Social Media: Benefits and Disadvantages

Social Media: The Disadvantages

      The benefits of social media are plentiful and usually easy to recognize. You stay in touch with family, friends, get knowledge quickly. These are reasons why we sign up for these websites in the first place. Many people see the benefits of social media but don't look at the disadvantages and faults in the system.

      One common occurrence I see on my social media websites is scams and fraud. An example of this would be a friend messaging you telling you to go to some website because they got a $50 gift card to sky mall. If you click the link, it gives someone else access to your account and they use this information to contact all your friends hoping some will fall for the same scam. If you have personal information on your Facebook page, that is now susceptible to fraud.

      Looking around in class today I noticed a good amount of people on Facebook and Twitter. This is not a terrible thing since we are in a Comm class, but what about a business law class? I would say 75% of my business law peers who use a computer are browsing Reddit, Pintrest, or Facebook on the daily. This lack of productivity and attention is the reason why some classes don't allow computers. They are too much of a distraction and students don't have the willpower to pull themselves away (myself included). 

      The last fault is about enjoying the moment. Most of my friends are so caught up taking pictures of themselves, their food, and life experiences that they are missing the experience. Instead of enjoying a concert, we all take out our phones so we can block the view for the people behind us. We do this to remember and cherish the moment. "It will live forever, if it's online," we think to ourselves.

      It is these reasons why we should reconsider using social media as often as we do. We are addicted and thrive on staying connected to the world, and these disadvantages are not good enough reasons to stop it all together.