Malcolm Gladwell author of the NY Times best seller "The Tipping Point" and "Drive" writes an article for The New Yorker magazine analyzing the tru impact of social media on real world change.
"Small Change"
What are the negatives of social media?
What are the positives of social media?
How will social change the world in the next 10, 20 years?
I have to admit that my uses of social networking are very limited. I am not very savvy about everything that is out there. From a personal perspective, I see it as costly (I do not have internet access on my cell phone). I also see it as very time consuming. Time is something that is currently in very short supply for me.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, see several positives and benefits of social networking. It is a fabulous way to connect with people from whom you have been separated due to distance or time…I have become reconnected with many members of my HS graduating class and have a lot of fun sharing in the joys and challenges of their current lives. It definitely adds richness to my life.
Social networking is also a great way to connect with people who have a common interest: politics, religion, education, and professional are all areas where it’s so much easier to find people who are like-minded and share your opinions.
In addition to my personal resistance to social networking, I also think that it has the tendency to become all-consuming for some people to the point of being rude (blackberry buzzing in a restaurant, kids tweeting while you are trying to help them with their HW!).
There is also a larger risk of your privacy being invaded immediately and the whole world knowing about it. There is also a greater risk of the information you gather from others to be inaccurate (a rapid game of telephone).
From the perspective of a teacher/parent, I also have many concerns about the potential for cyber-bullying. Teasing occurs so quickly, pervasively and insidiously online that the opportunities of doing damage control are almost nil and our children/teens are at great risk.
As with many of the technological advances of the past decade, I feel that some of the positive features of social networking will expand and be refined. The demand for immediate cyber gratification will continue to grow. However, some of the novelty is bound to diminish and folks will focus on the few key features that they perceive as valuable. Case in point: I have 1000 cable channels and I watch 6 or 7 of them. More does not always mean better.
I think that there are many positives to social media and while I do understand the negatives, I think the positives do outweigh them in the end. I am someone who uses social networking a lot. I have internet on my blackberry, g-chat, facebook, etc. are always open and available. I like being in contact with people 24/7 and realize that I do have the choice as to when to respond/turn it off.
ReplyDeleteIt makes it much quicker for me to respond to a parent via email (blackberry or on my computer) than to wait to call them back. Most of the parents in my class are emailing me for a quick answer and this saves time versus making a phone call. Our class distribution list makes it easy for parents to get in touch with me, each other, switch volunteer times, etc. instead of calling all of the parents in a class. That being said, parents do have to realize that while I do read emails when I am out and about, I do not always respond immediately, which I think is a negative in some parent's minds. They are looking for the immediate response and that is not always given. In this age of technology, people want immediate and prompt feedback and even a delay of an hour might make them annoyed.
As for the social networking aspect, it is the way I stay in touch with a lot of my friends who I do not see regularly, and those I do, or who live far away. It is nice to see pictures and stay updated between phone calls. I do not think this eliminates the phone calls and visits, but is a nice addition. I think that social networking is different for adults and children though. I think that children should be very well supervised when using any of the social networking features available and this would help avoid some of the cyber-bullying and in appropriate material that they are sometimes exposed to. I do not think social networking is all to blame for that, but the lack of supervision by adults plays into effect.
I think social media is here to stay regardless of our opinions. I guess if there is no way to get rid of it, we should embrace it as best we can! I think the internet as a whole has provided our generation with so much knowledge that we may never have gotten without technology. I know that I have learned interesting facts about many things merely because I stumbled upon an article on the internet. This ties into social media because social media allows people to voice their opinions about certain issues. I think it is positive because people from all over the world can communicate and share their views on issues. However, sometimes social media can be used negatibely. I agree with Farrah, the positive definitley outweighs the negative.
ReplyDeleteSocial media greatly affects our society as a whole. We constantly rely on social media as a way to keep in touch with friends, family, now as a way to meet new people. It is so surprising how quickly we have adapted to the uses of social media as well as how reliant we have become on social media. People have the opportunity to express themselves, which can be viewed as positive or negative depending on the situation and what thoughts/ ideas are being expressed. Likewise, it has resulted in more freedom for children, and has led to cyber bullying and increase in tensions through peers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I agree with Ashley and Farrah that the positives certainly outweigh any of the negatives.