The misuse of social networking
Everyone has seen it — students glaring down at their phones like mindless zombies while walking around campus, interacting with friends, or even during class.
Growing technologies and social media sites can serve as a positive form of communication when used appropriately but when this privilege is abused, we lose our ability to interact with one another.
I personally believe college students rely too heavily on these social media sites, and it has lowered our ability to communicate with one another. There is a time and a place for everything, a time to bond with friends and a time to update your twitter.
Whether we rely on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or LinkedIn … mostly everyone is interconnected in some way and those who are not connected seem odd and out of place.
“Social networking sites such as Facebook offer users a convenient method for maintaining a large number of weak ties, while maintenance of strong ties typically requires significant commitments,” John Manuel, reasearch professor at Rogationist College said.
He published a research paper named “The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Interpersonal Relationships,” which outlined how college students react to growing social media sites.
Often college students interactions with each other will decrease due to maintaining online relationships. Some people find posting on social media sites more important than interacting with the people they are with and that is not how it should be.
On the other hand social media has a lot of great uses and has opened up many new opportunities for jobs for college students. It can also when used correctly increase communication between those distant relatives or friends that are hard to contact.
This fascination with social media doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, in fact it is growing with exciting new features everyday.
Mobile apps for social networking sites have made it difficult for some to refrain from updating their status while they are out with friends, who may come across as disconnected with the group while they are updating their pages.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of someone like that, is wow she posts a lot!” Anrea Santos, Saddleback student said, “other than that, it doesn’t effect my lifestyle.”
It is evident that for some, social networking sites enhance their way of life. For others it simply takes up a lot of time and can cause distractions in the school environment and also in a social environment. I feel people must learn the appropriate time to use social networking instead of abusing it because it can serve as a valuable communication tool.