The Effects of Social Networking among the Youth - Research Proposal Example

Module The Effects of Social Networking among the Youth Introduction Social networking has been an extremely important phenomenon in recent years especially amongst the younger generation. Its key success is it being one of the easiest and fastest ways for youth to communicate with each other and the world at large. The younger generation can be considered the highest users of social networking. Social networking websites today doesnt only allow one to connect with ,friends; it also helps in meeting new friends, sharing pictures, and keeping up with the latest updates in people’s lives. Social media can be considered a great invention in the world of technology. However, along with its many obvious advantages, the huge impact of social media on the lives of the youth is sometimes not a positive one. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the effects social networks that are present today, and how these have changed the way college students interact socially and in their life as a whole. Background Social networks are not only limited to websites .There are other creative applications that can be downloaded on cellular devices to make the use of social networks easier. Social media not only has social implications but it has also redefined many other concepts, marketing in particular. Where previously advertisement was done via television, newspapers, billboards etc… social media like Facebook is the new thing. The younger generation of today has a completely novice idea about the marketplace, for them it is virtual thanks to the social media. One might argue that virtual shopping place is the concept introduced by the internet and it is true to some extent. However, social media has boosted the virtual marketplace to a completely new dimension.cx In short, it can be said that social media has completely redefined the lives of the youth in several many dimensions. The purpose of this study is to establish if this changed lifestyles is for better or worst. This question is extremely important to answer so that if social media is doing more harm than it is doing good, considerable efforts need to be made by the society to unhook the youth, which is addicted to social media. Literature Review The purpose of this review is to examine why the younger generation is labeled as those who use social networks the most, and what are the pros and cons and their effects and impacts on lives. According to the website www.joe.org, “Youth no longer just "hang out" at the mall, the bowling alley, or the fair. Compared to generations of the past, this group of millennial youth knows how to network with their friends better than ever. Whether it is staying in touch with the latest gossip or sharing their current 4-H project, these youth are accustomed to using new technology to stay connected with their social networks all year long” (“Social Networking Among Youth”). Social networking websites like Facebook became popular quickly because of its free access to the users (Mayfield). Hence, its usage and implications of that usage have been many. Concerns of social networking among youth There are plenty of reasons why the social networking phenomenon had been a huge influence on college students. “Teenagers and young adults have especially embraced these sites as a way to connect with their peers, share information, reinvent their personalities, and showcase their social lives “ (“Why Youth (heart) social networking sites”). “Social networking is often seen as a youth phenomenon. Whilst the assumption that the majority of people registered on social network sites are young people is frequently mistaken (less than 50% of Facebook users are under 25; and the average user of Twitter is certainly over 25), social networks can play a very significant role within young people’s lives, and young people are often heavy users of these sites” (Connected Generation). College students use social networking in different ways for different things: keeping in touch with friends, sharing status updates and media, exploring self-identity, accessing media, entertainment and information, making new connections and engaging with groups, to become a part of the larger, global world. ”The challenge in thinking about the impacts of social networks is to cut through reactions based on unfamiliarity or fear, to identify the risks and opportunities they create and, equally as important, the changes that new technologies make to the background conditions of what constitutes a viable policy response to any concerns that they do give rise to” (Connected generation). Parental concerns regarding social media are also many. Many parents only allow their children to use social media if they can monitor their usage. However, children often only give access of their dummy accounts to parents. In case parents actually figure out passwords, they simply move on to a new account or better yet, a new website (Moniz). Some of what these concerns may be is that: Social Networking leads to under developed Social Skills. Citing this disadvantage, people might believe one to be crazy but it is true. Social media encourages communication but there is always a computer or a phone between people. Individuals and especially youth have extremely limited interpersonal skills. Many a times they come across as extremely confident people but in real life cannot even look into the eyes of the person they are talking to. Rather than giving shy people a chance, social media has encouraged