disadvantages of social networking

NILL SALUNKE

Disadvantages of Social Networking1 message

NILL SALUNKE Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 4:27 PMTo: NILL SALUNKE

Disadvantages of Social Networking: SurprisingInsights from TeensHonestly, I sometimes truly wish that tools such as the iPhone (or any smartphone), laptops, iPads, tablets,etc. hadnt been invented. Sure, theyre great, incredibly useful, and fun time-killers. But the way teenagersabuse them, and turn them into mini social control rooms is frankly awful.

At first glance, you might think this quote came from a parent or grandparent lamenting on the disadvantages ofsocial networking and how social media has doomed todays children. But it was written by a Seattle-area tenthgrader as part of an assignment to answer the question, How has online social networking influenced yourrelationships with friends and family?

This student goes on to write, The teenage way of life has completely changed from what it was only twentyyears ago. Now, there is a dramatic decrease in face-to-face communication, which reduces our generationsability to interact with others on a speaking level.

This is a two-part article gleaned from reviewing the essays of a class of tenth graders, with their permission, ofcourse. It is meant to generate additional discussion on the benefits and disadvantages of social networking andits effect on healthy youth development.

Below are the most discussed disadvantages of social networking according to these tenth graders, includingquotes from their essays. In a similar format, you can also read reflections on the benefits of social networking inmy column at Psychology Today.

10 Disadvantages of Social Networking

1. Lacks Emotional Connection

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends and I got into a fight and she told me all of her feelings as to why sheignored me for two weeks. Assuming it would have been really hard to say it to my face, she sent me a textmessage. The negative side was I didnt know if she truly felt sorry because I didnt hear it from her. The qualityof a conversation using social media is awful because you cannot sense the emotion or enthusiasm from theother person. It makes you wonder if they actually mean what they say.

2. Gives People a License to be Hurtful

I do think it has gotten to an extreme point where you can say things you cant say or get away with in person.

Im disappointed whenever I hear about social media being used as a way to hurt people. I wonder if thishappens when the writers forget that there are real people behind the screen.

3. Decreases Face-to-Face Communication Skills

Computer reliance could hurt a persons ability to have a face to face conversation by making it awkward andunusual to hear something and respond with a thoughtful message through the spoken word because of onesdependence on a keyboard to convey a message.

4. Conveys Inauthentic Expression of Feelings

Gmail - Disadvantages of Social Networking https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=2c3841767d&view=pt&se...

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Social media conversations today are filled with haha, LOL, and other exclamations that are meant torepresent laughter. This shorthand has become second nature and is often used when the sender is not evensmiling, much less laughing, in real life. On the occasion that our roflcopter is actually put to use at a funnymoment, we are replacing actual laughter with, in this case, a simple ten-letter acronym. According to RobinDunbar, an evolutionary psychologist at Oxford, the actual physical act of laughter, and not the abstract idea ofsomething being funny, is what makes laughing feel so good. If we are so willing to replace the act that, honestly,we all love, with an artificial, typed representation that doesnt even bring the same joy, what else would we be,potentially subconsciously, willing to exchange?

5. Diminishes Understanding and Thoughtfulness

Since the inception of social networking, the quality of conversations has dropped. I believe that people arespending so much time online that they dont always understand the feeling, emotion and/or character of theperson they are talking to. When you talk to someone through a message or even a voice, you cant always fullyunderstand them.

Social networking has ruined the thoughtfulness in basically saying hello in person. For instance, you could sayhello to your friend in Germany with Facebook, chat in seconds; but what if there was no way to communicatevia social networking? Well you would have to write them a letter and that is something very thoughtful.

6. Causes Face-to-Face Interactions to Feel Disconnected

When I see my friends on their phones and I am around them, I feel disconnected even though we are only twofeet apart.. Unfortunately, sometimes friends use their phones so much that it is difficult to have an actualconversation with them. Sometimes friends can get so socially attached to something such as a blog or gamingconsole that they lose touch with friends, creating small gaps and holes in close friendships/relationships.

7. Facilitates Laziness

The new socially active era causes laziness because instead of running to your friends you can message them.Or instead of walking upstairs to notify the family of dinner, I can blog it. Social networking makes life soconvenient that it creates laziness. In my opinion staying fit is important, but it is difficult to go beyond the newlydeveloped status quo.

Its really easy to spend hours doing nothing.Its a fantastic way to waste time.

8. Creates a Skewed Self-Image

We tell ourselves lies about ourselves and develop something we are not. We post pictures of us lookingperfect and share the good news. We never post pictures of ourselves when our dog dies, when someone welove leaves, and when we lose a job. We never share the bad news that always clouds our lives. We all developthis perfect image of ourselves and some of us actually try to rely on this imaginative thought we have ofourselves instead of staying true to who we are.

9. Reduces Family Closeness

Texting, Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail alienate us from our families more than we actually think it does. Whenmy family is spending family time together and watching a movie, in reality my brother and I are on our phonesrather than actually watching the movie with our parents.

