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JazminDiaz
Ms.Gardner
HonorsEnglish10,zeroperiod
31October2014
CommunicationorIsolation?
Facebook,Twitter,Tumblr,andInstagram.Weveallheardthesenamesbeforeandmost,
ifnotallofus,havehadanaccounttooneofthesewebsitesbefore.Socialmediahasalmost
becomeessentialinourdailylives.TheaverageAmericanspendsmorethanthreehoursaday
onsocialmedia.Fromadoubletaponourfeedtoceaselesslyscrollingthroughourdashboards,
socialmediahasgotsocietywrappedarounditsfinger.Weunwarilyletthesewebsitesshapethe
peopleweareandcreatechaosforus.Today,myfellowclassmates,IwanttorevealthatSocial
mediacanbethetyrantofsociety.Despitethefactthatsocialmediagivesusunrealistic
expectations,causescyberbullying,andreducesdirectcommunicationbetweenpeople,wehold
thepowertodeterminethepersonwhowewanttobe.
Socialmediagivesusunrealisticexpectationsofbothmenandwomen.Howoftenhave
youseenaphotoofagorgeouspersonandwantedtochangesomethingaboutyourself?Wedo
notrealizethattheperfectpeopleweseeonthesewebsitesareoftencakedinmakeuportheir
imagehasbeenedited.
Althoughthephotomightallowfortemporarysatisfactionandsuperficial
compliments,itisgoingtoeventuallymakeapersonquestionhimorherself.Whenthey
comparetheirhair,theirbody,theirclothes
,tootherpeoplesthentheywillfeelinadequate.
Socialmediahasmadepeoplefeelasifthereissomethingwrongwiththem.
A2011studyfound
thatadolescentgirlswhospentthemosttimeusingFacebookhadagreaterchanceofdeveloping

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anegativebodyimageandaneatingdisorder.
Thefactthatawebsitehasthepowertoaltera
personsmentalandphysicalhealthisalarming.
Cyberbullyingthroughsocialmediahasbeenandcontinuestobeaprobleminour
society.Imsuremanyofushavewitnessedcyberbullyingorhaveknownsomebodywhowas
cyberbullied.Theconstantconcernofbeingconfrontedthroughcyberbullyingcauseskidsto
becomecrestfallen.Youngpeoplewhoarecyberbulliedaremorelikelytousedrugs,use
alcohol,skipschool,receivepoorgrades,andhavemorehealthproblems.Socialmediaisoneof
thefactorscausingeatingdisorders,mentalhealthissues,and,insomecases,evendeath.
Althoughsocialmediahasallowedustocommunicatewithpeopleallaroundtheworldit
hasalsodiminisheddirectcommunicationbetweenpeople.Becauseofsocialmedia,
communicatingwithsomeoneorbeingfriendswithsomebodynolongerrequiresspeaking.How
oftendoweactuallymakeaphonecalltosomeoneasopposedtosendingthemamessage?
Websites,suchasfacebookandtwitter,havecausepeopletounconsciouslyisolatethemselves
fromthosearoundthem.
Thepowerofsocietycanbegreaterthanthatofsocialmedia.Goingonsocialmedia
shouldnthavetobescaryornervewreckingforanybodypeopleshouldntfeelanynegativity
throughsomethingthatwasoriginallycreatedtoimproveourlives.Schoolscanstarteducating
childrenabouttheeffectthatonlineissuescanhave.Althoughtherehasbeenagreater
recognitionaboutsocialmedia,childrenarenttoldindepthhowtopreventproblemsonit.As
individuals,Iurgeyoutousethepowerofsocialmediatomakeagreatchangebyspreading
positiveideas.Mostimportantlyneversimplystandbywhensomeoneisbeingmistreated
throughsocialmedia.Infact,getoffyourphonesorlaptopsandgospreadoptimisticmessages.

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Iunderstandhowsomepeoplemaythinktheycannotmakeachange.Socialmedia
companiesareextremelypowerfulwithmillionsofdollarsandweremerelyanindividualinthe
world,right?Wrong.Itonlytakesonesparktostartafire.Weliveinasocietywherepeopleare
easilyinfluencedbyothers.Whynotinfluencepeopletopositivelyusesocialmedia?Asknot
whatsocialmediadoestoimprovesocietyaskwhatsocietycandotoimprovesocialmedia.
Perhapsitiseasyforthosewhohaveneverbeennegativelyaffectedbysocialmediato
shrugoffallofthis.Butwhenyourealizeyouvehardlydirectlyspokentoyourfriendsand
familywhenyouseeagirlsobbingbecauseshehasbeencallednastynameswhenyoulogonto
youraccountandreadtheanonymousmessagesandsuddenlythephrase
Sticksandstonesmay
breakmybonesbutwordswillneverhurtmeseemslikethemostridiculousthingever
when
youscrollpastapictureofamodelandsuddenlyyoucannotthinkofasinglethingyoulike
aboutyourselfwhenyouunconsciouslyisolateyourselffromyourlovedoneswhenyousee
thatanotheryouthhastakentheirlifeduetocyberbullyingthenyouwillclearlyseethatanend
mustbeputtothetyrannyofsocialmedia.

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WorksCited

Salter,Jim."SocialMediaFuelDangerousWeightLossGoal."
IndependenceExaminer
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04Oct.2013:n.p.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
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"Children,Adolescents,andtheMedia:SevenKeyIssues."
PediatricAnnalsVol.39,No.
9
.Sep.2010:556.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.25Oct.2014.