them to go further into their shell. It is easy to be outgoing and entertaining and confident while being tucked away at home hidden behind a screen but when it comes to actual interaction, the social media is responsible for the lack of people’s social skills. Young people are wasting time on social networks: Many college students can certainly end up spending a lot of time on social networks, though often this is multi-tasking time, doing other things as well as being online or linked to a network by phone” (Connected generation). However it holds true that many a people do not realize the amount of time they spend on social networking, and how much of that time is actually wasted and could be spent on other important activities. People are simply not realizing that they are addicted to social media. The reason many small enterprises do not use social media is that it is not as simple as it seems and can be rather time consuming. In fact, people are so hooked to the social media that banning it during work hours have seen a decrease in employee productivity (Norton). Young people don’t believe in privacy and are over-sharing: The 10 billion photos and thousands of status updates every minute on sites like Facebook show that SNS users share a lot of content about themselves online.” (Connected generation) Sharing of birthdays, relationship statuses, location, what one is doing, what one is eating, what they are wearing, where they are going and much, much more has blurred a lot of boundaries. Applications such as the News Feed streams and Timeline on websites like Facebook mean that there is actually no boundary between participating in social media and completely over-sharing every little detail of our lives (Fitzgerald). Many user’s do not realize how public all this information is and the type of danger they are exposing themselves to. Small things like the type of music we listen to, the pages, movies, celebrities we follow, all this information can be used by a lot of people to harm us. It has been pointed out on many an occasions that sharing location on social media is the food and drink of thieves. Telling someone you are not at home or for how long you are not going to be there provides an excellent window of opportunity to robbers. Furthermore, information posted on social media is applicable in courts of law. Many people mindlessly post many things that are not true but they do not realize the amount of trouble they could be getting into. Many times, over-sharing also leads to giving away corporate secrets of organizations one is working at. The legal implications of that are huge (ODonnell). Social media is not all bad, but consideration is due as to how it is being used to represent ourselves. Social media does not define an individual but it is a reflection of that individual, a reflection the world can see. In today’s times, it is extremely easy to see what a user said years ago. Over-sharing is something that can have regretful consequences even years later. One has to be ready to handle the consequences social media saturation. Everybody needs to be more careful about what they share and how it will affect them in the years to come (Moreira). Internet Fraud: It is extremely important to keep an eye on social media even if one is not a user. It is easy for anyone to pretend to be anyone. Not having a presence on social media means, someone could pretend to act like you or worst misrepresent your business causing great damage to you or your businesses reputation (Norton). Social networks expose college students to dangerous ideas or groups: Undoubtedly the ability for anyone to publish content through social media spaces means there is a lot of negative and potentially harmful content available - and some young people do come across and engage with this content online” (Connected generation). You simply cannot stop anyone from posting anything on the social media. To imagine the horrifying effects of some of the content on social media is scary. Social media has become a mean of publishing and communicating some very dangerous ideas (Pictor). There needs to be some policies in place to make sure that peoples lives are not ruined (Asthana). College students are at risk from sexual predators and abusive adults through SNS: There have been high-profile stories in a number of countries about cases of sexual abuse of college students facilitated by contact on social network sites” (Connected generation) These concerns are what the majority of the studies had to say toward how social network sites effect the youth. The banning of registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social-networking sites used by children by a federal judge in Indiana goes on to show the potential dangers of social media. Social networking, chat rooms, and instant messaging programs have effectively created a ‘virtual playground’ for sexual predators to lurk was what the judge had to say in his ruling (Wilson). Effects of Social Networking among Youth “The negative effects of a new technology are never fully visible in the initial stages due the hype and excitement involved. However, with time we observe the more time we spend online, the more connected we get. Hence, the urge to not miss anything induces an invisible layer of stress and pressure on the individuals. The fact that you do not know about trivial things such as what is going on in other people’s lives, which new café or store is opening up, who is getting married, who is getting away for the weekend, who got a job, who got fired etc is seen as a deficiency. The very fabric of our societies is now beginning to take a new shape” (“The Negative Effects of Social Networking”). It has been scientifically proven how much social networking sites can harm the human’s brain. “Social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users, an eminent scientist has warned. