Social Media Affecting People

“Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprints and personal brand.” (brainyquote.com) All of this can harm others in many negative ways like, when people put too much information that shouldn’t be out and shouldn’t be on social media. Some people think social media has many positive uses but they don’t see the fact that people who want something will use it in their benefit and along the way it could harm others. This means that those people who want something, won't care if they hurt others, and they will continue to hurt them until they reach their goal. In the end, they use it for the wrong purpose. For instance, “opponents of social networking say that the sites prevent face-to-face communication; waster time on frivolous activities; alter children's brain and behavior making them prone to ADHD; expose users to predators like Pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and potentially dangerous information.” (procon.org) In general, rumors are spread through these sites very fast, which harms people. As well as many untrustworthy people like criminals commit crimes on social media that hurt people in negative ways. Social media sites harm people because others use social media in negative ways to track and hurt their targets. For example, “Hackers are hard to trace as they use part of the internet called the ‘dark web’. This enables them to act anonymously and hide their tracks.” (www.ft.com:cyber security)

Some people think social media allows them to meet others through sites like Tinder, that they never would've met without social media. But in the long run, some of the people on those sites could harm others, without ever expecting it. “Police said sites like Tagged, Tinder, and Kik have been used to lure victims to potential danger, resulting in robberies or carjacking.” (WDSU.com) Meeting new people online could be wonderful, but it could lead to meeting the wrong people. Even though meeting people online could be good, meeting the wrong people could also put people in danger and cost their life at the end if anything horrible occurs. The people they meet online could be people that want to hurt their targets and want something from them. No one would ever know if that person online is a dangerous person. Also, all these terrible people online could be setting up traps like, when an elderly couple were murdered when they went to search and bought their dream car on craigslist. “Elrey ‘Bud’ Runion, 69, and his wife, June 66, had driven three and half hours from an atlanta suburb in search of a classic car after posting, on the popular want-ad website.” (Pix11.com) All things considered, meeting people online could be good, but it can also be bad to meet in person and bring into someone's life. In addition to, criminals use social media to misconduct young people like children and teens but also adults sometimes,