It is quite indecisive what exactly social networking has done to our generation. With it has come its positive and negative changes. People can now interact across international boundaries within split seconds. It has also made and is still making ‘unknown things’ known to the world. From the likes of Facebook, Whatsapp, BBM, Instagram, Skype, WeChat, Twitter, MySpace, to Eskimi, you get to re-connect with both old and new friends not just around your immediate environment, but also across the globe. One can get to meet new friends, exchange ideas, pictures, videos, and games from blog sites and websites on the internet. Students can now collaborate with their peers to gain more knowledge and improve their academic proficiency.
With all these great advantages, social networking has however done as much harm than it has good to not just youths, but to all persons of internet age. People fall prey to all sorts of online attacks and harassment. Peoples’ private businesses has now become topics of public debate. There is no adequate measure to regulate the use of the internet for social networking by under-aged children. If one is being too carefree on issues like this, what you post on the internet might come back to haunt you as most often times, internet users posts renders them vulnerable to crimes.
The problem with youths when it comes to social networking however, is that too much time and energy is spent on less important activities. Multitasking for students now depends on how well they can send messages during lectures…addiction then sets in. Hyper-networking (more than three hours on social networks per day) and hyper texting (more than 120 text messages per day) alongside social networking later results in mental and psychological problems (depression, poor academic performance, poor sleep pattern, suicide). This has also encouraged poor grammar usage and spelling as students tend to shorten words while chatting and this reflects in their writings.
Although several arguments have been proffered on the impact of social networking on people, especially the youth, the internet has come to stay with it advantages and downsides. It is however up to each individual to use social sites wisely. Remember “What goes online stays online”.
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