Distractions In Social Media

Distractions From Social Media and its Effects
Mallory Billings
DeVry University
Professor Edwards
August 16, 2015

Distractions From Social Media and its Effects Social media and the internet in general have created a huge impact on the way we live our lives. The human race has had a dramatic affect with how much we really are distracted because of excessive use of electronics and social media. Many look at the younger generations as the ones who will be extremely affected by this, but the older generations are being affected as well. Many of us enjoy the use and ease of the internet but this is leading to other troubles such as loss of relationships, poor health, and distractions from life. The way the internet
and social media are today is creating many effects on all humans across the world. Everyone who uses social media should be aware of the effects that are happening all around us. As much as it may be a convenience and a great way to communicate, it is really distracting us from the real world itself. Remember when you could write a letter to someone in the mail or have an actually conversation via the telephone?
Today no one does either of those and it is really sad to think about. The internet has always been such a convenience for the world when it came to doing research, finding pictures, maps, whatever it may be. But once social media came around nothing has really ever been the same. Lately there isn’t a time where you go out to a public place and see people just having a normal conversation without a phone or computer in their hands. People can’t even put a phone away during special occasions like a wedding for instance. Social media is consuming us as a whole and causing many problems. No one is really focused on the people they are with anymore because they are too distracted with other people’s lives and what others are doing through the eyes of social media. According to Steven Strogatz from Cornell University, (2012), “Social media makes it more difficult to distinguish between a true relationships rather the ones that form over social media”(p. 2). More time is spent on less meaningful relationships that some are ruining what they already have. A report done in 2012 showed that 15% of adults on a social networking site had a relationship end and 12% had cases where they got into face to face confrontations due to something said over a website. There shouldn’t be a reason why a relationship is ruined because of one website, but unfortunately that is a big
reality check for some relationships. Social media is not only a distraction with relationships but also a distraction for children and adults in school and the workplace. Children on average spend around 8 hours a day on some sort of media. In that time they are playing games with others online, watching videos, or chatting with friends. This time is spent away from school work, family, and hanging out face to face with friends. Children in our society today are so used to using their phones all the time, but would they be able to survive in the real world with out them? Teachers have said children and teens are submitting homework that use texting lingo and not proper grammar, which is to believe that they are so caught up with the internet and social media. Unfortunately when children have these distractions from social media it can lead to more harm than good. Many children are being cyber bullied, imitating videos that cause harm to themselves, and getting into drugs and alcohol. Adults go through similar situations as well due to distractions with social media. 51% of people between the ages of 23-35 access social media while at work from a recent study done (Burgess 2009). This causes work not to be done if there are multiple people accessing a social media site on the clock at work. If most employers were to find out that the employees they are paying to work for them were on Facebook or twitter there is no doubt that they would be out of a job. Employers also look at social media when looking to hire new employees. Here they can see grammar, pictures, videos, etc. that most people wouldn’t want their parents seeing let alone their boss. Social media causes the most distractions where kids aren’t getting their schoolwork done, and adults are doing their work in general. All because they are too caught up in other people lives on their news feed. As bad as it is that we can’t hold onto a relationship, school or job due to social media, some can’t stop even while driving. In 2012 the Institute of Advanced Motorists stated that 24% of drivers between 17-24 admitted to using their phones for social media while driving. It is mind blowing to think that the distraction is so bad that even while driving a vehicle that people can’t put it down. When distracted with phones while driving reaction times are reduced by 38% (Carter 2014). This is a big deal, putting others lives in danger to send a tweet or email, nothing is more important than a life. The laws that have been put in place to prevent things like this from happening aren’t really working at all. Granted, tickets have been handed out, but nothing is preventing people from getting in the car and not getting distracted from their phones. Even parents who have their children or others children in the cars with them have been caught on social media or taking pictures while driving. They are willing to risk the life of their child to post a photo or a new status. That is how much social media distracts and sucks in people. It isn’t just young people who are doing this behind the wheel; now that more and more people have smart phones there is a lot more adults doing this. Not all the distractions involve people posting, but a majority of the time everyone is most likely reading social networks. Obviously we need more laws against the use of cell phones while behind the wheel of a vehicle. Too many accidents and deaths are caused by the distractions and addictions that people have with social media. Distractions from the use of social media are affecting the world.
So many people have let this consume their lives and aren’t living in the real world. They are more or less living in a virtual world through others. Relationships are falling apart, kids are dropping grades, employers are losing money, and some people are dying. Social media is a distraction and needs to be controlled. No one should put their lives aside just to see how many “likes” they can get. There has to be some way to reduce the use of social media to prevent distractions like these from happening.

While writing this report I used a few different rhetorical devices. I used some dysphemism to play down the positives of social media and the way that it is used today. A loaded question was also used in my paper so that I could imply a statement without actually saying my opinion on it. A few times I used proof surrogates when I stated some evidence based on research that I had done without citing it directly. Repetition was another technique that I feel is very useful when writing a paper like this. It really gets the point of what the thesis and argument is about.
References

Macy, M. L., Carter, P. M., Bingham, C. R., Cunningham, R. M., & Freed, G. L. (2014). Potential Distractions and Unsafe Driving Behaviors Among Drivers of 1- to 12-Year-Old Children. Academic Pediatrics, 14(3), 279-286.

Tang, F., Wang, X., & Norman, C. S. (2013). An investigation of the impact of media capabilities and extraversion on social presence and user satisfaction. Behaviour & Information Technology, 32(10), 1060-1073.

Lee, E. J. (2011). A case study of Internet Game Addiction. Journal Of Addictions Nursing (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 22(4), 208-213.

Dowell, E., Burgess, A., & Cavanaugh, D. (2009). Clustering of Internet risk behaviors in a middle school student population. Journal Of School Health, 79(11), 547-553.

Dowdell, E. B. (2013). Use of the Internet by parents of middle school students: Internet rules, risky behaviours and online concerns. Journal Of Psychiatric & Mental