Oversharing Online

 I believe social networking sites are both beneficial and harmful to individuals. No matter what the site is, the pros and cons appear to be very similar. Popular sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter all provide a way to communicate with friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers at any time from any place in the world if one has cellular data or an internet connection. In my opinion, the main benefit that comes from these sites is easy communication as well as an effortless way to update an infinite amount of people on one’s life in seconds. People are busy with work, school, traveling, errands, and taking care of their kids or other family members to consistently make check in phone calls with friends and family. Social networking sites are a real lifesaver when it comes to staying connected with others. I have not talked to some of my family members in years but I still know what is going on in their lives due to looking at their posts on social media. Social networking sites are also very useful for people who have their own business or are trying to start one. These individuals can promote their business and the more people that like and share their posts, the more business they could potential receive. 

The benefits and drawbacks of these sites are not drastic, but are good to be aware of. Snapchat is a platform in which one can post pictures/videos on their story and also send pictures/videos to others directly. Depending on one’s personal settings, if something is posted to the story it will disappear after 24 hours. If something is sent directly, it disappears after the person has viewed it. That being said, people can change their settings to where someone can slide into the chat, hold down their “snap”, and save the picture or video to their own camera roll. Snapchat also notifies others when you take a screenshot. Another function Snapchat has is being able to select who you want to see your story or you can create private stories for close friends. Snapchat is definitely a more private form of social media. Instagram provides the option to create private stories as well, but does not notify others when taking a screenshot. One can send pictures or videos to someone directly on instagram and after the pictures or videos have been viewed, they disappear just like snapchat. I honestly have not used Twitter or Facebook in awhile so maybe the chat features have changed, but I believe they do not have the disappearing feature like Instagram and Snapchat. Another beneficial feature that Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter offer is the ability to make one’s account private. A private account’s posts cannot be viewed until permission to follow them has been granted by the owner. One can make their Facebook page private as well but it will still show some of one’s information. I think a big benefit to the private feature is preventing dangerous stalkers as well as keeping one’s private life private to work colleagues, bosses, or exes. As for cons, I think people can become addicted to using social media which overall can cause anxiety, decrease their motivation to do physical activities, and even lower their self-esteem if they are constantly comparing themselves and their life to others.

I believe in someway these sites are responsible for promoting mental health in their users. These sites need to be inclusive of everyone, have adequate security features, and take care of issues that involve bullying, harassing, stalking, etc. The users should feel safe when using these sites and feel included. If sites are going to put out a Christmas filter, they should also put out a Hanukkah filter, Kwanza filter, and any other holiday that individuals might celebrate to be inclusive. It is of course an individuals choice to use their site, but it is still the site’s job to prevent hurting the users.   

Attached below is a link to a website that shared some benefits and drawbacks to using social networking sites. Enjoy! 

https://www.aplustopper.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-networking/