The world today has turned to social networks such as Facebook, Whatsapp, WeChat,

Twitter etc. as it brings more advantages to young people.

Do you agree or disagree with the above statement? In 1000 words, write an argumentative
essay and justify your arguments with appropriate evidences.

In this age of globalization, the social networking sites have played a crucial role in
bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and bringing all people on a common platform.
Social networks play a vital role in transforming people’s lives where they have been the
important part of one’s life from shopping to electronic mails, education and business tool.
With the advance of social networking, we’re introduced to a variety of social networking sites
like Facebook and Instagram. The big canvases of communication individually attract and
influence us in our daily life. We feel fantastic connecting and communicating with close and
distant friends. Decades before, we counted on our friends. But now, we’re busy counting
friends on social networks. That is why I disagree that social networks bring more advantages
to young people because social networks waste our time, endanger one’s safety, can cause
identity theft and also cyberbullying.

First, social networks will waste young people’s precious time. We should spend our
time to do our works, but the fact is many people waste their time on Facebook, WhatsApp
etc. However, it is true that some of that time is likely spent in making and maintaining vital
business, social or professional connections, it is also undeniable that it is easy to become
distracted and end up spending time on games, chats or other non-related activities. Between
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook, teenagers spend around six hours a
day refreshing their feeds averagely, while adults spend about four hours a day doing so
averagely. With all of the social networks we have in society today, many young people have
become obsessed with their online personas. According to webwisekids.com in The Mirador
Online, 93 percent of children age 12 – 17 regularly go online. They spend hours upon hours
updating their various online accounts such as those on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Hence, social network impacts young people’s life by wasting their time.

Another great issue of concern with social networking websites is the safety of young
people. Research has shown that almost three out of four teenagers who use social
networking websites are at risk due to their lack of using online safety. (Joly, Karine, 2007)
Many websites do have an age requirement but sadly, it is easily bypassed by the lying about

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one’s age. Even if they don’t lie about their true age, the average age requirement is around
fifteen years old. Myspace.com has been specifically targeted for these child safety issues
after a sixteen years old girl flew to Tel Aviv, Israel to meet and engage in sexual relations
with a twenty years old male whom she had met through MySpace.com. (MySpace, 2007)
Even though a lot of social networking websites are trying to implement new modus operandi
to keep children safe, predators are finding ways around these new implementations and kids
are still naïve to the fact that not everyone online is who they say they are. Thus, social network
will endanger the safety of young people and will cause them to become target of people with
bad motive.

Moreover, identity theft is a severe problem in today’s society and has come about as
a result of the rapid expansion and availability of internet technology and the increase in
personal data found on social networking sites. Many people are putting out information about
their name, location, age, gender and many other types of information that they may not want
to let others know. We fail to notice that whatever we share or post on social networks,
everything goes public even when we use social networks daily. “Users share a variety of
information about themselves as being you. According to Acquisti & Gross (2006), a general
lack of awareness among users and the fact that digital identity can be easily hacked makes
social networking sites a hub for identity can be easily hacked makes social networking sites
a hub for identity theft which results in unwanted legal hassles, loss of money and years of
trying to re-establish a victim’s credit and good name. Evidently, social networks will cause
identity theft.

Furthermore, social networking sites have increased cases of cyberbullying, especially

prevalent among youths, which causes harm to victims and in extreme cases, can lead to
depression and lead to suicide. Cyberbullying refers to “bullying through information and
communication technologies” through mediums, for instance, emails, mobile phone text
messages, phone calls, internet chat rooms, instant messaging and most importantly and
recently, social network. Whilst cyberbullying is not physical it’s emotional and psychological
effects are devastating for the victim and can often lead to suicide and depression (Hinduja &
Patchin, 2010). According to Smith (2018), bullies always feel more confident online and they
can contact their victims anytime, anywhere, day or night, not just in the schoolyard. The Pew
Center, in their Cyberbullying 2010 studies, states that 93 percent of teens aged 12 to 17 use
of the Internet. Of that 93 percent, 63 percent of them use the Internet every day. From the
data, we know that such high usage increases the risk of being victims of cyberbullying.

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Though there are several sites add special security features to keep a check on some cases
of harassment, online scams and identity theft, there are chances of getting trapped into one
of the many frauds. Thus, social network will cause cyberbullying among the young people.

In a nutshell, social network brings more disadvantages to young people because it

not only wastes their time, endanger child safety, and also will cause identity theft and
cyberbullying. We cannot deny the fact that social networking tools make the learning
environment more dynamic by supporting new features. However, due to some education-
related risks, social media should be used carefully. The more that we agree about the pitfall
of the society, networking and how it can actually do more harm than good, the more effective
it will be when we use it.

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REFERENCES

Acquisti, A &R, Gross. (2006). Imagined Communities: Awareness, Information Sharing, and
Privacy on the Facebook. Retrieved 15 September 2018 from

http://www.springerlink.com/content/gx00n8h8825822/

Advantage and disadvantages of social networking. (2016, Apr 18). Retrieved

from https://studymoose.com/advantage-and-disadvantages-of-social-networking-
essay

Bilal Ahmad (2016, March 10). 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media for Society.
Retrieved 15 September 2018 from

https://www.techmaish.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-media-for-
society/

C.M. van der Bank. (2015). The impact of social media: advantages or disadvantages. African
Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Vol. 4 (2).

Effects of Social Media on Young People. (2017, September 1). Retrieved 20 September 2018
from

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/young-people/effects-social-media-people-
6680.php

Hinduja, S & J, Patchin (2010). Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide Archives of Suicide
Research. Retrieved 16 September 2018 from

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all=a924722304

Hutton, G. & Fosdick, M. (2011). The globalization of Social Media, Consumer Relationships
with Brands Evolve in the Digital Space. Journal of Advertising Research, December:
564-570.

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Liu, Y. (2010). Social media tools as a learning resource. Journal of Educational Technology
Development and Exchange, 3(1), 101-114.

Preeti Mishra. (2013, March 20). Top 10 Reasons Why Social Networking is a Waste of Time.
Retrieved 20 September 2018 from

https://topyaps.com/top-10-reasons-why-social-networking-is-a-waste-of-time

Rebecca J.Mills. (2017, Okt 23). We spend too much time on social media and it is the downfall
of our society. Retrieved 18 September 2018 from

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-do-we-spend-so-much-time-on-social-media

Shabnoor Siddiqui. (2016) Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects.
International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research Volume 5,
Issue 2, 71-75.

Smith (2018). Students Waste too much Time on Social Media. Retrieved 15 September
2018 from

https://mhsmirador.com/opinion/2013/05/31/students-waste-too-much-time-on-social-
media/