Hamm 1

Raquel Hamm
Professor Azeem
English 114B
REVISED: Where Has Social Media Gone To?
At the click of a button or a word typed into a search bar, information appears to you
before you can blink your eyes. Anything you can ever want to know is readily available at your
fingertips. That power is the rise of social media, which has its negative views. In our society,
people have become more at risk for their personal information being exposed or even
cyberbullied with the continual advancement of technology and new social sites. The Internet
defines cyberbullying as, the act of harassing someone online by sending or posting mean
messages, usually anonymously (Dictionary.com). Cyberbullying is one the reasons that social
media has helped people in this generation gain social awareness towards current events in our
society; however, weve lost the ability to connect to others because of the power thats behind
the screen.
Social media is a very popular trend in society and can even be described as its own
culture. Some people see social media to be beneficial when meeting new people and reuniting
with long lost friends, at least it was created for those solely reasons alone. The chance to
connect with people while miles apart, to stay aware of whats occurring throughout the world or,
for some, making social media the sole reason for existing. As well as, help people who are
socially awkward or shy connect with other people online. However, those socially awkward are
taken for granted once they let their guard down to try to fit in with the wrong crowd, which
usually leads to cyberbullying.

Hamm 2
Social sites pave a way for information to be transferred such as being able to easily
screenshot another persons data, or matching pictures posted to internet from anywhere on the
world wide web. Its imperative to be cautious when posting things on social sites because
hackers or bullies will pounce on any chance to obtain private files. Imagine a world without
social media where people would actually have normal conversations instead of staring at their
phones. Its hard to even imagine. Someone who is born in this current generation is rid the
chance at life outside of the screen because its all they know, theyre basically born into it. I
remember as a kid playing outside with friends and reading books for fun, which is rarely the
case now. Instead, I see kids with advanced technology who seem to be over-privileged. Social
media affects not only teenagers or young children, but all age groups.
Social media plays a huge role in gender cultural identity. In other words, women and
men are set on very different pedestals when its come to social sites. It has become so popular
that it is now a part of our lives. The gender stereotypes in our society can be a perfect example
of the negative social effects on media. Some may not feel complete if they dont check their
twitter feed, update their Facebook status, or upload a new picture on Instagram. I personally
experienced the negative affect that social media had on my life. I would always be on my
phone, which was a huge distraction, that I forgot about priorities or even how to have a normal
face to face conversation without feeling awkward. Furthermore, cyberbullies dont understand
that being behind the screen will make them anonymous. Unfortunately, its hard to understand
exactly what cyberbullying is and how a cyberbully acts. This why it is essential to share recent
cyberbullying cases with the world.
In one of most popular cyberbullying story cases is about a boy by the name of Ryan
Halligan. His parents, John and Kelly Halligan actually were the ones who reported the case.

Hamm 3
Ever since Ryan was young he had complications with his speech, language, and motor skills
development that led him to receiving special education courses from preschool to fourth grade.
His academic and physical struggles made him the target for kids at his school to tease him all
throughout fifth grade to seventh grade. One day, a fight happened between Ryan and a bully, but
later formed a friendship with bully; at least he thought. However, the bully who was supposed
to be Ryans buddy started a rumor saying that Ryan was gay. The taunting continued, although
Ryan thought we had struck a friendship with a popular girl on AOL Instant Messager (AIM).
Little did Ryan know that the popular girl and her friends thought it would be funny to trick into
thinking that the girl liked him and used it for him to share more personal embarrassing stories.
They copied and pasted everything Ryan had told them through AIM and exchanged the
information with other friends. On October 7, 2003, Ryan hung himself in the family bathroom.
After Ryans death, his father, John, found a folder of AIM messages that made him realize that
technology was being utilized as weapons far more effective than most crimes.
In "Public Displays of Connection" by Judith Donath and Danah Boyd, they discuss
about how online social networking make people accustomed to thinking of the on-line world as
the social space. Most networking sites share similar interpersonal links--which mutual, public,
unnuanced, and decontextualised. Judith Donah states that social networking sites will support
and enable a new model of technology, however, it's diminishing the role of social life in
everyday life. The display of connection actually means that high status may deliberate to
impress the listener of the speaker's ability to effect action. Donath believes, "As society
becomes increasingly dynamic, with access to information playing a growing role, having many
diverse connections will be key". In other words, seeing someone within the context of their
connections provides the viewer with information about them.

