Social Network: Making or Breaking Society?

Donna Vincent

Dr. George

English 101- B51

22 October 2013

Social Network: Making or Breaking Society?

Fifteen or fifty five, the number of people that belong to a type of social network today compared to 30 years ago has sky rocketed. Whether it is a form of micro-blogging, photo sharing, or an online dating site, social networking is here to stay. It is a huge part of today’s communicating and socializing. The question that remains unsure however, is whether or not it is a positive or negative influence in our day-to-day lives. But regardless of the quarrels that one may have with social networking, at the end of the day, no one is being forced into using it. Rather, it is optional, and if you choose to partake in it, there are many positive factors that weigh in favor. Social networking provides distant communication, instant access to current media events and exposes your profile to prospective employers. In World War I, family members communicated with their loved ones overseas by writing a letter, with a pen and a piece of paper. Sent through the U.S. Postal Service, the letter would then arrive a week, possibly two weeks later. Today, when a serviceman is deployed, with the use of his phone, he can communicate promptly back and forth with his family, via Facebook. That’s one example of how Facebook has revolutionized the way we stay in contact with our distant family and friends. In addition to convenient messaging capabilities of Facebook, Instagram allows the instant sharing of nothing but pictures. Many people like this form of social networking because there isn’t statuses to read through, just simply photos. Rather than a sentence or two about what your doing, you can now share exactly what your seeing with anyone around the world within seconds without the use of picture mail. From the radio, to the paper, then on to the television, the way the news reaches the public has turned a new chapter within the past few years. Watching the news on television seems redundant, as you’ve already read of it via Facebook. Twitter sometimes surpasses the news channels on releasing the latest happenings to the public. The world first heard of the death of singer Whitney Houston not from a news report, but from a tweet an hour after her body was found. Local authorities later verified it after her death was reported.
In May of 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in a top-secret operation. It was later discovered that a computer programmer in Pakistan had tweeted of the helicopters overhead as the operation was happening. The tweet read, “Helicopters overhead in Abbottabad at 1 a.m. is a rare event.” After the mission had been announced successful, this tweet received global attention. There are many social networks that are a sort of self-blog directed or they’re based around the sharing of photographs. However there are some social networking sites such as LinkedIn. This network allows users to create a professional profile that is then made visible to thousands of employers. Just like the other social networks, LinkedIn enables you to stay connected with your friends and colleagues by using your profile information. With so many things changing in the world today, some people argue that social networking just complicates our lives to the point of no return. One opinion is that social networking as a hub for “Lone Wolf” Terrorists to create virtual terrorist organizations. This certainly does cast a negative light on the social networking world. But with any public institution or network, it is subject to corruption and unwanted propaganda.
Things change, people change, technology changes. Adapting to a changing society is what makes you successful in the common world. Social networking, so simple yet extraordinarily diverse, has tremendously impacted society and the way we interact as human beings. Is it a good impact? As a whole, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to name few, have become a staple in society. They have taken globalization to another level. They’re allowing us to feel as though we are right there with our family when we are thousands of miles away. Informing the public of news before the reporters hear of it. Increasing our chances of finding a job or a career opportunity. To me, knowing that partaking in social networking is a personal choice; these positives certainly outweigh the negatives.