10. Causes Distractions

When I have my phone out, it makes me feel like nothing else is going on around me. I use social media as away to feel popular, important, and also just to fit in. My friends and I always compare ourselves to each other,wondering who has more Facebook friends or Twitter followers. But what really ends up happening is I begin totalk less and end up relying on text for a conversation. Ever since I got a smartphone I have been distractedfrom everything. I watch television less, do homework less, and even spend less time with my friends andfamily.

Addressing the Disadvantages of Social Networking

The disadvantages of social networking and social media will continue to be studied for decades to come. In the


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meantime, we already know it is a significant source of concern among privacy advocates as well as parentswho worry about their childrens safety. But clearly, the disadvantages of social networking go much deeper thanprivacy and safety. These high school students described some of the serious drawbacks to relationships thefoundation of human development.

The disadvantages of social networking strike at the very heart of healthy youth development. In his recentbook, Lightweb Darkweb: Three Reasons to Reform Social Media Before It Re-Forms Us, musician and childadvocate Raffi Cavoukian provides an abundance of evidence to suggest needed reform. Using an ecological,systems framework to delve into this topic, he challenges parents, educators, and citizens, to see the connectionbetween youth development and what he describes as a vast sociological experiment that may forever changehuman relationships.

In the coming months, I plan to interview Raffi for more details about his ideas, which I know have evolved fromconversations with great thinkers and researchers around the world.

What do you think? How will we ensure the healthy growth and development of children and teens, given theknown harmful effects and disadvantages of social networking?

Disadvantages of Social MediaWe have all heard the positive aspects of such websites they provide complete connectivity, bring people withcommon interests together, and create a platform to share your life with the rest of the world. However over allthis brouhaha, if we ponder over the subject for a while, a few negatives of this new phenomenon come to light.Some key disadvantages of social networking or rather say risks associated with it are highlighted below.

Disadvantage of Social Networking for people

The balance of good and evil in the world needs to be maintained. Naturally when a far reaching medium such asthe internet brings us social networking sites that spice up our lives a little, it also attracts the fractious few ofsociety. Some of the things that could lead to potential social disaster are:

The one potential risk of social networking cited most often is that of hacking. Incidents of profiles andaccounts being hacked into are commonplace. While this could be restricted to simply playing a practicaljoke on a friend, it sometimes leads to the more serious misdemeanour of identity theft. This requires alow level of technical skill and is referred to as social engineering. This technique banks upon thepsychological aspect of a friend connection; the hacker uses common interests, background andprofessional information (all of which are posted on profiles) to extract sensitive information, likepasswords and other details from the targeted individual and use them to create an alternate identity. Justusing simple data like date of birth, name and location allows hackers to create fake social security cards,drivers licenses and ID cards. Almost 15 million Americans are victims, either directly or indirectly, ofidentity theft.The surprising part is that even though people are adequately aware of the risks, only 40%of them manage their privacy settings (according to a survey conducted by PCWorld). Thus investingsome time on securing your account against fraudsters and unknown individuals would prove to bebeneficial in the long run.

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Another disadvantage of social networks is that it can help create something which does not exist or maynot be as good as it is presented. For example, if you go to Amazon and see a product has 100 positivereviews while the other has only 20, you are likely to buy the one with hundred. This is how humanpsychology. So if 100 people have shared a post, you are likely to share it too while it may actually be ahoax or plain spam. You must have seen those click like and see what happens posts on facebook. Theyget thousands of likes! The same illusion is created for personal lives of people. Just posting happy andparty pictures do not mean one is actually happy!

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While social media can help people / companies create good image, it can also be used to tranish animage with false claims. A viral social media post talking how a product can cause problems can lead tohuge losses to a firm. Till the time the company realises most of the damage is done.

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Another potential hazard of putting up pictures and videos on these websites is that they could be usedfor defamation. Reported cases include girls photos being photo-shopped and used in objectionableplaces. Also instances where people use social networking sites to abuse or defame anonymously areconstantly reported. A Telegraph report outlines a case where cyber bullying was being used by studentsto intimidate teachers and staff.

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People recruited in high security professions like the defence services, national project engineers andscientist face an added disadvantage of hackers misusing any leaked classified information. Any

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unintended slip of information could have serious ramifications if it falls into the wrong hands. Infact peoplelooking to get close to employees working in highly confidential industries use social media to profile andstudy them. This is not a movie or a TV serial story no more.All over the world social media websites are used to get up close and personal without even revealing thetrue identity. There have been numerous scandals in which people have gone as far as marrying eachother and then realizing the truth. These relationships based on false information often lead to seriousconsequences. There have been so many cases in developing countries where people fall in love oversocial media website and end up being cheated financially, emotionally and physically.

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Health Problems

There is an extensive range of mental and health problems known to be associated with spending too much timeon social media. In addition to reducing productivity, creating distractions and increasing burnouts, they cancause some serious medical issues.

Excessive time spent on social networks causes some individuals to experience withdrawal symptoms.They retreat from actual interaction with fellow humans and assume a virtual persona. Common signsare anxiety, distress, boredom and loneliness, much the same as a typical addiction! A study 24 hours:Unplugged conducted by the University of Maryland led to the conclusion that majority of students areincredibly addicted to social media.

