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Patricia
Mr. Dodson
English III
23 May 2014
Has Social Media Change The Way Americans Interact?
The total amount of media use by youth ages 8 to 18 averages 6 plus hours a day
more than any other activity. Using social media websites is among the most common activity of
todays children and adolescents. Communication is an essential part of a human being life. It is
almost impossible for us to maintain our work life and social life without using some sort of
social media site to communicate ideas. Social media negatively affects our society as it takes
away face to face interaction with human beings.
The excessive use of social media sites makes humans lack privacy and cannot maintain a
stable relationship. Users today use social media to interact with people but is it also taking away
our confidence in talking face to face? Privacy issues are a concern in social media sites which
affects the ability to not interact with one and prevent future issues. As a result future jobs and
college acceptance may be put into jeopardy by in experienced and rash clicks of the mouse
(OKeeffe). If people learned how to keep their life private by not revealing so much
information online, future reputation wouldnt be in the palm of their hands.Statistics show that
64% of teens with twitter accounts say that their tweets are public; while 24% say there tweets
are private(Madden). This means that more than half of twitter accounts are public. The
negative side of these interactions is twofold - we lose the benefits of face to face interactions,
and the emotional bonds that physical interaction builds, and by sharing our intimate life details
with hundreds of people, we lose privacy and open ourselves up to judgment and ridicule.
Preadolescents and adolescents who lack awareness of privacy issues often post inappropriate
messages, pictures, and videos without understanding that what goes online stays

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online(O'Keeffe). For example, if you post a photo of a girl to get a certain message out there,
friends will eventually see it and start sharing it with others, which will lead into cyber bullying.
Many people in society are beginning to take the easy way out when it comes to conflict. Instead
of posting things online, why not take care of the situation privately by simply speaking to the
person face to face in order to avoid any further conflict. Many people are becoming used to
only conversing on the computer. This trend has continued and lead to an, interesting number of
developing adults that function well in a keyboard setting while failing at human interaction.

Twitter Privacy
Tweets
Private
24%

Tweets
Public
64 %

Online sites are concerned that the lack of interpersonal communication can result in loss
of relationships. 27 % said Facebook is one of the top ways people their age begin romantic
relationships (Collier). Has social media taken the romance away? Relationships online are
lacking the emotion and intimacy. People are becoming seduced by the ease of connecting with
others online that we begin to think that these relationships are more intense, more committed
and more complete than they really are (Jain). Also, social media has made relationships hard
because it allows each partner to monitor the activities of the other, which may cause suspicion
and hurt feelings if left out (Collier). Exchanging messages, poke each other, share pictures
or tag one another does not necessarily mean that youre communicating. Most importantly, do
not use social media as a way to passive aggressively send a message to your mate. If you have

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an issue, turn off the electronics and talk it out (Ruane). Spending too much time interacting on
social media sites cause couples to not spend genuine time with their partner and can lead to a
break up. However, if social media sites are negatively affecting relationships, dumping the site
and working out issues with your significant other can help workout the relationship. No site
should ever surpass the importance of relationships we have with the people we love.
Communicating in person is also always more entertaining and personal (Reinitz). Humans
today still consider social media to interact with the loss of privacy and not maintaining a stable
relationship.
Instant messaging and email are important to humans today, but they also have their
limitations. IM allows for instant communication with multiple individuals all over the globe.
What affects has this had on our interaction with others? Some may state that instant messaging
today allows us to communicate via video or voice through the instant message window, but true
instant messaging is text based conversations. Even if one was to consider the video and voice
features available, this kind of communication is still void of face to face contact that is key to
our social interactions overall (Payne). 24 % communicate with friends via instant messaging
(Anti-Social Networking). It can be great for making plans with multiple people, catching up
with old friends, exchanging information and more but one has to be careful not to replace old
fashioned face to face socializing and phone calls with the faceless communications of instant
messaging. Using casual abbreviations to shorten IMs, such as "2" for "to" and "B4" for
"before," can become a bad writing habitat, and without realizing it you might hand in a report
that includes such language. Direct communication has been eliminated and much of society has
been reduced to using abbreviations that express their emotions. Many people sit at home
talking via IM rather than on the phone or in person which can lead to lack of social skills.

