Social Networks and Our Society

Leslie Biggars
Steve Sosnoski
ENG 131-02
21 May 2013
Social Networks and Our Society The topic I am choosing for my research project is social networks and our society. In society today you can hardly find a person who hasn’t heard of a social network. There are different reasons why people are choosing to create their own social network pages, whether it be for school, work, or personal use, we can agree that most people do indeed have a page on one of the many social networking sites. No matter what it is you’re looking for, most likely there is a social page created. The most common types of social networks are dating sites, micro and photo blogs, media sharing sites, bookmarking sites, and forums. At one point or another, most people have been a part of these sites. Now that our technology has expanded, the ease and amount of time we are able to spend on these sites has also increased. Social networking sites have become so integrated in our society that, for most people, it is a part of everyday life. This topic is worth researching because of the fact that social networks have become so much a part of us as a society that we can’t ignore the impact they are having on us. Though social networks have many benefits, there are just as many disadvantages. The ability to have connections with people around the world is one of the things that appeals to human nature, this is why having a social networking page in this generation is so predominate. Some people believe that having that constant connection is what is causing us to forget how to interact with the people around us. Many businesses have found social networks to be a great way to expand their business and include a new client base they wouldn’t normally have, but some people are saying with this expansion, businesses are losing the one on one contact with their customers.
Whether or not the benefits outweigh the hindrances is a personal opinion; until more research in this area has been developed, we won’t have any clear cut proof. It is because social networks are so prevalent in our society that sociologist James Henslin makes mention in his book, Sociology: a Down to Earth Approach, that social networks, along with other forms of media, have been classified as a new form of socialization. The effects, both good and bad, of social media on society are many; long lost families have been reconnected, businesses are able to expand, general surveys for research are able to be administrated easily, and scientist have even been able to understand how the debris from tornado destruction, is scattered helping them to have a better understanding of how a twister works. With social media being used as much as it is in society, some researchers have stated that children are missing out on learning their social cues at an early age causing them to lack the capability to function in society. As these children enter their teen years, some people believe that the lack of social skills and the over use of social media has created a false sense of reality and feelings of invincibility. These teenagers believe they will be unaffected by their actions, such as cyber bulling. These are just some of the many reasons why this is a topic that needs to be researched into further.
No matter the view point you choose to take on social networks influencing our society, there are numerous websites and books with information for you to access, though all of it may not be fact and instead are based on a matter of opinion. I found a few articles on www.sciencemag.org extremely informative about some of the positive and negative effects of social networks on society. The books entitled Virtual Society? Technology, Cyberbole, Reality by Steve Woolger and The Rise of the Network Society by Manuel Castells cover some of the positive and negative effects of social networks and social technology on society. Another great article I found on www.tandfonline.com provided me with some wonderful information and perspective on social networks and society.
Whether or not the effects of social networks on our society are for the better, one thing is for sure, they are here to stay. With the advancement of technology comes a new form of social evolution; a new way for us to interact with the world. This new interaction enable people from all over the world to contact each other at all times of the day and build relationships that normally would never have been established. There are so many benefits to having social networks, but I suppose the question remains: do the benefits outweigh the damages social networks can cause to society?