Good afternoon everyone, my name is Daniel Daz. I am from Ignacio Carrera Pinto.

Social media My PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Let me tell you a personal experience related to social media. Specially Facebook and Tweeter. When I came back to school this year, I started dating a girl. The first two months were great. But the third was a complete disaster. My girlfriends friends started to involve in our relationship. I hated that. So we broke up because of them. Of course they thought I was guilty. My girlfriend felt really bad, she was very sad and she cried every day. Her friends blamed me for that and they started to insult me and even my family. And that is how I became a victim of ciberbulling. This affected me and I suffered a lot. With the help of some friends I overcame the problem. Now everything is ok. I learned my lesson and now I understand that these websites caused a lot of trouble in people s lives when they are used for the wrong purposes. Some people are too interested in other peoples lives rather than their own issues. This websites allows people to judge others without any reason. Well, what do we know about social media? Social media is things like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, chat rooms and forums. Of course we are familiar with all of these names, or at least, most of them. Let me ask you this, how many of you have a Facebook account? I bet most of you have. I am wrong? Well, I dont think so. So, what is social media? A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. In simple words, the term social media implies: media a place where publications occur and social implies that there is sharing occurring. A sharing of ideas, opinions, images, etc. Social media allows individuals to gather and express themselves in a much more simple and immediate way. An online social network is much like your real social network. It is your friends and your family, classmates, work colleagues and acquaintances. In the real world you cant see the connections between people. In the online world you can immediately see who knows who, and who your friends are friends with. What about the impact of this phenomenon in our lives? What about the reality in Chile? Lets check some interesting figures regarding the use of internet services in our country. According to some figures provided and published by comScore e IAB about data from 2011:
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Chile has reached an increase regarding the internet users. About a 50% of the population, thats is 8 million people, is connected The use of e-mail, social networking and information search, are the main services Chilean people use. Chilean people dedicate 25.3 hours to internet per month. 9 out of 10 Chileans are users of some social network, which corresponds to a 93% vs the 76% that corresponds to the world average.

And this is interesting; Chile is the third country in the world that dedicates more hours to social networking. That corresponds to a total of 8,2 hours per month. And Facebook, of course, is still the most popular social platform among the Chilean population. With a reach of 90,3% in users.

Obviously, we cannot deny the worldwide popularity and importance of social networking nowadays. It is impossible. But, do we have fully control on social media and how it affects our daily routine, or are we being totally controlled by this phenomenon? Are these new ways of communication positive or negative for us? Am I getting benefits? I am I addicted to social media services? Did I become popular through Facebook? Did I reach a better social status because of it? Are my 300 contacts on Facebook my real friends? Are we really getting close to people through this? Are we interacting in a real social context? Is online communication with people being more important or replaced by the old face- to face interaction? Now, I dont have the answer for all of these questions. But I do know that I can, at least, show you some of the pros and cons regarding the most popular social media services. Pros Cons

1) Without a doubt, the best reason to join any social 1) Social networking sites make people spend more time networking site is that it lets you make connections with online and less time interacting face-to-face. People who other people. use these sites frequently are prone to social isolation 3) Are you an actor, musician or writer? If so, you can use 2) The sites offer many time wasting activities that supplant social networking sites to promote your work. more productive activities. 4) Social networking sites allow for creative expression in a 3) There is a big possible that people become more new medium. sedentary and get also addicted to these internet sites. 5) According to a 60 million Americans received help with major life issues The strength of Internet Ties a 2005 report, (changing jobs, finding a new place to live, buying a car, and caring for someone with an illness) from people in their social networks in 2006. 4) Consequences from over-sharing personal information include vulnerability to sexual or financial predators and lost job opportunities from employers finding embarrassing photos or comments.

5) Social networking sites make cyberbullying, a type of 6) Social media helps low-income kids become more bullying that occurs online, easier and more public than familiar with computers and related technology. bullying through other online activities such as email and instant messaging. 7) Social media can be a powerful tool for social change and an alternative to more traditional methods of 6) The use of social networking sites can cause personality communication. Lets try tom remember the 2011 national- and brain disorders in children, such as the inability to have educational social movement, which, I think, got an real conversations, limited attention spans, a need for enormous power through social media, among others. instant gratification, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). 8) Social media sites are expanding from general interest to more specific uses that benefit society. For example, sites 7) A false sense of security may leave social networking site have been created for medical purposes such as dealing users vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking, with life altering diseases, alcoholism, drug addiction, weight leaking sensitive information, and sending viruses. loss, and autism. 7) 9) Studies have shown that being part of a social network has a positive impact, including increased quality of life and 8) a reduction in the risk of health problems. They help

improve stroke recovery, memory retention, and overall 9) well-being 10)

CONCLUSION The thing is that social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share information and content; it

also supports the

human need for social interaction with technology. But, we have to be careful and understand the real purpose of these websites. Otherwise they can turn into a dangerous weapon. Specially for teenagers. Are they good or bad? Are they useful or not I let YOU be the judge of that.

Information Sources BBC webpage. http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/courses/social-media-basics/lessons/introduction-to-social-media/

Clinical Report The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full

Estudio: El Estado de Internet en Chile, 2011 Csar Zamorano Valenzuela http://www.socialmediablog.cl/2011/09/estudio-el-estado-de-internet-en-chile.html#.UKKhQ-SCD15