With Facebook, Twitter, Myspace.com and countless other social networking sites taking up all your time, do you ever feel that you could be doing something more productive with your time? Yes, these sites can be a great way to socialize with grammy who lives on the other side of the country, or to find that long lost cousin in who knows where, but what about the lack of anonymity, promotion of narcissism, shorter attention spans, and other downsides to all the time we spend on the Internet? Do you think the dangers & downsides of social networking outweigh the benefits?
In the past decade, what people barely knew of as the "Internet" has taken us by storm, and if you want to get somewhere in life, you are going to have to learn to become Internet savvy. Is all this leading us in the right direction, though? Do you feel there needs to be more censorship, or limits, when it comes to what we can and cannot say in this new world? Or are you just in love with this new creation to the point that you can't be away for five minutes from that phone, computer, or other technological device that gives you Internet access?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Jorge (9:00)
15 comments:
Yes social networking can be quite time consuming, but no it shouldn't stop you from doing it. social networking has its ups and downs just like mostly everything in life. i mean even if social networking didn't exist we would still find a way to procrastinate, so no social websites are neither good nor bad its the way you use them.
Xeromy Kaizad (1:00)
Define "productive" for me, and then I can answer your first question. Do you mean produce children? Money? Friendships? Well I currently have 517 friends on Facebook, which is way more than I ever had before Facebook. Isn't that productive? Isn't that a good thing? What, are you suggesting all these friends wouldn't give me the shirt off their back? What? I thought a friend was a friend. You mean my Facebook friends won't loan me $$? Damn! What kind of friend is that?
Seriously, I think the upside of social networking outweighs the downside. WAY more people than ever can get together worldwide to share ideas, viewpoints, and works of art. Why is an idea conveyed through keystrokes any less valuable than one expressed face to face or via the phone or snail ail? More ideas are being exchanged rapid fire than ever before, which I hope means more good ideas are being appreciated and cultivated than ever before. As for the bad ideas, just delete them!
I'm not in love with the Internet, and I have to admit I don't like the idea that my future kids will be able to push a few buttons and watch some sicko rape a farm animal or eat shit from a spoon . .. but I guess we have to take the good with the bad. Maybe the earlier kids have to see this kind of trash, the sooner they choose to turn away from it. (Wishful thinking?)
Anyway--good question! Wish I was smarter so I could answer better.
James Burke (1:00)
In this decade now, social networking, is actually the "social norm" we do not believe that we are wasting our time on the internet on websites like facebook and twitter, because that is they way we grew up. Older people would say, "oh yeah well we used to call each other on the phone and talk" but that is not what we do in this new social networking generations. We like to hold around a minimum of 3 conversations at a time online, without having to verbal converse with all 3 people. To us it is easier this way. I believe that people do have some what of a problem being able to leave their phone away from them for 5 minutes, but i do not believe that social networking is a negative thing in this world.
- Dylan Werner
S.T.U.D.Y= singing, tweeting, unlimited texting, dreaming, yawning.I think the upside of social networking definatly outweighs the downside. More people than ever can get together worldwide to share ideas, viewpoints, and works of art. More ideas are being exchanged rapid fire than ever before, which I hope means more good ideas are being appreciated and cultivated than ever before. Overall i think its good and helps keep people social and a very good excuse to stop studying for a bit!
brandan mcd^^^
Social networking can be good and bad. Good for socializing with friends, and good to find family as well. Bad to meet strangers and date them, bad to argue and cause drama and make yourself look like a fool. Facebook use to be fun to me I use to love it. Now I hate it it's become what I would call a "zoo". Why am I calling facebook a "zoo"? Because people are arguing, people are posting porn, fights, promoting parties and their music. It's okay to promote your music and parties but cut it down some. Everytime I log on I do not want to see naked people doing nasty things and I do not want to see the drama on my newsfeed. I feel like some people spend extremely too much time on social networks when there are much more active things they could be doing. Like myself I have school and I work also volunteer when I can. I don't have time to sit on the internet all day everyday. I don't understand how some people do it, what does it do for them? No these social networks are not leading us in the right direction. I actually think that it has detroyed some people. For example the things that these young girls and men are doing these days and posting them to the social networks. Now some people parents are on facebook now. No parents wants to get on a social network and see certain things about their child or if their really concerned no one elses. There should be limits when it comes to social networks because at the moment things are out of control. People are doing all sorts of things including "gang banging" over these sites. It's just sad I just want to say that people should find better things to do with their time. I'm not saying to not use the sites I'm just saying not as much.
Shantel
Well Jorge no one uses myspace anymore :p..but I do think we could all be doing something more productive with our time.
The social networking sites are very handy, but I also think they cause a lot of drama and people over expose themselves way to much.
I do believe that there needs to be some sort of censorship..maybe not necessarily for the things you say because to me free speech is important to me, but the naked pictures and stuff people are posting or nearly naked pictures.