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Emails are still used today and in fact many people rely on it. According to studies,
eleven percent of people use email. Humor and sarcasm, is difficult to properly communicate by
e-mail. When you are constantly using abbreviations and slang in text it is hard to remember to
use proper grammar when writing formal emails. Think of how many professors or bosses have
probably received a "cuz," "l8ter" or "cya" in an email. The misunderstanding is usually that the
senders think she or he has sent a clear message, and the receiver does not interpret the message
in the way the sender intended it. This can lead to awkward situations. Miscommunication can be
a source of stress because an employee has to take action to correct the message which
automatically implies that extra time and attention is needed to handle the message again (The
Impact of Email and Communication on Organizational Life). Humans needs to interact face to
face rather than depend on Instant messaging and Emails.
However, non face to face interaction on social media sites can affect humans well
being. Peoples mental health can be in a harmful situation because of the extreme use of social
media websites. Daily overuse of social media sites has a negative effect on the health of all
children, preteens and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression and other
psychological disorders. For Instance, Social Media Depression, a phenomenon characterized by
the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as the psychological impact that social media
websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as gaming sites with virtual worlds, YouTube,
and online communities that cause depression and self-esteem issues in people with underlying
risk of mental health issues. Many studies have showed that the extensive use of social media
can actively cause addiction to users (Ali). Psychologists given the study that the increase in
what some are calling Facebook Addiction Disorder, when people are afraid to disconnect from
social media services because they think theyre going to missing something important (Pilieci).

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Throughout their day, people feel the need to post something on their pages or check others
pages as if it has become part of their life. Because of such use, the interactions with other people
have become isolated with their lives behind their own identities. Does this mean that the people
you connect with online are probably lying about who they really are? When face-to-face
communication has been removed, it becomes easy for some individuals to use a type of alter
ego to exaggerate who they really are. Many social media users practice boosting the reality of
their lives by posting things that make them appear more desirable to be with. People just want to
measure up. People have become distracted, who may seem interested in what their friends are
posting than to their own work tasks. Facebook can be distracting and can negatively impact
learning. Studies found that middle school, high school and college students who checked
Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period achieved lower grades. (Pilieci) Using
social media can stir up many emotions, and using it too excessively creates a detachment from
real life. Social media may exacerbate ones emotions, including unhappiness, depression, and
sadness and also feeling lonely.
Social media has made it for many to become physically unhealthy. People are less
inclined in going outdoors for some exercise or working put at home. According to this, 2 hours
a day sitting in front of the computer increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 20 %.
This also can risk the chances of heart disease by 15 % (Alison). Statistics show that sitting in
front of the computer all day causes poor posture, eye strain, poor circulation, and causes
individuals to eat way too much, severely affecting ones health (Bates). A new study
by Stockholms KTH Royal Institute of Technology found that neurons can get overwhelmed by
constant exposure to social media, which in turn may affect the ability of the brain to retain new
information. Constant switching from one task to another, which can occur during the work

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with social media, strongly tires your brain. The brain gets tired of the information abundance,
especially if this information is received chaotically, in small portions, but rather quickly
(Restuccia). Social networking tools were more likely to have poor diets or trouble with obesity,
abuse alcohol or drugs, and lack adequate sleep. Social media can have beneficial effect on self
esteem. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have become a huge part of most teens
lives. But do they hurt our self-esteem and body image? Its the interaction with the pressure to
have the perfect profile pictures, the comparisons one makes, and the dangers of the constant
scrutiny of their own bodies. These picture-perfect images can be especially difficult for
teenagers to grapple with because theyre often hyper-conscious of measuring up to their peers
(Shea). Social media provides many individuals with a false sense of self and an inflated sense of
who they really are. Humans need to be more aware that non face to face interaction can affects
ones health.
Social media is removing human qualities of communication by eliminating the need to
get out and socialize with others in person. The lack of face to face communication is evident as
an issue in global society. It has become exceedingly obvious that our technology has exceeded
our humanity. Albert Einstein. Has face to face communication become extinct? Humans
need to learn that verbal communication is an important aspect of humans life. Social media has
taken over humans ability to verbally communicate, the lack of privacy, maintaining
relationships and most important the way one takes care of their health.

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Works Cited
"4 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Relationships |." Social Media Examiner RSS. Dr.
Rachna Jain, 10 June 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-ways-social-media-is-changing-yourrelationships/>.
Collier, Ann . "Teens on social media's impact on relationships: Survey ." NetFamilyNews.org.
N.p., 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://www.netfamilynews.org/teens-on-socialmedias-impact-on-relationships-survey>.
Diaz, Yamalis , Lori Evans, and Richard Gallagher. "Anti-Social Networking: How do texting
and social media affect our children? ." aboutourkids.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/antisocial_networking_how_do_texting_social_m
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"Facebook Envy: How The Social Network Affects Our Self-Esteem." wbur.org. Andrea Shea,
20 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. <http://www.wbur.org/2013/02/20/facebookperfection>.
Pilieci, Vito . "Is social media harming our mental health, researchers wonder?." National Post
25 Mar. 2012: n. pag. new.nationalpost.com. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
Ruane, Christine. "Is Your Relationship an Online Overshare? ." Fox News Magazine 23 Jan.
2013: n. pag. magazine.foxnews.com. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
"Social Media - A Good Thing or a Bad Thing?." RSS. Syed Noman Ali, 8 Aug. 2012. Web. 21
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"Social networking and why it can negatively impact your relationship." Examiner.com. Hannah
Reinitz, 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. <http://www.examiner.com/article/social-

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networking-and-why-it-can-negatively-impact-your-relationship>.
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<http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582>.
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