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make students more self-centered…parents and teachers who complain that many youngsters lack the ability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens. More than 150 million use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts. A further six million have signed up to Twitter, the ‘micro-blogging’ service that lets users circulate text messages about themselves. While the sites are popular – and extremely profitable –a growing number of psychologists and neuroscientists believe they may be doing more harm than good. Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, believes repeated exposure could effectively “rewire” the brain.… Computer games and fast-paced TV shows were also a factor, she said. “We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist,” she told the Mail yesterday. “My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.” Her comments echoed those she made during a House of Lords debate earlier this month. Then she argued that exposure to computer games, instant messaging, chat rooms and social networking sites could leave a generation with poor attention spans …” (“The Negative Effects of Social Networking”). Social networks also have a great influence on students emotionally “young adults use of Social network sites and addictive tendency toward the use of social network sites from their personality characteristics and levels of self-esteem” (Psychological predictors of young adults use of social networking sites). Cyber bullying is another story in the social networking world. “There has been significant interest and concern about the risks of online social networking because of access to personal information and the anonymity that the system allows. A number of public cases of bullying and identity theft have magnified this issue in the society, putting it in the public arena…” (“The Social and Psychological Impact of Online Social Networking”). Awareness Awareness websites and blogs tend to strengthen and give more confidence to the younger generation against social networking, teach them ways how to prevent them from experiencing the dark side of social network sites and how to be safe when using these social networks. What is great about these websites and blogs is that not only were they created to target the user of social networks, but also the parents and the whole communities. Avoiding Negative Effects of Social Networks The current generation is already entrenched into the social media networks and making them stop will be an uphill task. However, not all is lost. The goal is to ensure the youth understand they have a role to play when it comes to making sure that their life goals are met. The idea is to create different platforms that ensure the youth access desirable advice and an understanding of what it entails to meet the general requirements of healthy interactions online. Most of those bullied seek attention and find someone who takes advantage of this needy situation. The use of online networks should be communication and making friends, not expressing one’s desperate needs and frustrations. People out there have realized the massive potential in these social networks, using them to their advantage. Those caught in this melee will suffer the most, as they have to disentangle themselves from such experiences on their own. Some send money, provocative pictures, their address, and even details of their families without knowing whether the person on the other end is genuine or not. One of the best ways of limiting negative experiences is to understand that the more the information available to the outside world, the higher the chances of someone gaining access to it and maliciously using it. The goal is to create a profile that will only be visible to the strangers and allowing them to get snippets regarding your life. The aim is to keep the strangers at bay when it comes to private information (Boyd 2). Some of the students tend to keep a lot of their information open to the public and that makes it easier for anyone with ill intentions to harm the innocent adolescent. Some even keep updating about their locations making it easy to follow them through their daily activities. This is something bad because people can follow them and harm them. Thus, making everything a little formal on social networks will be an excellent way of keeping one safe. It will also prevent people from knowing so much about the individual to a point of predicting their next move and location. Parents understand that children require ample time to understand themselves and create an identity. The problem is that the growth of the child will always depend on the way the parents raise them. The welfare of the child is directly attached to the way the child relates to the environment. The goal is to create a future for these children by training them on being better adults. This will indicate getting involved in the way the child is leading their life and to make sure the attributes that define and are ideally developed (Boyd 4). This only happens when the parent is actively engaged in the activities of the child from time to time. This engagement is essential and requires constant monitoring