The Pros and Cons of Facebook
In today's society, everyone uses a different type of social media. weather its Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. The one I really want to focus about is Facebook. Facebook is a type of social media, who is run by Mark Zuckerberg and founded on February 4, 2004. There are many negative and positive effects that Facebook has had on society or individuals.
Here are some positive effects on how Facebook has had on society. It’s much easier to communicate. If you have aWedding announcements or a special memory you want to show from the past. Do you have a new member in the family (baby)? Just in one click, put up a Facebook shot of that funny baby boy or girl on your timeline. The "Facebook revolution" is changing the best way that individuals connect with each other. The point is that now you don’t have to miss out on what your friends and family been up to. On January 31, 2014, a CNN article said, “In 2009, a survey of 2,600 college students by researchers at the University of Texas showed that those who were the heaviest users of Facebook were the most satisfied with their lives. They also were more likely to be engaged socially and politically (Gross 1).” This is one of the first studies to show that there's a psychological benefit of Facebook.
Another positive effect that Facebook has on individuals is that it helps with marketing your business. In the article, Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society, by Ali Kingston, says, “Traditional marketing mediums such as Facebook are completely obsolete now and demand thousands of dollars. However, with social media the businesses can connect with their targeted customers for free, the only cost is energy and time (Mwila 1).” Through Facebook, or any other social site you can lower your marketing cost to a significant level. I see many makeup artists markets their new products on Facebook, and it totally works because it catches my eyes. It’s amazing!!! An example of a business that's been positively affected by Facebook is Ellis. They use Facebook to market their business. It informs patients and people on where they are located and they can set up an appointment with doctors. Another business that uses Facebook as a way to market, is Qatar Airway. Qatar posts a number of pictures about football (soccer in America), which is what their fans care about. Fans are very responsive to questions and posts on the company’s page, as well.
Now there is always a negative side of social media/ Facebook. People are getting way too addicted to it. In the previous article, Ali Kingston pointed out that, “Spending countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. They mainly rely on technology and the internet instead of learning the practical knowledge and expertise of the everyday life (Mwila 2).” In other words, Ali is saying that our eyes are hypnotized by Facebook. It is really sad how this generation can’t live a second without using Facebook. Another downside of using Facebook is many people share way too much information than they should. The reason is that sometimes people share photos on social media that contains violence and sex, which can damage the behavior of kids and teenagers. It allowed the negative impact on overall society as these kids and teenagers involves themselves in crime related activities.
Overall I think the negative definitely outweighs the positive side. Even though I do believe you can use Facebook the right way. I just think people are way too addicted to it. Most of the kids that are using it are teenagers of the age 13-18 and some put their life’s at risk. Some people can become addicted to social media/websites (as the article mentioned). BE AWARE!!!!
Works Cited
Gross, Doug. "CNN." 31 January 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/tech/social-media/facebook-changes/. Document.
Mwila, Ali Kingston. "Linkedin." 31 October 2015. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/positive-negative-effects-social-media-society-ali-kingston.
