Runninghead:SOCIALMEDIAANDSOCIETY

Social Media and Society: Literature Review

Ashley Marie Aguilar
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

Socialnetworkingdefinedastheabilitytocommunicatewithothersviathenetwork,hasopened
manydoorsforpresentgenerationsandthefutureonestocome.Indoingsoithasprovided
societywithmanyresults,thatisifwhetheronebelievesthemtobenegativelyaffectingour
worldorpositivity.Thefollowingwillsurrounditselfwithreviewingthiscontroversialtopic.
Startingfrombackintimetowhereandhowsocialmediabegan,allthewaytodiscussingthe
manywaysinwhichthecommunityinterruptssocialnetworking.Withinit,itwillwithhold
explanationsastowhypeoplecarryonthiscertainviewandthereforeexpandonhowone
believesitcanbechangedforthebetter.Tofurtherhelpdescribe,thereviewwillreferbackon
reliablesourcesthatpertaintothesubjectaswellasexaminetheresultsofaconductedsurvey.
Thisliteracyreviewsoverallpurposeistoinformthereadermoreabouttheoutlookofsocial
networkingintodayssociety.

Social Media and Society: Literature Review

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are among the many popular social sites the
world has grown to revolve itself around. There contribution toward society has enable their to
be numerous discussion about the way people view their outcomes. There are those who find the
existence of social media to be beneficial to our world whereas others note it to be destructive.
To better clarify both judgments there are three questions being reviewed:
1. What was the earliest method of communication?
2. What influences does social networking have on society?
3. What are the changes being made in society to better the use of social
networking?

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The motive of the review is to allow for the questions to be answered with the help of reliable
sources to help further explanation why it is that people hold on to their particular belief on
social media and society.
What was the earliest method of communication?
Bet no one can recall what a rotary dial looks like how about a pager? Not something
one can quickly relate a picture with right? Luckily, those particular devices are hardly ever seen
anymore. Todays society has reached its highest point in being able to provide one with new and
improved ways to preform their daily routines with. This is why today there are many ways in
which one can communicate with others. Of course as known, it did not so easily start off this
way, the many methods of communication trace way back in time.
Way back to when Cavemen and then the Egyptians ruled. From the beginning they
where edger to uncover a way to communicate with one another and sure enough created the first
official way by originating drawing that where drawn onto walls to reveal certain meanings. Not
so long after that the actual writing of a letter was proposed only difference was that it was to be
hand delivered to whom ever it pertained to. Unlike now that the discovery of postal services has
created an even easier way to have mail be delivered among people. In an article called,
Complete History of Social Media: Then and Now, writer Drew Hendricks shares, The earliest
form of postal service dates back to 550 B.C., and this primitive delivery system would become
more widespread and streamlined in future centuries (Hendricks, 2013). Worldwide indeed it
became when it also help expand the growth of pen pals, the form in which was commonly used
by exchanging letters to someone else in a foreign country. Newspapers back then and to this day
also act as a stable communication style as well.
Now how could one forget the invention of the telephone? In the year 1876 the telephone was

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finally invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Thrilling millions of people and serving as proof that
thing where becoming effortless. The success on that day unleashed a hope and excitement for
other inventors who where well on their way to creating the next big thing, like non other than
the computer. As expected its birth rallied those who where interested to further stretch the use
for it. Therefore coming up with the Internet, once on board people learned how to email one
another. Plus what was called the Bulletin Board System or BBS, gave people the opportunity to
experience blogging for the first time. The first detectable social networking site to have been
launched was called SixDegrees.com. This website permitted users to create a profile and engage
with friends. Sites such as Friendster followed in its place imitating the same purposes. From
there the display of many dating sites as well became quickly noticed.
Right off the bat as years went by the number of social networking sites certainly have
taken a toll on the world. Author Daniel C. Dennett and Roy Deb share in their article Our
Transparent Future, Today a social media service can be developed in weeks, and hundreds of
millions of people can be using it within months (Dennett, Deb, 2015). Crazy to think how fast
a site can be made but in the end there is no questioning the evolution of communication. It is
because of the way communicating was once done that has allowed for it to overtime grow and
slowly change into what it has become today.

What influences does social networking have on society?