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Regular recreational or social activities take a back seat when social networking is the prime agenda.Face to face interaction and socialising becomes something of a burden to an addict. In extreme casesinteractions with close friends and family also stops and is substituted by virtual communication. Muchfurore was created about this very aspect due to a paper published by Dr. Aric Sigman, a fellow of theRoyal Society of Medicine, where he mentions that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the waygenes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mentalperformance.

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The lack of social interaction could result in people suffering from more stress related diseases anddisorders than before. Dr. Aric Sigman in his paper points out the link between reduced human interactiontime and problems like suffering a stroke, blood pressure, colds, dementia and cognitive problems.

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Disadvantage of Social Networking for professionals and companies

The social network revolution has left no strata of our society untouched. Organisations face issues over lostproductivity due to employees spending their time on social media. For firms that dole out payments by thehour, each hour of productivity lost through employees updating their profiles or adding a Twitpic, could provecostly. Most organisations these days do have set guidelines about the use of social media in the work place,however their implementation is a major hassle.

Furthermore, the use of company resources in these activities is quite substantial. Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn etc require a large bandwidth. Also, downloading pictures and videos streamed through thesesites involves additional costs. Viruses and malware also pose a serious threat to the safety of the ITsystems. Numerous applications available through Facebook are potential sources for theseviruses.Multiple social networks, from Twitter and Google+ to Orkut and MySpace create an informationoverload that is difficult to manage. People juggling between these sites have trouble processing all theinformation making the whole exercise excessively taxing. A 2009 study by three Stanford Universityprofessors on cognitive control concluded that chronic media multi-taskers are more susceptible todistraction.

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Social networking at workplace can also cause confidentiality issues. An angry employee can use thesesites to leak sensitive information. Sensitive information may also be leaked unintentionally to publiccausing financial and credibility loss for a company.

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Another potential disadvantage of social networking at workplace is that it can easily be cause strainbetween employees. For example employees of one group may comment about low level work of anothergroup leading to tensions between them. Employees can also show dissent against their bosses ormanagement on a public forum of social media which tarnishes image of the company. Immatureemplyees can actually get into "social-media" fight which can spoil whole environment of a company.

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Companys image may also get compromised if employees post bad comments about the company.Today prospective employees to prospective clients everyone is on one or another social media. Anegative image (even if false) can hurt business prospects.

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Social networking websites have, at times, been used for the purpose of furthering political agendas. Thishas proved to be significant disadvantage of social networking at many places. Chinas blocking of Twitter

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and YouTube a few months before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, or the use ofFacebook as a medium for instigating and spreading the message that led to riots in London, have beenquestioned. However these are subjective in nature and could be interpreted in a positive light as well.

Social media has brought to the world a common medium for thoughts, words and expression. However itscorrect and efficient usage is completely dependent on how it is managed. Being aware of the risks andvulnerabilities that we are exposed to through these media only empowers further to use them in a positive way.It is up to us to make sure that social networking does not turn into social dysfunction.

Social Media: What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networkingsites? What should we include in a policy? 6/1/2012When it comes to social networking in the workplace, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.The benefits of socialnetworking platforms vary based on platform type, features and the company itself.

Social networking platforms may allow organizations to improve communication and productivity by disseminatinginformation among different groups of employees in a more efficient manner. While it is not meant to beall-inclusive, the list below outlines some of the possible advantages and disadvantages of social media use byworkplaces.

Possible advantages:Facilitates open communication, leading to enhanced information discovery and delivery.Allows employees to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions and share links.Provides an opportunity to widen business contacts.Targets a wide audience, making it a useful and effective recruitment tool.Improves business reputation and client base with minimal use of advertising.Expands market research, implements marketing campaigns, delivers communications and directs interestedpeople to specific web sites.

Possible disadvantages:Opens up the possibility for hackers to commit fraud and launch spam and virus attacks.Increases the risk of people falling prey to online scams that seem genuine, resulting in

Social Media: What are the advantages and disadvantages of social net... http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/socialnetworkingsitesp...1 of 4 12/18/2014 2:51 PMdata or identity theft.Potentially results in negative comments from employees about the company or potential legal consequences ifemployees use these sites to view objectionable, illicit or offensive material.Potentially results in lost productivity, especially if employees are busy updating profiles, etc.Employers do have the right to simply ban all computer activity that is not work-related, but this approach maynot yield optimal results. If employees are to be allowed access to social networking platforms, then acomprehensive and well-defined policy should be established to prevent abuse.A social networking use policy generally:

Defines what social networking is particular to your organization, so employees know exactly what is meant bythe term.Establishes a clear and defined purpose for the policy.Communicates benefits of social networking and of having a policy.Provides a clear platform for educating employees.Takes into consideration any legal ramifications of not following laws.Refers to confidentiality of employer trade secrets and private or confidential information. Talks aboutproductivity in terms of social networking.Provides guidance regarding social networking outside of company time/property that could be associated withthe company, employees or customers. Some employers may prohibit posting of company information on socialnetworking sites without explicit consent.Provides examples of policy violations.Outlines disciplinary measures to be taken for policy violations.

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disadvantages of social networking

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