Effects of Social Media on Social and Personal Behaviors - Annotated Bibliography Example

This article supports my thesis statement about the effects of social media being positive and transforming individuals or even businesses for the better rather than for the worse as is evident from the research results.

Miah, M., Omar, A. and Allison-Golding, M. (2013, June). Effects of Social Networking on  Adolescent Education. Information Systems Education Journal, 11(3): 90-100.

The article discusses the effects social media and networking are having on the education of adolescents. The research which comprises subjects from different high schools leads to the conclusion that these adolescents use social media to research their different subjects of school work including mathematics and English. This research is carried out purely through social media when they and they communicate with their friends on the same using pictures as well. This article fully supports my research thesis as it indicates that social media is positively transforming social and personal behavior.

Tham, J. & Ahmed, N. (2011). The usage and implications of social networking Sites: A survey of college students. Journal of Interpersonal, Intercultural and Mass Communication, 2(1), 1-11. 

College students are leading among the most frequent users of social media sites. The researchers explain how these college students are using social media for their academic performance other than just social communication. They are communicating with their professors about school work, as well as link with other professionals to offer advice and support their academic endeavors. These sites have not only improved their behavior and limited the negative effects commonly associated with social media but have positively improved their social behavior as well. This research article provides crucial information about my research and shows another perspective and source of positivity on social media.

Christofides, E, Muise, A. & Desmarais, S. (2012, January). Risky Disclosures on Facebook: The Effect of Having a Bad Experience on Online Behavior. Journal of Adolescent Research, 27(6): 714-731. 

This research focuses primarily on teens that use social media sites particularly Facebook, and how these sites have negatively affected their personal as well as social behavior. These teens are inexperienced and underage, but these social media sites subject them to cyberbullying among other forms of harassment from fellow social media users. They unknowingly enter into private charts with mean people who crash their personalities as well as make some of them emulate negative social behaviors. This research finding is contrary to my thesis as it does not support the notion that social media offers better social and personal behavior.

Debatin, B., Lovejoy, J., Horn, A. & Hughes, B. (2009, October). Facebook and Online Privacy: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Unintended Consequences. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15(1): 83-108. 

The authors of this research expound on how social media sites have led to people exposing their private information to the public, which has in turn led to negative social effects as well as negatively affecting their personal lives. Social media sites have their own shares of stalkers. The fact that people have made their personal lives public makes it easier to not only stalk them but harm them socially. This research is in contrast with the thesis about social media making behavior better as stalking is definitely a worse kind of behavioral influence.