And maybe the online harrassment as well..
I will admit I freak when I cant check my facebook and twitter, even when I know nothing new is on I still check it every five minutes...I think it's a little ridiculous how addicted we've all become to the internet.
kristina
And i disagree with james because guaranteed you dont know every single one of your 517 friends and if you say you do your a liar.
kristina
I for a fact know that I'm addicted to the internet. But if people could ration their time to be able to get stuff don't think there would not be such a problem i think. that what i would do if i ever needed to get stuff done. like this assignment for instance. I do a couple blogs, read the next post and then browse the internet thinking of ways i can answer the post. When i find my muse i go and answer the next few. That may not prove my argument towards the whole short attention span thing... but its how i roll, i multitask...
But whose to say that social networking is putting us in the right direction? Social networking has really helped people become closer to eachother and news definitely gets around fast on these sites but in a way it does hinder people from actual face to face interaction.
I also believe that we should be able to say whatever we want on the internet. It's a domain based on self expression and free speech. so i dont think that it needs to be censored. In fact soem sites are more fun with all the free thinking that goes on in forums and chatrooms. So yeah i may be in love with the internet... i like it with all its memes and lolcats, videos and music... all of it. :D
Sam Lehman
Social networking can be viewed from both sides. It’s both good and bad but I think it’s more good than bad. I hate when people say that Facebook and twitter are drama but yet the people that are saying it put feedback on their statues or tweets. If you don’t like it then delete it. But that’s beside the point. I think the upside of social networking outweighs the downside. More people are getting together and sharing ideas with each other from all over. I don’t think that these sites take over people’s life unless they have no life and let it take over. Does it cause people to have short attention span it may but people can multitask.. I know that when I’m writing a paper or for example working on this assignment I need a break so I grab my phone and explore until I can think of something to add or to write about. I will say that I am attached to my phone but who isn’t? And the whole it should be we be able to say what we think yes we should. I think we should be able to say whatever we want it’s a semi public domain based on self-expression and we have freedom of speech. Anymore that’s how you contact teacher, family, and bosses. It’s this age. I don’t think social networking is bad it get news out faster than most new channels and actually has people more aware of things. I don’t care if people say I’m addicted because there are worse things that I could be addicted to.
--Caitlin Wakefield
For the most part I feel as though social networking is a good thing to get in touch with people that you either don't live by or don't get more of an opportunity to see on a regular basis. However like any good thing it has its downfalls like "girls lying about there age", or "Petofiles using it as an easier means of luring people into bad situations". There are many forms of scams and other misfortunate things that go on with social sites but over all I feel there good but only to a point.
Kyle Hubert
Social networking can be quite time consuming, but that doesn't mean it should stop you what you are doing. There are many up and downs of social networking. I find myself distracted by facebook when writing papers or doing school work. But, that said if there wasn't social networking like facebook i would find something else to put off doing homework. In todays society it would be very different without electronics and social network mainly because our generation grew up with technology. But no social networks and technology is good or bad it depends how you use them and how you use your time on them.
Allyson
I never really have any accounts on these sights until I was half way through my senior year when I created a Facebook profile. I do think that people take this sight way to seriously. I can see how they are helpful but I really don’t need to know what you are doing every five minutes. I only get on Facebook once a day or sometimes once every couple of days. I can see potential for these sights to be dangerous to people’s health but for the moment I believe it to be nothing more than a nuisance. I do believe that steps need to be taken to ensure that people are protected in this new age of technology. There needs to be limits on what people can and can’t say online, just by doing this it would eliminate problems such as cyber bulling. I am not obsessed with the internet I can spend days on end without even getting on, but it is an excellent source of information.
Ryan
It is nice when you can find someone that you didn't know or make friends with someone from a different state. But it's defiantly not good for us at all. I didn't have a face book for a long time because all everyone talked about was this person talking crap or did you hear this. I was just annoyed about it before i even had one. But once i got one i was on there even if i was like this is boring get off and i will be back on it in a minute to see if there was a new post. It does bring us down and distracts us from everyday things. I know this girl and she was fitting with people on face book and was driving and had her one year old soon in the back of her car. she was to busy on face book fighting with this girl that she hit a deer head on and totaled her car. she was lucky cause her and her son wasn't hurt but still is it that important to check especially if you have someone you care about the most with you. So to say more i think social networking is kind of bad for us.
Alexis
There have been many cites made for entertainment. Some are still around and others have been worn out with comments and posts. The internet is more like a brain than just for entertainment. People often go there for the answers to all their problems. The social network takes up majority of your day and have you tired of looking at your screen. But you still manage to check your messages before you head to bed. The only downfall I have about cites is that the cause a lot of drama. That’s how a lot of arguments get starts. We are just too nosey. Technology is taking over our world with their iPods, iPads, iPhones, laptops, touchscreens, and other gidgets and gadgets. I say we either get in tune or be lost from the world itself.
Akemia Slaughter
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