negatives of social media

Although I like to focus on the positive side of things, this blog is still about the opposing views of digital culture. there is not simply the white fluffy goodness on the internet, but a dark underbelly that we sometimes try to hide. Now, these things occur outside of the internet as well, but our culture of openness and sharing has led to some dangerous scenarios brought about by social media.

There are simple difficulties associated with social media, such as decreased face-to-face communication and     the disconnect of truth and reality from a person's persona, or "profile." Other difficulties arise in the workplace and among students. Social media is easy to access and can be "addictive," especially when you are looking for an excuse not to work. Just look at sites such as I Waste So Much Time or FAIL Blog to see how we will willing *waste* our time.



You get the idea...

There are also the more serious issues: because people can hide behind a computer screen, there are sexual predators who are able to disguise their real identities and harm unsuspecting victims. You'll notice the above picture(courtesy of iwastesomuchtime.com). It's funny, right? or not? It's a real problem that I'm sure we're all aware of, but because of the open nature of the internet, there is not a great deal that we can do to protect against this behavior except warn people of its existence.

There is also cyberbullying to deal with. Again, it happens in our physical world, but the annonymity of the internet allows for a whole new avenue. There are extreme cases such as the Amanda Todd story (her YouTube video to follow) and small cases, but it's all negative. In fact, she is still bullied as people comment on her video...

Don't forget... There are positives, and plenty, of social media, but we must be careful and aware. Perhaps my next post will be on how to combat these negative aspects of social media...