Most people believe that social messaging is more of a benefit than a consequence, but using social media can actually be harmful. Social media is something most kids, teens, and even some adults are using all the time. It has become a part of our generation’s lives. Having people on their phones all day long is not only disappointing, but also damaging. Instead of talking to someone face-to-face and hanging out, people prefer just texting or going on a social network. For some people understanding a life without social media is near impossible. Using social media can have some adverse effects such as: it causes cyberbullying, it can compromise education, and it could have an effect on social skills.
To begin with there are many bullies out in the world, but many of these same bullies are finding a new way to target children and teens, and this is through social media. Social media has become a way to influence suicidal behaviors because of cyberbullying. Cyber bullying is “when a child is intentionally and repeatedly targeted by another child or teen in the form of threats or harassment.” Experiments showed that victims of cyber bullying are twice as likely to attempt suicide than people who were not. (Luxton 3). Cyberbullying should be taken very seriously because of the horrible outcomes it might just bring. One of these outcomes is suicide. Suicide is something nobody should ever have to even think about, and the fact that many more children and teens are thinking about suicide is disgusting. Not only can the child be suffering from this online predator, but these children have family too. Social media has become more of a weapon to bullies, according to Nirvi Shah. When asked what she feels like cyberbullying on social networks feels like Taylor replied “It’s the online version of truth or dare – without the dare.” This is because now with many of these new social media websites cyberbullies can now hide their identities by selecting a “hide-my-name” option. Cyberbullies have used this to their advantages by threatening people anonymously by calling them names or by sometimes by telling them to not show up at school, or to die and kill themselves. (Shah 1-2). This type of behavior is unacceptable because by bullies being able to go undercover people who might have been afraid to say something can now do so being without having to worry about being discovered. Social media is the key to all of these bullies, without the use of social media most of these bullies wouldn’t even bother anybody. They would realize that they will most likely get caught or get into a fight. Most people are too afraid to do this.
A second factor, social media could also have a huge effect on education. The use of social networks such as facebook and twitter are very well known, especially by most college students. David Gewirtz realized that some of the people who see a personal social media website could be a friend, potential employer, and even a stranger……………..
