Negative Effects of Social Networking

Social networking brings forth several problems. One notable danger,associated with social networking, is over sharing. People tend to share too much information online. This exposes their life too much to the public. It is through these sites where people post their photos, profiles, and even videos. More than this, people also update their profiles every now and then concerning every moment of their lives. This is not bad especially if people are close friends. However, in many instances, the public can access the information. This is especially if one does not activate the privacy settings. In this case, one’s personal information and private family life tends to be so exposed. This is well explained by (Katherine), who describes twitter as a site of people who want to share so much about themselves. In the article, Katherine describes social media as a place where people sometimes humiliate themselves. Humiliation arises when malicious people vandalize an individual’s information. People can sometimes use other people’s information and spread it online just to embarrass them.

The second danger that is associated with social networking is people spending more time on the sites than they do face to face. The social media have reduced relationships to the place where they only happen online (Marshable). This is true even where dating is concerned. The recent trend is that people tend to satisfy all their social needs online. This is a negative trend as there are some things about others that cannot be learnt online. The true character of a person is known through face-to-face interactions. One learns the characteristic of another through private communication. One is also able to learn the strengths and weaknesses of another person through face-to-face interactions. As such, the social media have robbed the world of the true meaning of relationships. Where face-to-face relationships exist, people feel more loved and appreciated as they can share their everyday events. They are able to share especially in difficult times and to stand with each other at such moments. They also can to share in the moments of joy and they are able to reckon with each other. The online relationships can only be referred to superficial relationships. An example of this happened recently where a couple dated online for a period of more than ten years (Marshable). The couple bonded so strongly online and even planned their wedding online. However, their plan to live together was short-lived as they divorced after two weeks of their marriage. Latter, the family friend explained to us that she thought she knew the man, but then she realized that they were complete strangers.

The third problem associated with the social networks is the fact that they are addictive. They also tend to rob one’s self confidence. When one gets used to the social networks sites, they will better sit in the internet, rather than have a good time with friends. They tend to spend most of their time online chatting with friends. Some people have been caught saying that they leave significant chores because they want just to spend time online. The substitution of real interactions with online interactions also robs people of personal confidence. People aredefrauded of their ability to address personally. An example is through a classmate who is extremely shy person, but in his/her face book wall, he/she is so confident. This person many times opts to be online than to be with people. Contrasting two images depicted by the same person can only be attributed to the negative effects of social networking (Marshable).