Social media. There are many forms of it such as Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and many more, but they all have something in common and that is that they’re being frequently used by people of all ages in this day and age. Although this may sound normal, it’s actually very dangerous. Yes, there are many good benefits about social media, but the amount of cons about social media definitely outweigh the amount of pros. Here are some reasons as to why social media is actually bad rather than good.
Using too much social media could result in isolation. Various aspects of their off-line existence, such as their jobs, families, and health are neglected due to people becoming so reliant upon online social networking (Source 1, Paragraph 2). This proves that social media is negatively influencing people to not be aware of the important priorities that they have, but instead make them, in a way, abandon it. Rather than connect with people, opponents argue that social media actually tends to isolate those from others (Source 1, Paragraph 6). Those who are too dependent on social media should really refrain from using too much of it because you can find ways to connect with others without always using social media. Isolation is a very big and recurring result that often comes from using social media too much.
Cyberbullying also often occurs on social media. Negative information posted on the internet with the intentions to destroy someone and have the information spread quickly to hundreds of people is called online bullying or in other words cyberbullying (Source 1, Paragraph 19). To teens, this might be very common because bullies use social media as a platform to ruin someone’s reputation and/or decrease their self-esteem. Social networking systems, online chat rooms, or via email are where cyberbullying can usually take place (Source 1, Paragraph 20). All sorts of social media are ways where bullies and others can use it to their advantage and make others’ lives miserable. Social media are programs that can be beneficial to those with bad intentions.
When it comes to social media, there are many risks involving privacy. There are many agreements when it comes to social media exposing its users to certain risks involving privacy regardless of whether or not it isolates or connects those who use it (Source 1, Paragraph 7). Whatever social media may do, whether it be isolating or connecting others, the users must be extra careful about the information they display because it can be exposed. No matter how carefully you protect your private information about social media, distant friends can still access it (Source 1, Paragraph 9). This shows that you can’t rely on social media when it comes to the protection of your private information. The privacy protection that is supposedly guaranteed by the terms from social media has many risks to it.
It is true that social media is a good way of communicating with others, although there are many bad ideas about it. One cannot deny that it helps form relationships for many useful things whether it be for work or romantically. However, social media is really harmful both physically and mentally toward the user. Many people fear that teens that use too much technology would not be as smart as earlier generations and won’t know how to interact with others (Source 2, Paragraph 6). Therefore, social media is dangerous and should be used wisely.
People isolating themselves from others, cyberbullying, and risks involving privacy are all negative results of social media. Everything has its ups and downs and social media is no exception. The negative outcomes of social media are sure to exceed the many positive views about social media. Clearly, social media is harmful and should be handled with good and thoughtful supervision.