Hamm 4
In my opinion, I agree that social media has took a toll on society because in my
experience confirms when people literally rely and can't live without the Internet and technology.
For MY 'tech-savvy' generation, people are so used to pushing buttons instead of gaining
discipline, which makes them able to handle something for themselves when things pops up.
That brings to the conclusion that we've lost some independence because of relying heavily on
technology when in reality, there's much more to life than the Internet... to a certain extent.
In Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, they argue that about the unbalanced
friendships that people have and how friendships lately have become both all and nothing,
meaning that the strong form of connection you are supposed to have in a friendship, dies. They
address how everyone is friends with everyone and how the social media has been a huge part of
the distortion of true friendship now-a-days. He refers that a friendship goes "from a relationship
to a feeling" in a short amount of time because of people sharing private secrets to doing it
privately in a lonesome time. John Palfrey and Urs Gasser continues by saying how friendships
these days are not authentic that they used to be in the past. Speaking of the past, he describes the
historical friendships with subjects in ancient times, going back in the centuries. The media
feeds this fear near coverage is saturated with frightening stories of cyberbullying, online
predators, Internet addiction, and online pornography (Palfrey, Gasser, 13), which is so accurate
because many people dont know what theyre getting themselves into on things they encounter
on the Internet.
`

Although, in my opinion, people who grew up in the tech-savvy generation of spending a

lot of time on social media, the Internet, and technology have found out new ways of
communication that can save peoples friendships and relationships. Palfrey acknowledges that
fact that parents worry most that their digitally connected kids are at risk of abduction when

Hamm 5
they spend hours a daythey worry about bullying that their children may encounter online ,
addiction, to violent video games, and access to pornographic and hateful images. (Palfrey,
John, 13). However, people, especially teenagers can get a lot of helpful information about
subjects that they feel uncomfortable talking about from the Internet. There are incorrect
information online, but there are also reliable sites that offer free of charge, about health,
depression, sexuality, and more.
In my experience, I can say that Ive been apart of the 95% social media-using teens who
have witnessed cruel behavior on social networking sites say they have seen others ignoring the
mean behavior because I was the one being bullied. This incident occurred when Facebook was
really popular, my freshman year in high school. I was friends with this guy, who was popular for
posting the attractive and unattractive people on his page to get attention from all the people he
was friends with. One night, I was eager to be on his page and get compliments from his people,
at least I thought I was. In other words, if I was the first person to like his post, Id win for that
night and thats just what I did. Not knowing that the guy was going to pick a not so cute picture
of me that I posted like two years prior. Seconds later, comments flood my picture full of horrible
responses about my appearance.
As many people have various perspectives about the effect that cyberbullying social
media has in the world, it may vary from negative to positive or even be neutral. I stand with the
fact that social media is important because it has already been introduced to the world, and it
shouldnt be here to stay. In fact, tips to help stop cyberbullying are such as: knowing its not
your fault, dont respond or retaliate, save the evidence, tell the person to stop and reach out for
help. These tips easily said than done, but it can definitely stop the cycle of aggression.

Hamm 6

Work Cited
~ "Please Login OR Register First to Make Recursive Donation."NoBullyingExpert
Advice on Bullying Cyber Bullying. N.p., 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
~ "Social Networking ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 11
Feb. 2015.
~ Palfrey, John, and Urs Gasser. "Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of
Digital Natives." (E) Dentity. 1st ed. Southlake: Fountainhead, 2011. 1-202. Print.
~ Donath, Judith, and Danah Boyd. "Public Displays of Connection." (E) Dentity. 1st ed.
Southlake: Fountainhead, 2011. 1-202. Print.