Social Networking Negative Affect

Social Networking Negative Affect

Social networking has become very popular and has attracted millions of people across the globe in the past few years. The social sites attract people of different age groups since there are no age limits that can hinder anyone from accessing the sites. Social networking sites are beneficial to the users because they are able to make online friends and exchange information with them. The users are also able to enjoy diverse behavioral characteristics because the internet brings together people from all over the world and hence they can benefit from learning new things concerning some other parts of the world. The social networking hours are however very addictive and most people spent many hours chatting and exchanging information with friends instead of doing something that is more useful. Since there is no age limit, some youngsters may join sites which share information which may not be good for them. An example for this is sites where people exchange information on sexuality which may erode the moral behavior of the teenagers. Also, social networking always effect business world, either positive or negative side. Other dangers of using social networking sites include the spread of viruses and data theft. Meanwhile, social networking affects children a lot, especially on their learning skills. More and more children know how to use the website to get what they need, but they forgot the most important about learning is to know the truth about knowledge. That is a reason why children study skill is weaker than before.

Websites are the most commonly used tools for online social networking and are commonly referred to as social sites. To the internet users, these social networking websites functions just like online communities which brings millions of people together, most of whom have common interests in religion, hobbies, lifestyles and political opinions. One begins to socialize once permission to access the social networking site has been granted. There are hundreds of social networking sites in the world today which includes Facebook, Cyworld, Bebo, and MySpace and have attracted millions of people across the globe, many of whom have integrated the social sites as part of their daily activities. Strangers are helped by these social sites to connect based on common interests like political ideologies, religion, sexual desires and nationality- based identities. Many of the social sites that are used today support the existing social networks and relationships that exist in the society (Qualman 3).

Social networking tools have been widely accepted in learning institutions and are used for informing students who may not be able to attend class sessions due to a number of reasons. Many institutions today have developed groups in the social networking sites which are used in delivery of lessons and instructions. Some lecturers also use the social sites to deliver assignments to their students and offer online classrooms especially for the disabled who may be unable to attend the traditional class sessions. The social networking is a growing reality in the classrooms and it allows students to exchange answers quickly and provide instant feedback to the teachers about their comprehension. Today, many universities and colleges requires freshman to have iPods as a component of the initial academic tools. This shows that dependence on the social media is very high in learning institutions since it can transmit information in the most effective manner.

Social networking is also known to influence learning in work places especially when an employee is new to the organization. The new way of communicating is enthusiastic and helps an individual to obtain information from other work mates without necessarily having a physical encounter. It also helps to improve performance by consulting and sharing knowledge with other professionals who may or may not be part of one's organization. The use of social networking in the learning process is very advantageous to the development of the students because unlike the traditional classroom learning, participation is mandatory. Students are required to respond to readings and postings by their peers hence it encourages discussion and better understanding of the topics. In the traditional classroom sessions some students would chose to sit back in classrooms and avoid interactions which results in less understanding of the topic of discussion.

On the other side though, social networking has negative impacts of the lives of students and on the learning process. Some scientists have also warned that there are alarming changes in the brains of young users of the social networking websites. The sites like Bebo and Facebook to encourage instant gratification reduce attention spans and encourage self centeredness in young people. Numerous complaints have been raised by teachers and parents over the reduced communication ability and concentration of the youngsters who are addicted to the social media. According to statistics released by techrunch .com, approximately 85 percent of students in colleges log on Facebook on a daily basis. These students spent many hours answering page comments, looking through their pictures and chatting with friends instead of dedicating their time studying and doing their homework. Research also shows that many employers are not satisfied with the recent graduate's face-to- face communication skills (Shaulis 9).

A psychologist who is named Larry Rosen did a report, it showed more than 7.5 million children who is less than 13 years old, and they are the Facebook users. All those children could not focus on the class because they are always thinking about their Facebook page and check it once time per 3 minutes. This is the most important reason why they are grade low. Also Larry said: "if those children use too much social websites, it will make them more anxiety, be down in spirits and lead to other mental illness. Meanwhile, it leads to insomnia and stomach diseases to those children." This is a reaction about addictive, those children are fall in the social networking. It makes them feel better if they have more friend, more interesting things. Every day they spent a lot of time on it, forgot study but the result is they got nothing whatever from school or website. Social networking is associated with development of jargon which normally involves the use of shortened messages which encourages the development of poor spelling, grammar and usage leading to development of poor face to face communication skills. Also multi tasking which results as students engage in revision and at the same time checking on their social network account has been known to lower grades in students. The negative affect will warn the parents to let them limit their children spent too much time.

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