of the child’s welfare. This does not mean infringing on their privacy, but allowing them to understand that parents have a mandate to always keep them safe. Children should, therefore, not be offended but understand that their parents are genuinely concerned about them and want the best for them (Pictor). It is significant to train the younger generation on the importance of developing moral responsibility through to adulthood. Everything that takes place on the internet has the ability to reach millions of people within a short time and the idea is to ensure that whatever one does on the internet has passed moral conviction and the individual sending it is aware of the importance of retaining privacy at all times. The goal is to ensure that as students grow up, they have a sense of responsibility in everything that is taking place (Boyd 10). The idea is to have a generation that is not afraid to make the right decisions at all times. This will entrust them with the ability to deal with different issues within their mandate as a way of enhancing their response towards leading a better life. The youths will also understand the implications of privacy and the lack thereof. The role of social network is to link people with various sectors. The creation of long-lasting relationships will be the main goal. The aim is to ensure that the students look for different ways of ensuring that they meet the requirements of their social lives. The increased depression owing to lack of self-esteem after spending a lot of time on the internet makes it difficult to deal with the issues affecting them. Adults should be influential in assisting the children to make the right decisions regarding their future (Boyd 12). The influence they have facilitates their everyday interactions and it is essential to create a good understanding of the society from all levels of interaction. This will be beneficial to the youth, because the future needs people who can make good use of the technology available for the sake of the society (Pictor). The young individuals have to understand that things happen when they lose control. The critical thing is to understand the role of social media and make good use of it. Information on social media may come to haunt an individual as it stays online for quite a long time and it is only fair that everyone makes the right choices at all times (Pictor). Social media networks are good for connecting people, but those sharing information need to understand that so many people will have access to it. The goal is to create a profile that one can be proud of later in life without regretting about everyday interactions as a young person (Boyd 15). The older generation only had memories of what happened during their youth or stored it in picture albums. Today, the youth have online evidence just a click away of everything that took place in their distant and recent past. It is, thus, imperative to maintain a good image that one can be proud of even in the distant future. When dealing with the youth, it is important to acknowledge that their day will always be spent on social media. Adults, therefore, need to encourage their children to use it well for the sake of their future. The goal is to assure them that their involvement in the social media will only be disadvantageous if they do not make good use of their skills to actualize their dreams (Pictor). The goal is to create an environment that favors them and ensures they understand their role in the society and shape their lives based on what they share or access through the social media. The utilization of social media can save some because absence from these platforms could raise the alarm and send people searching the individual. However, it could be disastrous if a person uses the social media cites to stalk their victims (Boyd 18). Many people have fallen to rape cases because they do not understand that they need to keep their whereabouts concealed. Nonetheless, the ethics of using social media is only dependent on the ability to understand the genuineness of the social media platform for the sake of the youth’s future. Research Problem Social media is something everybody is talking about. It is the talk of the dinner table, when friends hang out, when you accidentally meet someone. Phrases like “didn’t you hear about it or see it on Facebook are extremely common. Parents are often heard complaining about failing grades or simply the amount of time their kids waste on social media. In addition, they do not understand how social media can just make up for all kinds of communication and social interactions. I became interested in learning the effects of social networking on the younger generation, the good as well as the bad. People talk about this problem like they have gotten to the root of the matter but there is still so much that is undiscovered, a lot of grey idea. Here in lies my interest in the topic. From the information I was able to obtain about this topic, I have learned that social networking may enhance college students’ skills in communication and technical skills but it is riskier than one might believe, especially for the younger generation. These websites are too open, too graphic and the concept of freedom of speech is exposing children to too much, way more than they could be expected to cope with. These websites in some cases lead to cyber-bullying. In other cases, it could lead to some type of social network addiction where college students exclude themselves from the “real world”, become social, and interact only through