SOCIAL NETWORKING -

A famous man once said How can you squander even one more day, not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less, when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable? No, he was not talking about the independence struggle; he was talking about social networking. Good Morning ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to discuss Are social networking sites doing us any good? What baffles me is exactly why we need a discussion on the topic. I see the good all around me, dont you? I see it in the increasing literacy rates, which according to the National Literacy Trust, are directly co-related to childrens engagement with social media. I see it in the cultural convergence that the entire world is experiencing today. But most of all, I see it in the smile on my mothers face, when she is busy messaging her school friends on facebook, whom she has found after 27 long years. Social Networking, a word so common among youngsters in the present has somewhat taken over their world. It has become so popular among the hip and young society of today, that it has become almost a way of life for them. In the last few years with faster internet connections coming into service, the use of social networks have sky rocketed; especially among young adults Has it done more good to society than bad? These questions deserve to be answered because as more people move towards these new modes of communication, the higher the influence it will have on the society as a whole. Has it done more good to society than bad? These questions deserve to be answered because as more people move towards these new modes of communication, the higher the influence it will have on the society as a whole. Your busy day is done. You head home open up your laptop or head over to your desktop and turn it on. After impatiently waiting for everything to load on your computer you open up your web browser. You go to the top of the page and type in www.face and arrow down in the drop box to http://www.facebook.com/. As the website loads you wait in anticipation. When the blue bar at the top of the page loads you immediately look to the left hand corner of that bar. You glance over the first icon which is a silhouette of two people. Any friend requests? You

then skim over to the next icon, a picture of two message bubbles. They remind you of the ones you would see in a cartoon. Any messages? You then proceed to direct your eyes over to the last icon, the world icon. Any Notifications? You click on these icons and with that click you begin a social interaction with someone. Social network sites can be defined as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile in a bounded system. One can articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and also view their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature of these connections may vary from site to site. A social network service focuses on building social relations between people who share similar interests or activities. They essentially consist of a profile, the persons social links and a variety of additional services. Most social network sites provide a means for users to interact over the Internet, such as instant messaging and email. There has been a huge interest recently of the impact these sites have on society and an increasing number of academics have become interested in studying them. There are many dangers and problems in using these sites; however, there are also many benefits, to both the individual and society There have been many concerns put forward by academics, people of the older generation and particularly the media about the apparent dangers of social network sites and some have even asserted that a ban from them be put in place. Some of these concerns include the breakdown of communication, cyber bullying and problems associated with exposing personal details on these sites. In addition, they have expressed distress about social network sites being used as a means of communication for terrorist groups and causing people to become dangerously addicted to them. Because roughly 150 million people use MySpace and Facebook, the door for social networking abuse is left wide open. Over the past several years, social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook have exploded in popularity, especially among children, teenagers and college students However, recent events involving child predators and other dangerous individuals using these sites have raised concerns about safety and security.

Many parents view social networking websites with suspicion while having limited understanding of what these sites really are or how they work. Used responsibly, social networking sites do not pose a danger or threat to anyone. MySpace and Facebook have numerous benefits for their users in terms of interacting and talking with other people, but also provide comprehensive privacy and safety features. For example, Facebook does not allow people to view others profiles unless they are friends, which require both people to confirm their relationship. It is even possible to limit the parts of a personal profile which are visible, which it is visible to, or make the profile completely invisible to everyone. If the student is using Facebook, for example, to propel his or her knowledge, by participating in Facebook group created by a teacher for students of a particular class, than the social network may have a positive influence on education and spark the students interest in learning certain subject matter. Although social network has positive impacts in person to person communication, studies show that it could have detrimental effect. Social networking can enrich social lives for those separated from family and friends by long distances, bringing them together despite the physical separation. Online communication can help those with dysfunctional syndromes achieve a level of social interaction previously difficult or impossible. For some people, interaction with crowds is made easier if they do not actually feel the physical immersion. Social networking sites can bring people together with varying backgrounds who might otherwise never have met and then encourage them to extend that experience into real world social functions Social networking sites are a good thing. They let people connect, whether they knew each other in the first place or not- staying in touch or making new friends. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and now are using it to their advantage. Teachers are

doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting homework or assignments. The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern regarding the potential of its misuse by individual patrons. Citizens and governments have been concerned by a misuse by child and teenagers of social networking services, in particular in relation to online sex predators. A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. Trolling can occur in many different form, such as name calling, playing online pranks and controversial comments with the intention to cause anger and cause arguments. Cyber-bullying is relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. For example, individuals have the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. By being aware of your cyber-surroundings and who you are talking to, you should be able to safely enjoy social networking online. Just use your inner voice, it will tell you when something doesnt feel right about the online conversations taking place. When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites are known as social sites which function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interest. The friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites.

This means that although you are in ____________, you could develop an online with someone in _________________ or ______________. Not only will you make new friends, but you might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing.
The last decade witnessed an explosion of social networks such as Myspace and Facebook, which added a new social dimension to the web. While such networks have made people, communities and groups with shared interests stay more connected, Internet addiction and social network addiction in particular also started being recognized as psychological disorders all over the world. While several 90s studies focused on Internet addiction, the next decade saw the growth of a new addiction related to all manner of social networking sites, especially the current king of the jungle: Facebook.

- there are different levels of social network addiction. Another recent study carried out at a Czech University analyzed Facebook-related academic procrastination. Though based on a sample too small to draw any general conclusions, one interesting finding of the research was that people tended to be unaware of just how much time they really spent on Facebook, and the effect this might have on their academic performance. - A Mexican study found that Facebook addicts (a category defined by reportedly spending over four hours every day on Facebook) had a higher incidence of depression and lower physical and general selfesteem levels than less frequent Facebook users. - There are many factors that determine the characteristics of Internet and social network addictions in different parts of the world. The nature and scope of these problems are not only affected by technological advancement and the number of computers connected to the Internet per capita and other such quantitative data, but cultural factors are also key in determining the local incidence of these addictions. - While the incidence of social network addictions in other parts of the world may not be as dramatic as Internet gaming addictions, for example, seem to be in some Asian countries, the rapid growth of social networks both in reach and in the number of interaction possibilities, poses new problems every day for the elaboration of solid diagnostic criteria. From academic procrastination to social impairment as far as real physical interactions are concerned, diminished productivity at

work and physical problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle; there seem to be enough problems related to Internet and social network addictions to give researchers enough to work on for many years to come.