Zeynep Tufekci explains in his essay that teenagers are not becoming anti-social because they're using social media; they're anti-social because they're teenagers and social media is a way to help them through it. Social media definitely has it's up sides for helping youth connect; however, it is not always used with the best intentions. Teens feel free to say what they think on social media because there is a level of anonymity, but this also means that they feel they can get away with bullying others using social media as a platform. Since they can bully others even while being alone, they don't think they can get caught and they don't have to see the victim being affected making them feel empathy for the person. Below is a chart of statistics showing how prevalent cyber-bullying has become.
I completely agree with you about how social media isn't always being used with the right intentions. I never knew how much bullying is actually going on in social media. After looking at your chart it blew me away to see how often cyber bullying occurs, and mostly on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI agree with social media being an outlet for malicious intentions. I am glad there is currently an anti-cyberbullying movement going on to educate the newer generations of the harmful effects of cyberbullying.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tiffany. However, it is not only teenagers who can be victims or perpetrators; adults have also been victims or perpetrators of this act. Social media gives people the ability to pretend to be someone else in order to hurt others. Social media along with advances in technology and the world wide web (internet) have caused problems such as cyber-bullying and sexting to occur.
ReplyDeleteI agree but we also have to remember there is always two sides of the coin, and just like social media gives teenager a voice it also eliminates their understanding of having a face to face conversation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying about cyber bullying. I hope eventually teens will stop cyber bullying each other.
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