Critical Review On the article "What are the pros and cons of social networking sites? " By Chew ...

1. Conclusion

1.1. Succinctly, social networking sites can cause a lot of problems when misused. We, as ethical users of social media should always be cautious and responsible when using social networking sites.

1.2. In conclusion, I agree that the irresponsible use of social networking sites can lead to social media addiction and identity theft but disagree on the statement that social networking sites can promote a celebrity's work.

2. Body paragraph 3

2.1. In the article, the author suggested that social networking sites can be used to promote a celebrity's work. I disagree with this point.

2.2. This is because the content posted by celebrities using social networking sites is seen by people around the world. One accidental blunder on social media may cause the end of the celebrity's career due to the sheer number of people being offended by the post or the number of haters posting negative comments below the celebrity's post.

2.3. Schenker (2015) points out that the ex-leading man of the Spiderman movie series, James Franco tarnished his reputation due to an attempt to pick up a 17 year old teen on Instagram.

3. References

3.1. Gaille,B., 2017, '29 Social Networking Addiction Statistics'. Retrieved April 24, 2018 from https://brandongaille.com/28-social-networking-addiction-statistics/

3.2. Schenker,M.,2015, 'The worst social media celeb screw-ups ever'. Retrieved April 24, 2018 from https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/social-media-blunders-that-prove-celebrities-and-2-wannabes-are-not-infallible/

3.3. O'Loughlin,E., 2016, 'Identity Theft and Social Media: How Are They Related?'. Retrieved August 5, 2016 from https://securityintelligence.com/identity-theft-and-social-media-how-are-they-related/

4. Introductory paragraph

4.1. The article entitled "What are the pros and cons of social networking sites" written by Strickland, J. focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites. Social networking sites lets users make connections with other people and network professionally. They enable users to organise an event and invite friends besides acting as application platforms. Users can use social networking sites to promote a celebrity's work or even get a person out of jail. But, these sites come with cons as well, they make identity theft easier and enable scammers to trick people into downloading malicious software.They can also be overwhelming and addictive.

5. Body paragraph 1

5.1. As what the author suggested, social networking can be overwhelming and addictive. I strongly agree with this point.

5.2. This is because there are various cases of social networking addiction all around us. People feel the need to check their social networking accounts for new messages and feeds regularly everyday. They also feel very uncomfortable once disconnected from their social networking accounts.

5.3. According to Gaille (2017), users aged 15-19 spend about 3 hours a day on average on social media and two full hours daily for users aged 20-29. Most students could not go without social media for 24 hours and 4 out of 5 students find that they experience negative side effects if they are disconnected from technology for a day. This shows that most teenagers and young adults are affected greatly by social networking addiction.

6. Body paragraph 2

6.1. Moreover, the author indicates that social networking sites makes identity theft easier. I also agree that identity theft crime is increasing tremendously nowadays.

6.2. This is because most users constantly share their personal and latest information via social media to stay updated. This leads to the blooming of identity theft to occur frequently. As a result, they can access to the users' accounts, spam and steal the users' identity.

6.3. According to O'Loughlin (2016), identity theft complaints were the second most reported, increasing more than 47 percent from 2014. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) states that identity theft occurs when someone appropriates another’s personal information on social networking sites without their knowledge to commit fraud. This shows that identity theft crime via social networking sites is common around the globe.