1. Our addiction to social media can be unhealthy and removes us from the real world surrounding us.
1.1. Biological & Psychological Reasons for Social Media Addiction
1.1.1. Social media addiction can cause mental illnesses and can be detrimental to our mental health.
1.1.1.1. in a 2015 study on the effects of Facebook use on mental health, researchers at the University of Missouri discovered that regular use could lead to symptoms of depression if the site triggered feelings of envy in the user. -Maiyan Pearl
1.1.1.2. “If it is used as a way to size up one's own accomplishments against others, it can have a negative effect,” said Professor Margaret Duffy, one of the professors who co-authored the research. She explains that if it’s used “to see how well an acquaintance is doing financially or how happy an old friend is in his relationship - things that cause envy among users - use of the site can lead to feelings of depression.”-Maiyan Pearl
1.1.1.3. However, those who use the site primarily to feel connected do not experience the negative effects. In fact, when not triggering feelings of envy, the study shows, Facebook could be a good resource and have positive effects on well-being. -Maiyan Pearl
2. Social media makes bullying easier, as doing it behind a screen is easier than in person.
2.1. Teens, Cyberbullying, Sexual Harassment and Social Media: The New Normal?
2.1.1. Cyberbullying is a huge problem in today's society. It is linked to depression in a majority of teens who use social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat.
2.1.1.1. How does social media affect teens? --Surabi
2.1.1.2. How do we expose ourselves in social media when it comes up to cyberbully? -Mario
2.1.1.2.1. EVIDENCE: We should always be aware of any kind of post or comment we do in social networks like facebook or twitter, it all can be used against us at one point if we overexpose ourselves. Are We Overexposing Ourselves On Social Networks? - Mario
3. Social media can make us feel lonely or dissatisfied with our own lives because we are constantly comparing ourselves to one another.
3.1. How Social Networks Can Inflame Jealousy
3.1.1. Social media allows us to share every aspect of our lives, and look into the lives of many others. This causes depression and jealousy in many teens, who become dissatisfied with their own lives
3.1.2. Instagram creates unrealistic body expectations because people only post the best version of themselves -Rikki
3.2. Social media isn't always the best place to feel connected but it can also make us feel lonely and jealous towards what other people are doing. -Christina
3.2.1. 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health
4. Things said/posted/shared on social media last forever.
4.1. Digital Transparency and Permanence
4.1.1. People who share things on social media have them last forever. This can come to bite you in the back in the future, which commonly happens among teens.
4.1.1.1. On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd attending a music festival in Las Vegas, killing 59 people and wounding over 500. The next day, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a vice president and senior legal counsel at CBS, took to Facebook. Calling some of the shooting victims "Republican gun toters," she claimed they didn't deserve sympathy, and said she doubted the "Repugs" in power would "do the right thing."-Maiyan Pearl
4.1.1.2. CBS immediately fired her, and released a statement that read, "This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS... Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families."-Maiyan Pearl
5. Issues concerning online privacy arise with social media.
5.1. Social media research raises privacy and ethics issues
5.1.1. Social media over sharing can bring unwanted attention. This can result with private information accessed by unwanted people.
6. The youth who aren't in touch with current via the news can find information through social media.
6.1. How Social Media Keeps Us Connected
6.1.1. Especially relevant to today's youth, social media keeps us informed of current events going on around the world.
7. Social media provides a new form for marketing, inducing further development from competition.
7.1. The Top 10 Benefits Of Social Media Marketing
7.1.1. Social media influences development by creating competition between more companies. Smaller startups can advertise their products just as effectively as larger companies.
7.1.1.1. "Research shows that social media is increasingly a platform consumers use to express their loyalty to their favorite brands and products, and many seek to reap benefits from brands for helping promote their products. " (“How Social Media Impacts Brand Marketing.”)- Maiyan Pearl
8. Entertainment, unique opportunities to express oneself, even new career choices.
8.1. "Content produced by amateurs find an audience...the total volume of sales generated by such low popularity items exceed the volume generated by the Top 40" (Manovich 320).
8.1.1. The increase of consumers on social media means more recognition of smaller producers, in turn creating more entertainment and unique career choices such as Instagram modeling or becoming a Youtuber.
9. The entire world is connected on easy, quick ways of communication.
9.1. "The numbers of people participating in some way in social networks, whether by accessing, discussing or sharing media are astonishing" (Manovich 320).
9.1.1. People all around the world are connected in multiple ways of communication. With Facebook, Instagram, etc, the entire world can easily communicate as it never has before.
10. Maintaining distant friends and family relations is easier with social media.
10.1. Keeping in Touch through the World of Social Media – Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple
10.1.1. Social media makes keeping in touch with distant friends and family easier. This helps us maintain good relationships with who we care about, rather than letting them out of our lives completely.
10.1.1.1. Are people in any way less connected to others because they are connected to so many people? --Surabi
10.1.1.2. How important is social media taking care of our friendships around the world? -Mario
10.1.2. But with keeping distant relationships, are you really able to maintain them when you cannot see them in person? Is social media really keeping friendships? -Rikki