Since the discovery of social media, a rapid growth in its users has been seen. In an
article written by Jonathon Hitz, he tells, the most popular social networking website, Facebook
has so many users that if the websites users formed a country it would be the third largest
country in the world behind only China and India. Facebook has more than one billion monthly

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active users worldwide and 171 million monthly active users in the United States alone (Hitz,
2014). With that many users being a part of the social media world makes it to no surprise that
several people are going to have different perspectives on what it is producing. Nether the less it
has stood for influencing the community in many ways.
Beginning with its ability to provide communication. Immediately one can recall its
power to do this soon after they hear the worlds social media. As discussed the thought of
improving ones communication among others is the real root reason as to why social media exist
today. For those who live far apart from each other and want to stay in touch look at social media
to be there source to stay embedded with there loved ones by being able to blog, chat see pictures
and videos. Now as we know news travels fast verbally, with the help of social media everyone
can instantly become notified about the current news that are happening right at that moment.
From a younger generations view, the majority can agree that social media to them is simply a
source of entertainment. Whether that is to play games, share things with their friends, as well as
seeing what there peers have to share. They find it a place to even meet new people. As for
looking at social media from a business owner or entrepreneur eyes they view it as
moneymaking. As seen in this article a product can be advertised through social networking An
increasing number of social networking site are moving from general or global websites to more
specialized structures, targeting individuals with common motivations and interest (Romero,
2012). Their main motive is to make sure what they come up with can attract all who watch. In
doing so it creates a higher percentage of reaching out to customers willing to buy their products.
On account for there being so much power behind social media and marketing of those people
who are looking to raise awareness for a particular organization or even individual look upon
social media to be there guide and help in doing so.

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Along with finding the positive takes on social media lurks the negative mindset that
others may have as well. For example Edwina Thomas Washington, shares his perspective on
social media the expansion and use of communications technology, such as mobile tablet
devices had allowed the bully to transform and follow his or her victim almost anywhere, at any
time (Washington, 2015). Just like she mentions to her social media is a place where anyone can
easily be cyber-bullied. As it is bulling is already a common problem in todays society and she
believes that social media has made an influence in increasing the number of people who become
victims of bullying. There are also those who detect its usage as a way for pedophiles and
predators to appear as someone they are not in order to harm others. On top of that because so
many people are quick to give out all of their personal information on social media others tend to
view it as a way for others to steal someones identity and not respect personal privacy. Plus if
not careful a lot of what people share online can later come back and be used against them.
Today many employers and even some colleges review peoples profiles before
considering them to be good candidates. In an newspaper article entitled, College and Social
Media, it is said, StudentshavegrownupwiththeInternet,withthisopenforumkindof
communicationandIdon'tthinktheyunderstandthattheirFacebookpageisnowtheironline
resume,saysNoraGanimBarnes,directoroftheCenterforMarketingResearchatthe
UniversityofMassachusettsDartmouth(JudyHevrdejs,2011). Nowadays because almost
everything can be seen on social media it is obvious that another of its perspectives by people
would be alloying there to be pornography among those who embark on such sites.
It is now very common to hear a child being told by their parents to put the phone down
and go outside. Which is why from a parents viewpoint many would say that they believe social
media to be distraction to their kids and young ones who us it. Now that social media has

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become a giant part in the lives of many others tend to worry that it is damaging there ability to
one day carry on a face to face conversation with someone else. It is certain that behind such big
discovery like social media, not everyone is going to share the same outlook on what it has
produced. In the end everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs on what exactly social
media has influenced upon our community.

What are the changes being made in society to better the use of social networking?
Inseeinghowtechnologyingeneralhasevolvedovertheyearsmakesitclearthattheuse
ofsocialmediawillonlydothesameandcontinuetogrow.Allcancometoconcludethatsocial
mediaisfarfromeverbeingdestroyed.Itisbecauseofthat,thatnowmanyholdother
perspectivesonhowtohelpsocialmediabebetterusedbypeople.
Asalreadydiscussedsocialmediahasgivenpeopletheprivilegetopreformnumerousof
thingsonline,ofthosethingspeoplehaveacknowledgedthatoneofthemistheabilitytoview
andpostpictures.Manyareinagreementthatinordertohelpputastoponpornographythe
powertoseeanduploadsuchpicturesshouldonceandforallbebannedandthereforeneverto
beseenamongthosewhostrugglewithsuchproblem.Viewingsomeoneelsespersonal
informationisnoexceptioneither.Itisquiteoftenthatmanypeoplecanquicklyobtainthat
informationandstealidentitiesorevenfollowthatparticularpersonaround.Peopleviewthisas
aproblembasedonthemanyinformationthatothersaremorethanhappytosharewheninfactit
canbedangerous.Solimitingtheamountofpersonalinformationthatissharedonsocialmedia
isdefinitelysomethingpeoplefindcanimproveatkeepingonesafe.Lookingatthesituation
fromaparentspreservativemostwouldseeeyetoeyetothinkthatiftherechildrencontroland

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limittheirtimespentonsocialmedia,itwouldthenproduceformoreproductivethingstoget
done.
Time spent on social networking a day

