Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: Does social media have more of a negative effect on people than a positive effect?
Proposed thesis: “Social media causes more problems than it is worth.”
Sara Shinton makes it clear in her article that she is a big fan of the use of social media. Shinton makes the statement “social media has real value and enables me to achieve more than I could through conventional dissemination alone,” providing her full support to the idea. Although I agree that social media can indeed be a very positive thing when used correctly, the issue still remains that millions of users refuse to participate in it without feeling the need to cause problems. I feel that there is far too much conflict present in social media to be able to enjoy it. Shinton also argues that social media allows people to see a “more rounded and accurate picture of [her] personality.” I agree with this to an extent. If it was my article, I would reword this statement to say that it provides a “more exaggerated picture of my personality.” I say this because people tend to be much more brave and outgoing over the Internet than they would ever be in real life, especially with total strangers. I think that people say many things on Twitter and Facebook than they would dare to say in a real-life situation. This very thing is what causes so many issues among social media’s avid users.
In this article, Cosoi notes the “dramatic increase in the volume and speed at which cyber-threats are being created,” due to the excessive use of social media in today’s world. I completely agree with this statement. At any given time, the average Twitter or Facebook user can view their feeds and it will come as no shock to them to find someone saying something negative or degrading about someone else. It is not the least bit unusual among the social media world. There are millions of social media based arguments in progress right this second that will probably never extend beyond the Internet. These conflicts are immature, counterproductive, and far too frequent. Cosoi also points out that “an online network of individuals actively sharing their experiences and seeking connections with other like-minded people can be easy prey for hackers.” This statement exposes the fact that social media websites aren’t nearly as “private” as their creators claim. These accounts get hacked regularly and hackers often post and say things representing the actual owner of the account in a negative or offensive way.
Twitter’s 140 character limit on posts causes people who post links to other websites to often have to shorten the links by the use of websites like Bit.ly. This causes other users to have no indication of where the link will actually take them if clicked on. Everett says that this makes it “even more difficult for Twitter users to know whether the URLs they have received are legitimate.” This allows for the posting of websites leading to viruses and other harmful pages under misleading contexts. The article also says that “by clicking on links sent from seemingly legitimate ‘friends’, they become vulnerable to malware infection from drive-by downloads.”
McBride, a Nurse Practitioner and writer for a pediatric nursing journal gives her negative opinion of social media and several statistics to back it up in this article. She states that “children and adolescents are at risk as they navigate and experiment with social media,” due to the fact that a big part of their brain’s development is going on while they are engaging in things on the Internet. She lays out several of the risks that social media brings on, including “frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique forming, and sexual experimentation.” I agree because social media surely leads to several offline problems, especially among the younger population.
This article comparing several of the pros and cons of social media states that “students who are heavy social media users tend to have lower grades.” According to the article, “students who use social media had an average GPA of 3.06 while non-users had an average GPA of 3.82.” This illustrates the massive distraction that social media has become. Students spend so much time scrolling through their social media feeds that they have that much less time to do school work and study. The article also points out the effects that social media use has on the productivity of employees. “Even spending just 30 minutes a day on social media at work could cost a 50-person company 6,500 hours of productivity a year,” the article stated. Social media has become far more of a distraction than a useful tool, especially in recent years.
Proposed thesis: “Social media causes more problems than it is worth.”
- Shinton, Sara. "#betterconnected-a Perspective on Social Media." Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. 402.6 (2012). Print.
Sara Shinton makes it clear in her article that she is a big fan of the use of social media. Shinton makes the statement “social media has real value and enables me to achieve more than I could through conventional dissemination alone,” providing her full support to the idea. Although I agree that social media can indeed be a very positive thing when used correctly, the issue still remains that millions of users refuse to participate in it without feeling the need to cause problems. I feel that there is far too much conflict present in social media to be able to enjoy it. Shinton also argues that social media allows people to see a “more rounded and accurate picture of [her] personality.” I agree with this to an extent. If it was my article, I would reword this statement to say that it provides a “more exaggerated picture of my personality.” I say this because people tend to be much more brave and outgoing over the Internet than they would ever be in real life, especially with total strangers. I think that people say many things on Twitter and Facebook than they would dare to say in a real-life situation. This very thing is what causes so many issues among social media’s avid users.
- Cosoi, C. "The Evolving Threat of Social Media." Computer Fraud & Security. 2011.6 (2011): 14-16. Print.
In this article, Cosoi notes the “dramatic increase in the volume and speed at which cyber-threats are being created,” due to the excessive use of social media in today’s world. I completely agree with this statement. At any given time, the average Twitter or Facebook user can view their feeds and it will come as no shock to them to find someone saying something negative or degrading about someone else. It is not the least bit unusual among the social media world. There are millions of social media based arguments in progress right this second that will probably never extend beyond the Internet. These conflicts are immature, counterproductive, and far too frequent. Cosoi also points out that “an online network of individuals actively sharing their experiences and seeking connections with other like-minded people can be easy prey for hackers.” This statement exposes the fact that social media websites aren’t nearly as “private” as their creators claim. These accounts get hacked regularly and hackers often post and say things representing the actual owner of the account in a negative or offensive way.
- Everett, C. "Social Media: Opportunity or Risk?" Computer Fraud & Security. 2010.6 (2010): 8-10. Print.
Twitter’s 140 character limit on posts causes people who post links to other websites to often have to shorten the links by the use of websites like Bit.ly. This causes other users to have no indication of where the link will actually take them if clicked on. Everett says that this makes it “even more difficult for Twitter users to know whether the URLs they have received are legitimate.” This allows for the posting of websites leading to viruses and other harmful pages under misleading contexts. The article also says that “by clicking on links sent from seemingly legitimate ‘friends’, they become vulnerable to malware infection from drive-by downloads.”
- McBride, DL. "Risks and Benefits of Social Media for Children and Adolescents," Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 26.5 (2011): 498-9. Print.
McBride, a Nurse Practitioner and writer for a pediatric nursing journal gives her negative opinion of social media and several statistics to back it up in this article. She states that “children and adolescents are at risk as they navigate and experiment with social media,” due to the fact that a big part of their brain’s development is going on while they are engaging in things on the Internet. She lays out several of the risks that social media brings on, including “frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique forming, and sexual experimentation.” I agree because social media surely leads to several offline problems, especially among the younger population.
- "Social Networking ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.org, 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
This article comparing several of the pros and cons of social media states that “students who are heavy social media users tend to have lower grades.” According to the article, “students who use social media had an average GPA of 3.06 while non-users had an average GPA of 3.82.” This illustrates the massive distraction that social media has become. Students spend so much time scrolling through their social media feeds that they have that much less time to do school work and study. The article also points out the effects that social media use has on the productivity of employees. “Even spending just 30 minutes a day on social media at work could cost a 50-person company 6,500 hours of productivity a year,” the article stated. Social media has become far more of a distraction than a useful tool, especially in recent years.