the social media. Research Questions My research will concentrate on studying the effects of social networking on the youth. Therefore, the following research questions (RQs) are posed: RQ1: What are the effects of social networking on the youth what are the causes of these effects? This question is intended to explain the reasons behind the positive and negative effects on the lives of the younger generations and explore the various different studies that have been conducted in this field of research. RQ2: How can college students avoid the negative effects of social media? My second question will talk more about the techniques that students will use or should use to prevent themselves from experimenting and coming to any harm through social media websites such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace, etc. Research Methods Unit of Analysis The unit of analysis for this research will be college students. I will be interviewing two students (male and female), and provide an anonymous survey for four more students (male and female) Proposed Research Methods Interview To get close and personal with college students and understand more about the topic, gain their perspective, and learn about their experiences with social networks. Interviews will also help us in asking probing questions and making sure that people do not give evasive answers. Survey Surveys are one of the best methods to conduct a research because it helps you understand different opinions of the topic between gender, race, religion, and education level. Again, a large sample could be easily covered. Interview questions 1. What do you use these social media networks for? 2. How often do you interact with people you know? a. People you do not know? 3. What do you share the most, images or videos? a. Do you think you affect those who are your friends on social media based on what you share? Why? Why not? 4. Please explain if being in college affects the way you view social networks. How? Why? 5. Does what you share have any influence on what peers are sharing? 6. Do you think it is fair for social media users to continue bombarding others with information regarding their daily lives? a. Do you share your whereabouts with others? If yes, how often? If no, why? 7. How can you rate the usage of social media amongst your friends? 8. What do you think can be done to limit the harms caused by social media? 9. What is your advice to social media users? Tentative Questionnaire 1. What is your age? 2. How much time do you spend on social media? a. Less than an hour a day b. An hour a day c. 2-3 hours a day d. 3-5 hours a day e. 5 or more hours a day 3. What three advantages can you state regarding your use of social media? 4. What three disadvantages have you noted regarding social media usage? 5. Rate how much information do you share on Facebook on a scale of 1-10 6. What percentage of your social media acquaintances do you know socially? a. 1-20% b. 21-40% c. 41-60% d. 61-80% e. 80-100% 7. When working on the internet, are you always logged into social media websites? a. Yes b. No 8. Has social media changed your life? How? 9. Do you know somebody who has completely changed because of the social media? 10. Do you think social media makes you more confident? 11. Is social media responsible for more crime? Works cited Asthana, Anushka. "Editor: social media "more dangerous" than print media." 31 January 2012. Australian media. 4 December 2012. Boyd, D. Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning-Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume. (1-26). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. "Connected Generation". 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. . Fitzgerald, Britney. "Facebook Overshare: 7 Things You Might Not Realize Youre Telling The World." 17 September 2012. Huffington Post. 04 December 2012. . Mayfield, Antony. What is Social Media. 2008. Moniz, Jessie. "Youth And Social Media." The Royal Gazette 31 Oct. 2012: n.p. Royal Gazette. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. Moreira, Belinda. "Why Facebook Oversharing Can Ruin Your Future." 2012. Policymic. 04 December 2012. . Norton, Chris. "The Seven Deadly Disadvantages of Social Media." 10 November 2011. dead dinosaur. 04 December 2012. ODonnell, Andy. "The Dangers of Facebook Oversharing." 2012. Net security. 2012 December 2012. . Pictor, Rachel. "Social Media and the Dissemination of Dangerous Ideas." 2 August 2011. mdia 140. 4 December 2012. "Psychological Predictors of Young Adults Use of Social Networking Sites." ResearchGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. . "Social Networking Among Youth: How Is 4-H Represented?" Social Networking Among Youth: How Is 4-H Represented? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. . "Social Networks and How They Affect Our Lives." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. . "The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families." The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. . "The Negative Effects of Social Networking." Think RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. . "The Social and Psychological Impact of Online Social Networking." Australian Psychological Society: N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. . Wilson, Charles. "Federal judge bans sex offenders from social networking." 2012. The Washington Post. 4 December 2012. "Youth Ki Awaaz: Mouthpiece for the Youth." Youth Ki Awaaz: Mouthpiece for the Youth. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. . Read More