The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness - Essay Example

Argumentative essay The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness The youths in the modern society are addicted users of the internet, the advent of such social networks as Facebook and twitter revamped the trend thus increasing the youth’s traffic to the internet by nearly eighty percent. While most of the adult population continues to admonish the youths for their addiction to the internet, the platform creates an effective platform for interaction among the group thus fostering social cohesiveness. The internet among many other telecommunication developments have succeeded in making the world a global village thus overcoming the geographical barriers that had impaired human interactions. The use of the internet in the contemporary society coupled with the use of the social network sites such create a virtual society in which the youths interact and widen their networks thus sharing social values most of which they transfer to the actual society thus creating a cohesive society as the essay below portrays. The concern shared among most parents about the internet is that the platform has nor effective regulation and therefore exposes the users to unedited content most of which derail morality in the society. Such parents fear that their children would therefore acquire undesirable behavior pattern from the internet and lose morality. The internet is indeed creates a cosmopolitan society by pooling people from diverse backgrounds together. Additionally, the internet is an unorthodox media that operates on the pull technology. Unlike the traditional media, internet places the power of choice and censure on the hands of the user. The user thus determines the contents to access and those to censure. Such features present challenges particularly with the adolescent a group of hyperactive individuals always willing to experiment especially with their sexuality (Agosto and June 55). Given the nature of the internet and the resources it pools together, the platform may prove detrimental especially to the young population. The internet creates a virtual reality in which the user determines his or her social grouping without the restriction or limitation of space. Young users therefore become exposed to corruptible and unedited content. Additionally, the internet presents the user with millions of users from all over the world. The social media have succeeded in creating a virtual society on the internet. At such, the internet presents the users with myriad of characters who enjoy the beneficial features of the internet such as anonymity and may therefore post whichever content they deem fit without any form of censure. As such, the internet thus becomes the greatest deterrent feature to the creation of cohesive and ethical societies. Despite the valid concerns raised by most parents and opponents of the idea to expose the youth to the internet, the internet still poses the features capable of developing responsive behavior among the youths thus contributing to the creation of cohesive societies. Just as explained earlier, the internet creates virtual societies by drawing participants from all over the world. Additionally, the intensive interaction on the internet has succeeded in turning the world into a global village in which anyone anywhere is accessible and communication is therefore real-time. Among the key factors that people exchange over the internet is culture, culture refers to way of life including sets of human behavior, their attire, dietary and religion among others. The internet is the most effective platform on which the users interact and share views on different social views on a global platform. In the different chat rooms, users inform each other of the latest developments in different parts of the world thus increasing the user’s understanding of the world and their societies (Lupa 30). Peace and unity are social and cultural concepts referring to the cohesive societies in different parts of the world. The internet creates the best platform where users converge and share ideas on such fundamental issues as peace and economic stability among themselves. Through such platforms, the users’ trade ideas that help create cohesive societies. Additionally, while the internet always lacks gatekeepers, as is the case with the traditional news media, there are mature users of the internet especially the social media who will always interact with other users more responsively by discouraging the spread of detrimental images among other multimedia contents (Anderson 43). The desire to maintain more friends and cordial relationship among such on the social networking sites always serve as a source of self-discipline since most of such friends will always rebuke any portrayal of perverseness. Unlike the actual society, which presents the youth with the limited aspect of space and geographical location, the internet expends the viewpoint of the user by exposing them to other regions besides their locality. Through the social networking, sites on the internet users develop friendship with people from all over the world and therefore face myriad challenges most of which they could not experience in their local societies. The internet exposes the users regardless of their ages to different challenges as people share their problems and engage the public for guidance and psychological support. Some of such problems are always social while other are domestic. Through early exposure, the youth develop understanding to some of the social and domestic problems people face in their private lives. This way, the society develops holistic individuals who are prepared to face life in the society. Such exposure is good since the users interact with other users and share thoughts thereby become prepared to the possible social problems. Culture is a social concept largely traded on the internet. Culture is a state of the mind and is therefore dynamic. Through interaction, people abolish their old mindset as they acquire newer and more productive mindsets. The internet on the other hand presents the user with an effective opportunity to trade culture products such as arts. Peace, unity and social coexistence are yet other cultural products people share on the internet. The social networking sites bring together people from different countries and background. Such include war ton regions in Africa and parts of Asia thus present them with an opportunity to interact with youths from such peaceful and strong economies as the United States and many other European nations. Through such interactions, the youths from peaceful nations understand the essence of peace and lawfulness some of the social features they may have taken for granted. Additionally, the youths from the war tone regions learn to appreciate and coexist with one another as they compare their experiences with those from peaceful nations. This way, the youths learn such fundamental social values as peaceful coexistence. The internet appeal more to the youth a feature that should encourage parents and guardians to allow their children to engage one another on the internet since it is the modern technology. The internet present users with numerous opportunities capable of revolutionizing every aspect of human life, some of the world’s millionaires discovered their interests on the internet and therefore came up with interesting business ideas. The internet facilitates convenient learning as students interact with one another on a wider perspective. Through distant learning, teachers and student interact on the virtual space thus overcoming the geographical barriers to the receipt of education a fundamental human need. By exposing their children to the internet, parents expose their children to myriad opportunities thus prompting their children to act and discover their strengths and interest (Agosto and Sandra 44). The internet has immense influence on the receipt of education. It presets students with realistic resources that aid education. Such resources as electronic libraries and multimedia content help learners in their daily course work. Exposure to the internet from an earlier age improves their effectiveness in the use of resources thus improving the effectiveness of a learning process. In brief, the internet just as any other contemporary concept has numerous positive and negative influences on the society. The effects of the internet on the youth are dire but most of such are positive. The contemporary society exhibits diversity as different societies face different challenges such as civil war, corruption and poverty among many others. However, humans require effective social structure to help curb the prevalent of such vices a future that requires the use of an effective platform that draws people from diverse backgrounds. The internet is one such platform that retains relevance in numerous fields. Parents and the adult should therefore permit their children in the society to access the internet and develop their interest. Early exposure contributes to faster development of the children thus fostering social cohesiveness. Works cited Anderson, Terry. The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton: AU Press, 2008. Print. Agosto, Denise E, and June Abbas. Teens, Libraries, and Social Networking: What Librarians Need to Know. Santa Barbara, Calif: Libraries Unlimited, 2011. Print. Agosto, Denise E, and Sandra Hughes-Hassell. Urban Teens in the Library: Research and Practice. Chicago: American Library Association, 2010. Print. Lupa, Robyn M. More Than Myspace: Teens, Librarians, and Social Networking. Santa Barbara, Calif: Libraries Unlimited, 2009. Print. Read More