Kayla Dance 1/28/14 ENGL-1102-072 Professor Adam Padgett

Influence of Social Media Inquiry

Context

Social media has not played a big role in my life compared to my peers, I did not get a Facebook until I was fourteen but I did use other ways, such as Skype messenger and trillion, to talk to people I knew online throughout middle school. I get on Facebook about once a day to check messages, but I hardly scroll my news feed. If there is a person that I am just getting to know or Im not sure who they are I check their Facebook page to get some sort of idea. I think this is the most useful part of social media. I do not use instagram or vine, but my friends give me updates of what is going on in theirs. I had started a twitter account for myself in high school, but then my mother followed me on her account and I never used twitter again; until I made a new one for the English class. I do use snapchat all day, but I hardly ever take a selfie unless I am wearing something noteworthy; I think I have about four pictures of me on my phone that I have taken of myself. One problem that comes along with social media is the drama. Many times I see fights break out on status updates on Facebook, although they can be fun to watch unfold people do get hurt. In high school, when a fight broke out on Facebook it was all anyone would talk about for the whole day, everyone was glued to their phones to see who was throwing the next punch. Although I never participated in one of these fights, I was a spectator. The drama is the worst
Comment [AP6]: Interesting. Comment [AP7]: You say worst but it sounds very entertaining. Whats so bad about it? Comment [AP5]: so you use it often then? Comment [AP4]: :) Comment [AP3]: Why not? Comment [AP1]: This seems like an incomplete thought. Comment [AP2]: And how long is each session?

part about social media because no matter where you are, if you are participating in the conflict, you cannot escape it. Inquiry 1. How are students (college and high school) grades affected by social media? 2. How do children, teens, and adults use social media differently? 3. Has social media influenced or discouraged our true selves? Next Steps For the first question I obviously would think that students grades would go down after immense amounts of social media use. This would include putting off homework or studying to be on facebook or instagram or being on these sites during the school day. To be able to back this up I would have to find studies on teens that have used social media during the school day compared to those who do not. I think this may be difficult to find the research but I am sure that it will have the results of weakened grades. The second question appealed to me because I notice how my grandmother uses facebook. She posts a lot of personal information compared to my friends and a lot of her opinions. If she does not like the posts of the people she friended (her own friends she knows in real life) then she will unfriend them, when most people I know in my age group would put up with the annoying persons posts to avoid an awkward situation. I have only unfriended one person, someone that I did not know too well and had vulgar posts. I am unsure of what the outcome of this question would be when I am doing my research. I feel
Comment [AP8]: What does this mean? True self?

as though teens use social media more often so it is likely they would get most of the harmful effects of social media, but the lack of experience makes adults and children more vulnerable to these damaging effects as well. The last question that I thought about came from how people can express their thoughts and ideas more easily and willingly through technology rather than face to face interaction. Some people are more willing to unleash themselves on Facebook telling everyone what comes to mind while others censor themselves because they know hundreds of eyes pass by their status. With people being able to comment and criticize others online it seems hard to reveal your true self, but the freeing feeling of saying what you want and not be pressured by the persons judgment standing in front of you lets you expand your true self. These two sides make it hard for me to predict what the majority of social media users do. In the end I would assume it depends on the person whether or not they are their true selves while using the keyboard or speaking next to their companion. Kayla, I think youve done a really good job discussing your personal experience. I dont really have a good handle on what you want to learn more about on the topic. I think the third question youve asked has the most potential, but I dont really know what you mean by true self. Sounds a little too ambiguous and like a platitude for me. But I think the idea of how anonymity can affect the way people communicate is a very interesting idea (or just how hiding behind a computer screen affects the way we communicate). The other questions seem as though they can be easily answered. Makes sure youre asking questions
Comment [AP9]: Makes me think about those harsh youtube comments made by anonymous people.

that you will have to investigate, and not questions with simple answers (or no answer at all). Do some google searching for online articles, not to use as sources, but to use the articles as idea generators, as inquiry generators. Really looking forward to seeing how this idea evolves.