ThesurveybelowtitleTimespentonsocial
networkingaday,wasdonewith25peopleamixtureofteens,childrenandadultswhereasked,
howmuchtimedoyouspendonsocialnetworkingsiteaday,theirchoiceswherehalfanhour,
anhour,ormorethananhour.Itresultsuncoveredthat17outofthe25peoplespendmorethan
anhouronsocialnetworkingsitesaday,whereas5ofthemspendonlyhalfanhourleaving3to
spendanhouronsocialnetworking.Mentallysocialmediacanbecomeaddictinganditis
becauseofthisthatsomethinkthatmaybenotsomuchtimebespentonit.Onarecentlynews
articlewriterElieneAugenbraunsharesthecommentofanotherindividualsaying,Thibeault
wrotethathequitFacebookbecausemynewsfeedswerebecominganaddiction.Theywerea
constantinterruptionpullingmeawayfromtheworkthatIwasotherwise
enjoying(Augenbraun,2014).Withthatbeingsaidmanyotherscanrelateandagreethat,thisis
howsocialmediacanmakethemfeel.
Withbullyingbeingabigissuethatalreadyliveswithinoursociety.Thosewhohave
experiencedbullyingorwhoarecurrentlyexperiencingbeingbulliedfindsocialmediatobeof
tonohelpatputtinganendtotheconstantcycle.Infactmanyadmitthatsocialmediahas

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insteadhelpedincreasethesecertainsituationsandcreatedittobeCyberbullying.Iteffectshave
motivatedpeopletodomuchofwhattheycandoinordertohelpadviseandeducatethe
communityaboutthedangersofbecominginvolvedwithCyberbullying.Manyprogramsthat
focusonteachingaboutCyberbullyinghavebeenestablishedinschoolsallaroundtheworld
reachingouttochildrenandteenagers.Inanarticleabouttakingprecautionswhileonlineit
shared,Parentsinvolvementinthesafeuseoftechnologystartsfromachildsfirstuse,and
theyareacriticalpartofensuringtheirteenagechildrensresponsibleandsafeuseofonline
servicesaspartofawholeofcommunityresponsetoCyberbullying(Robinson,2013).Parents
whoareevolvedinmotoringmuchofwhattheirchildrendoonlinecanhelp.Intheenditsa
matterofachildbeingabletounderstandsafeonlinehabitsandtheabilitytorecognizewhen
somethingiswrong.
Itisoftenarguedthatsocialmediaisoutofoneshandswithwhatoccursonline.Today
moreandmorepeoplearegatheringtogethertochangethatviewandprovethatwitheveryone
willingtodowhatisneededtostopallnegativedoingsonlineitcanbeovercome.
Withsomuchtalkandactualinvolvementofsocialmedia,societyhaswithoutadoubt
givenitmuchpowertodothings.Withoutrealizingthecommunityhasandwillcontinuetohelp
socialnetworkingevolve.Thewayoneknowsittobetodaymightverywellbechangedin
futureyearstocomeandwithitwillariseevenmoreusesforitaswellasmanyother
perspectivesthantheonepeoplealreadyholdtoday.Ultimatelyitistimethatwillrevealitsthen
succeedingpurposesandlaterviewsinlife.

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References
Hendricks, D. (2013, May 8). Complete History of Social Media: Then And Now.
Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/05/the-complete-history-ofsocial-media-infographic.html

Dennett, D. C., & Roy, D. (2015). OUR TRANSPARENT FUTURE. Scientific American,
312(3), 64-69.

HITZ, J. (2014). Removing Disfavored Faces from Facebook: The Freedom of Speech
Implications of Banning Sex Offenders from Social Media. Indiana Law Journal, 89(3), 13271363.

Lorenzo-Romero, C., Alarcn-Del0Amo, M., & Constantindes, E. (2012).

SEGMENTATION OF USERS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES. Social Behavior &
Personality: An International Journal, 40(3), 401-414. doi:10.2224/sbp.2012.40.3.401

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College and social media. (2011, March 1). Retrieved April 4, 2015, from
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-01/features/sc-fam-0301-education-social-media20110301_1_social-media-facebook-page-admissions-staff

Washington, E. T. (2015). An Overview of Cyberbullying in Higher Education. Adult

Learning, 26(1), 21-27. doi:10.1177/1045159514558412

Augenbraun, E. (2014, August 22). CBS News. How Real a Risk Is Social Media
Addiction? Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-real-a-risk-is-social-mediaaddiction/

Robinson, E. (2013). Parental involvement in preventing and responding to

cyberbullying. Family Matters, (92), 68-76.

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