Prospectus

• What issue do you plan to address?

Are there negative effects of using social networking sites?

• What is your tentative answer to the question?

I believe there are many negative effects to using social networking sites. I think they encourage  people to spend numerous hours online instead of communicating in person, lack of privacy, cyberbulling/hurtful language, and a sense of having a different identity.

• What personal interest or stake do you have in this issue? 

I have been battling with social networking for about three years. I stopped using Facebook in February 2011, because I became way too addicted. I would constantly be strolling through pages over and over again, for no reason! It was so easy to just waste time online, and I realized how it was negatively effecting my life. I also figured out that I was loosing a sense of my own identity. I would post, or Like, things that didn't have much to do with who I really was. On Facebook you can create a different identity, and that's what I mainly disliked. I gave up Facebook for almost a year and a half, and in that time my classmates created fake accounts of me. It was really hurtful, because they were poking fun at a personal choice I had made. It also made me feel like my privacy had been violated and I wasn't even online! In the summer of 2012, after I graduated high school, I wanted to see if my opinion had changed. I used Facebook until summer was over, and then decided it wasn't worth my time. I am able to get things done more efficiently, without frivolous distractions. I also believe, I am able to get down to the roots of who I really am.

Are you being hacked?

• Why is this a controversial issue?

This issue has serious controversy. With the new age of technology we are able to access information so fast. We don't have to wait to talk in person; we can just chatt online. I think that the comfort of having communication at our fingertips is taking away from the meaning of real relationships. Although it can be helpful to have that access, such as communicating from other countries, I believe it is overused and becoming a distraction. I've tried to explain to people how this is a harmful effect for self growth, but most don't see the issue. They think that non-stop communicating is perfectly normal. What I've found is that it makes in-person socializing dull if you talk frequently online. Social Networking encourages people to spend more time online and less time in person. In August 2012 the average Facebook user was spending 7 hours and 46 minutes online. It's also allowing people to create a false image of them self. Online you can be whoever you want to be, but is that necessarily healthy? Being online also has increased privacy violations. People can hack accounts, change your page, write whatever they want, and lock you out your profile. This is a huge stress, and I've experienced it. Not being able to say, "this profile isn't mine," can effect your job, schooling, relationships, etc. Another huge online issue is cyberbullying, which has effected many teens around the world. Approximately 20% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying in their lifetimes. It also showed teen girls were more prone to cyberbullying than boys, at 25.8% vs. 16%.  These shocking numbers aren't okay. We need to start facing them and fighting against the cause of these tragic problems. Online life has become very acceptable in our society. Unless you're person that stays away from technology of all sorts, you will most likely become an addict of this new drug.

"What if this was your child?"

• Who's is the audience you're talking to?

In this argument I am going to be talking to social networking users and parents. Since Facebook has become the main source of online communication, I will be referring to it mostly. I want to get my message through to people using these sites and parents of children that use them. This is crowd of people I want to persuade, since they will be impacted most by the issues. I will provide evidence with statistics, studies, stories and personal experiences. I want to encourage parents to become more cautious of their children online life and privacy. As far as social networking users, I plan to instill the meaning of communication and the distractions that the internet can cause on relationships.  

• Sites that will help my argument....

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
http://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/facts/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/facebook-study-shows-we-u_n_1644061.html
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/
http://www.michaelzimmer.org/2010/05/14/facebooks-zuckerberg-having-two-identities-for-yourself-is-an-example-of-a-lack-of-integrity/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azIW1xjSTCo&feature=player_embedded#at=54