Negative Effect of Social Network Sites

Negative Effect of Social Network Sites
            Say good bye to face to face interactions and hello to the technical world of social networking. Over one-hundred million people use social networking sites in the United States alone (Fisher); that includes everyone who has a page or account with Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Skype or any of the other emerging sites. People have discovered a new way to communicate with others and it goes way beyond just a simple e-mail. As many positive advances that have come from social networking, there are far more negative impacts. With the lack of personal interaction online, people can hide behind a computer, this presents a whole new plethora of dangers. In the past interaction was done face to face, has this way of communicating gone extinct like the dinosaurs? Social networking has taken the social aspect out of everyday, have we given up our sense of security for the thrill of online interacting? The rapid growth of online socialization has the next generation growing up in a dangerous and impersonal world .
    One of the greatest impacts of social networking is on the social and interpersonal skills of users. Interpersonal communication is the processing of sending and receiving information between two or more people. Social Skills are the foundation for getting along with others. A lack of Social Skills can lead to behavioral difficulties in school, delinquency, inattentiveness, peer rejection, emotional difficulties, bullying, difficulty in making friends, aggressiveness, problems in interpersonal relationships, poor self-concept, academic failures, concentration difficulties, isolation from peers, and depression (Kiesbye). Humans are hard wired with the desire to communicate and be social. Think back to Cave drawings, Smoke Signals, now jump into today’s video chats and social networking. The need to socialize will never go away but are we now taking it to a dangerous level, losing sight of “real” socializing and...