Technology and Social Networking - Effects On Adolescents - Essay Example

Technology And Social Networking: Effects On Adolescents Introduction The society has experienced various technological advancements and these technological advancements have become deeply embedded within the society. One such technological advancement is social media. Social media has now become a necessity of the society and that is mainly because social media has provided several benefits to its users. But, there are several stakeholders that continuously criticize social media. Social media has become a topic of hot debate because the majority of the population that it is impacting is the adolescents of the society. Social media has a major impact on the lives of adolescents because they form the majority in the context of using social media. Ahn cites a national survey which has revealed that 73% of those teenagers that use internet are even using various forms of social media (Ahn 1435). Social media has been appreciated as well as criticized for its impact on the communication and writing skills of students. Those who support social media state that social media helps students in developing better writing skills which in turn helps them in their academic life as well as professional life. Social media surely has a net positive impact on the writing skills of students during their educational life and these positive developments are transferred by students in their professional lives. Body Positive Impact Of Technology And Social Networking On Writing Social networking websites can have a positive impact on the academic writing practices of students. During the process of writing academic papers, students are required to think from different perspectives. They are required to think from the perspectives of different individuals. For example, while writing an academic paper on allowing students to carry guns in schools, the academic writer may have to focus on the concerns of different stakeholders. The academic writer may have to think from the perspective of parents, faculty, government as well as students while writing the paper. Social media sites can help students in obtaining insight regarding perspectives of different individuals which in turn will help them in writing their academic papers. Ahn has reported a study that has helped in figuring out that 11 adolescents create different assignments and upload them on the social media site called MySpace and the viewers of the assignments provide them with feedback (Ahn 1442). This suggests that students can obtain insight regarding different perspectives over an issue by positing the issue on a social media site and then students can use these perspectives to write their academic papers. Social networking websites help students learn what content will be liked and understood by the audience and what content will be rejected and misunderstood. While using social networking websites, the users are involved in the process of learning what communication styles and practices will be considered as pro-social and what styles and patterns will be considered anti-social. While communicating through social media, individuals develop connection with diverse number of known and unknown individuals. Christakis et al. states that social networking is a tool that is used by individuals to learn about different people and connect with them (Christakis 9). When communication is taking place between these individuals some may disconnect while others may stay. Those who disconnect may not appreciate the words that another social media user is using. This may inform the social media user regarding words that should be used and the words that should be avoided. Ahn cites a study that was conducted by Downson and in this study the researcher identified that peers of an individual are the best source to inform an individual regarding which behaviors are valuable and which behaviors are frowned upon (Ahn 1443). Learning this may help students in writing content in their school assignments that is appreciated by others such as school teachers and peers. This will even help the student in refraining from composing content that the audience of the content may find abusive and may dislike. Social networking websites help students in developing their formal writing skills and this helps students in their professional lives. Students are continuously involved in the process of writing something or other through social networking websites such as blogs as well as email. They perform this act to communicate with each other. Ahn states that research conducted on students who are in their colleges revealed that on every day basis students are involved in writing heaps of content in the shape of blogs and emails (Ahn 1442). Writing is a skill that is developed through continuous practice. Since students are continuously involved in the process of writing through the tool of social media, they are more likely to further develop their writing skills. Healy states that continuous writing helps in enhancing the wisdom of students and human beings in general (Healy 1). The writing skills that students develop during their college years through social media can be transferred to the workplaces in which these students will be hired. Technology and social networking tools have a positive impact on the written communication that takes place in the world of business. Students now days are quite extensively using short messaging services as a means of communication. While using this tool they tend to create acronyms for various English Language words. For example Baron has stated that students have replaced the term “give me” with “gimme” or the term thanks with “thnx” (Baron 172). Communicating in this manner and with social media tools such as text messaging services has immense acceptability in the professional life of a student. This is because the business world has become immensely competitive and wastage of time is considered as a taboo. In the business world, employees and employers are expected to remain competitive and time is considered as money. Therefore, individuals working within an organization are expected to continue to work with lower amount of time invested in written communication. This is why emails and letters are becoming outdated in organizational communication and these tools of communication have been replaced with text messaging. Baron states that written communication is no longer a task that requires contemplation and it has become more of a hurried job (Baron 172). Since students in today’s world are mostly communicating with text messages while using acronyms, they are most likely to be well developed to communicate in a fast paced competitive organization when they enter their professional lives. Negative Impact Of Technology And Social Networking On Writing On one end use of social media for writing and communication purposes is considered very beneficial for students in their academic as well as professional life. On the other end there those who believe that social media negatively impacts the writing and communication skills of students in educational as well as professional life. One of the reasons due to which use of social media is criticized is that using social media negative impacts the grades and GPAs of students. Criticizers of social media claim that students spend tremendous amount of time communicating through texting and writing on social media websites that they ignore their education and therefore their grades are negatively hampered. Furthermore, it is even argued that the use of acronym in text messaging does not allow students to develop the ability to speak in proper English. Criticizers even argue that the acronyms that students use while texting are even used by students while writing academic content. Due to this the audience such as the teachers fails to interpret what the student is writing and the students fail to deliver the message that they want to. Conclusion Social media offers more benefits as compared to costs in the context of developing writing and communication skills of students. These developmental benefits are even transferred by students to the organizations in which they work after completing their education. Social media helps students in developing better academic writing skills as it helps them in looking at a particular topic or problem from various perspectives. Social media helps students in developing content that is considered as valuable as well as socially acceptable by the audience. Furthermore, social media allows students to continuously practice writing which helps students in developing their writing skills and these developed skills are transferred by students to their work areas. Social media even allows students to communicate with the use of acronym. Being able to communicate through acronyms increases the acceptability of students in organizations that are highly competitive and consider writing as a rushed job. Conclusion Ahn, June. "The Effect of Social Network Sites on Adolescents Social and Academic Development: Current Theories and Controversies." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 62.8 (2011): 1435-1445. Print. < http://ahnjune.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/0Final-Ahn2011JASIST.pdf> Baron, Naomi S. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Christakis, Nicholas A. and James H. Fowler. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. New York: Little, Brown, 2009. Print. Healy, Tim. "The Unanticipated Consequences of Technology." Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. Read More