A discussion of the positve and negative impacts of social networking on today's youth - Essay Example

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Networking on the Youth Affiliation Positive and Negative Effects of Social Networking on the Youth In the modern day social system, the use of social media has become a common social interaction factor. The consumption of social media is rampant in the youth. In an argument by Sonia (2008) the increased use of social media has equal measures of cons and pros on the youth.Positive Impacts Firstly, social networking has increased the ability of the youth to create a social paradigms that they are positive with (Ruddock, 2013).

In social media sites, the youth interact with people with particular characteristics. This selection is an important way to enable self-realization. Cotterell (2013) is of the assumption that the social media has increased the interaction environment and paradigms. The young people are able to interact with persons from different cultures, countries and races thus increasing their view of life and the society. It is also a positive effect that social media that the social media increase the social networking skills of the youth (Tufekci, 2008).

The author further asserts that the skills acquired are effective in creating the required cultural, social and political awareness (Tufekci, 2008). Through social networking the youth have increased ability to acquire and process information from a global perspective (Sonia, 2008). This approach allows then to respect the opinion from different religious, cultural and racial affiliations. Their understanding of other social affiliations part from there is increased. In regards to educational purposes, social networking create learning platforms.

Specifically, social educational platforms are adversely provided by social networks. The results can be reflected in the educational experiences of the youth (Ruddock, 2013). Negative Impacts The greatest negative impact of social networking is the significant strength of peer pressure created (Larson, Eccles & Mahoney, 2006). The young people are recipients and creators of massive unsupervised and uncontrolled information. The information provided is significant in creating perception that may be negative in the young minds (Sonia, 2008).

Wang, Tchernev & Solloway (2012) point out that social media has minimized the effectiveness of physical social interaction. The modern day youth rarely take part in the creation of relationships in the offline world. This creates a social gap in the age group. Youths in social networks often provide personal information in online sites. The information may be used for negative purposes. In an argument by Ruddock (2013) the access private information is an extreme negative aspect of social networks.

With the increased use of social networks, the youths are exposed to personal or group abuse. Numerous cases of cyber bullying have been reported in common social interaction cites such as Facebook and Twitter. The unethical creation and access to graphic media has been influenced by increased social networking by the youth. It has become easy and direct to access graphic information and media on social networks (Cotterell, 2013). In addition, the youth are creators and distributors of this form of information.

Conclusion From the argument presented, it is an accurate assertion that the modern day youth has an increased preference to social networking. Regardless of the assumption that the trend has increased the learning ability of the youth, numerous negative effects of the trend can be cited and proved. Conclusively, social networking among the youth has negative and positive effects in equal measure. ReferencesCotterell, J. 2013. Social Networks in Youth and Adolescents. London: Routledge. Jan, K.

& Kristopher H. 2011. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media". Business Horizons, 54: 241–251.Larson, R., Eccles, S. and Mahoney, L. 2006 Organized Activities as Contexts of Development: Extracurricular Activities. London: Routledge.Ruddock, A. 2013. Youth and Media. London: SAGE. Sonia, L. 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. London: SAGE .

Tufekci, Z. 2008. "Grooming, Gossip, Facebook and Myspace." Information, Communication & Society, 11.4 (2008): 544- 64. Wang, Z., Tchernev, M., & Solloway, T. 2012. A dynamic longitudinal examination of social media use, needs, and gratifications among college students. Computers in Human Behaviour, 28(5): 1829-1839.