacks are a result of decreased face-to-face communication and the ability to escape identity. Negative effects on family communication Although there are conflicting research findings on this topic, an article published by Science Daily reported that time spent on the Internet was associated with later declines in within house family communication and a decrease in the number of friends and acquaintances with which they kept ties. Lack of conflict resolution The same article suggests that communication on the web is taking away necessary human conflict. For example, if an Internet conversation starts getting heated or if someone gets angry, it is too easy to just sign off and not deal with the issue. Resolving conflict is a part of life that shouldn’t be avoided and is usually psychologically helpful. Loneliness Another proposed disadvantage is that a couple of studies have found strong correlations between frequency of Internet use and loneliness. People that use the Internet often are more likely to become lonely and depressed than those that don’t. One proposal as to why this is the case is because of a potential reduced social support system as a result of the Internet. Psychologists, including Jennifer R. Ferris, believe that Internet addiction is a true psychological disorder with definable symptoms. The symptoms are comparable to any addiction, withdrawal, loss of relationships or job and significant time consumption. If an actual addiction exists or doesn’t exist, the underlying themes that support the addiction theory are still an issue. Whether people are trying to escape problems and reality or they will go through withdrawal if they aren’t surfing the net or chatting, it is still psychologically unhealthy.

Social networking sites like Face book and MySpace allow you to find and connect with just about anyone, from a coworker in a neighboring cube to the girl who played Emily in your high school production of "Our Town" thirty years ago. Browsing these sites can make you feel connected to a larger community, but such easy, casual connection in an electronic environment can also have its downside. A False Sense of Connection According to Cornell University's Steven Strogatz, social media sites can make it make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. By focusing so much of our time and psychic energy on these less meaningful relationships, our most important connections, he fears, will weaken.

Cyber-bullying Cyber bullying is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. As it has become more common in society, particularly among young people, legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.

Kids especially are vulnerable to the practice of cyber-bullying in which the perpetrators, anonymously or even posing as people their victims trust, terrorize individuals in front of their peers. The devastation of these online attacks can leave deep mental scars. In several well-publicized cases, victims have even been driven to suicide. The anonymity afforded online can bring out dark impulses that might otherwise be suppressed. Cyber-bullying has spread widely among youth, with 42% reporting that they have been victims, according to a 2010 CBS '''News report. Decreased Productivity''' While many businesses use social networking sites to find and communicate with clients, the sites can also prove a great distraction to employees who may show more interest in what their friends are posting than in their work tasks. Wired.com posted two studies which demonstrated damage to productivity caused by social networking: Nucleus Research reported that Face book shaves 1.5% off office productivity while Morse claimed that British companies lost 2.2 billion a year to the social phenomenon. New technology products have become available that allow social networks to be blocked, but their effectiveness remains spotty. Privacy Social networking sites encourage people to be more public about their personal lives. Because intimate details of our lives can be posted so easily, users are prone to bypass the filters they might normally employ when talking about their private lives. What's more, the things they post remain available indefinitely. While at one moment a photo of friends doing shots at a party may seem harmless, the image may appear less attractive in the context of an employer doing a background check. While most sites allow their users to control who sees the things they've posted, such limitations are often forgotten, can be difficult to control or don't work as well as advertised.