Social Media And Social Skills Essay

The way social media affects people who struggle with social skills, has been studied many times, and in many cases it shows positive results. One study was conducted among people who are considered shy and how it relates with social media. One thing that stood out in the study was that the shy Facebook user’s seemed to have less friends but interacted more with the ones they did have than the observed non-shy user’s (Orr). This showed that the shy user’s were able to use social media to help compensate for their social anxiety since it is a more comfortable environment online, thus being beneficial for them. Another study of the socially impaired involves a young man with autism and how he uses social media. The young man struggled with social interaction, so they carefully observed the first several months of his use of Facebook for the study. The longer he used Facebook, the more actually social activities he participated in online. He also claimed that in person social interactions became easier after using Facebook for a while, because it gave him more ways to relate to people (Schultz). This study shows that social media can be very helpful for the socially impaired, as it creates a more comfortable environment for initial social connections, which then makes in person social interaction easier. Not only is social media beneficial for the socially impaired, but it is also an excellent source for news of current events. For many years, Americans got their news from the radio, newspapers, or television, but a study back in 2010 showed that the primary source of news for Americans is shifting to the internet. 61% of Americans surveyed claimed that the internet was at least part of their source of news, while radio and newspaper was just over 50%. Over three-fourths of the people surveyed said they received news via social media or e-mails (Gross). A digital format for news allows greater interaction with it, such as sharing, commenting, and discussing news stories. The major benefits of digital news through social media is that it is instant and allows other perspectives on news stories. In a TEDTalks presentation from 2008, it was shown how social media was used to release footage and stories from a major Asian tsunami instantly as it was still happening. In the past, Americans would have to wait until the next newspaper came out or the news started on television or the radio, but in this situation, Americans received the news instantly from the other side of the world as it was happening via social networks and blogs. Social media allowed a more accurate perspective of the situation with the tsunami since footage from the disaster was released instantly (TEDTalks: James Surowiecki). Social media is an incredibly powerful tool for communicating news stories, therefore adding to the list of the benefits of social media. Social media is becoming so integrated in today’s culture, that …show more content…
The first negative side of social media to avoid is the risk to privacy and security. The first step to take to protect against security threats is to create very strong passwords for all accounts that are hard to hack. When using social networks, users must learn how to use privacy settings very well, and how to control who gets to see what information. Users of social media must avoid sharing certain information, such as place of birth, age, or birthday. This information can be used to steal someone’s identity. If a social media user feels the need to share this information, they must be careful of who can see it, such as restricting the info to friends only. Also users need to be careful to only add friends they really know, instead of complete strangers, and only share information that is safe for anyone to see, because nothing is temporary on the internet. Users must not share information that tells when no one will be at the users home, such as vacation dates, because it could provide enough information to a burglar to rob the home (“Fact Sheet 35”). There are many precautions people must take in order to safely use social media, but with enough common sense and education of the threats, it becomes very