Nicole Evernden

Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be

“Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the

back with the other.” -C.P. Snow (New York Times, 15 March 1971). Society today has an obsession. We

are obsessed with our technology; the new, fast, shiny pieces of plastic and metal. They are also great

ways of communication for better or for worse. Social networking whether it’s Facebook, twitter, texting

or some other way of technological communication can be a good thing in means of convenience but

can teach bad habits.Social networking can also lead to very serious problems such as safety. This is an

issue that can and should be fixed by the youth since it is the youth who uses theseways of

communication the most.

Social networking is almost essential to modern day living, especially in youth. Very few people

don’t have an online account or a cell phone equipped with a texting plan. This isn’t always a bad thing

though. Isn’t it a lifesaver when you don’t have time to finish something at work and you can just email

it home? Or sending a text to a co-worker asking if they could take your shift? Communication by means

of technology can be very helpful to a lot of different people. Social networking is good because it’s

convenient, quick and easy. It allows you to do other things whilst waiting for a reply. These so called

advantages aren’t can actually cause other problems like procrastination or multi-tasking and these

aren’t necessarily the best skills to have. They can cause sloppy or messy, unfinished work. Over all

social networking has a lot of benefits that can be considered as advantages or disadvantages.

As said previously, social networking can have disadvantages. By having a Facebook page or

sending a picture via text; you are allowing your personal information and/or photos to be seen by

anyone. If there’s a picture of you uploaded onto Facebook or sent around by text you can delete it from

your page or your phone but once it’s out there it is very hard or impossible to get rid of. Anyone is now

able to find this picture/information. Social networking is also a way for sexual predators to approach

and attack. Another drawback is that it’s a battlefield for cyber-bullying to take place. The rate of suicide

and depression in teens, for this reason, is rising dramatically. This is a very large crisis that society today

doesn’t recognize. Another flaw is with people just communicating without face to face interaction, they

begin to rely on this method. It allows people to say things to people that they wouldn’t normally say to

face to face. People, especially youth, rarely communicate outside the world of technology. This can

cause social awkwardness for children who start communicating this way at a young age. They don’t

learn basic communication skills. The more someone uses this method of talking the quicker they begin

to forget how to make eye contact, listening and how to ask questions. It can also become rather

addicting. The youth of this generation are always texting whether it’s the dinner table or visiting with

friends or family. They are constantly updating their statuses and checking updates, seeing if someone

commented or ‘liked’ what they did. The flaws of social networking outweigh the so called advantages.

Social networking has both pros and cons but the true problem is there is very little being done

about the weaknesses. Anapproach to repairing the tattered social world is to promote face to face

conversation. Promote gatherings such as school dances. This won’t only help the social awkwardness

but it will help eliminate cyber-bullying because people would be more afraid to say things face to face.

To help problems such as sexual predators is simply putting out undercover police force onto websites

Nicole Evernden

and publicize information about it. A line of attack for lowering the amount of people ‘addicted’ to

texting is making texting and driving illegal. Another way to stop this habit of communication is to ban

cell phones from school. Most students’ marks are dropping the more technology is being embraced.

They are too busy sneaking in a pointless text rather than paying attention to their teacher. Although

technology in the classroom is a way to embrace our new world, it is almost too much of a risk with

regards to marks. Most of these methods are underway but are slow and unnoticed. Youth can help in

changing this ‘wrong’. If one teen could put their mind to it and protest, go to the adults, petition,

publicize and so on, we could fix these problems. The majority of people who use this method of

communication are the youth so why not fight fire with fire and send the youth out to fix it. They are

more likely to listen to people their own age than adults. This is an issue that needs to be nipped in the

bud quickly before it’s impossible to deal with and it is rapidly getting to that point.

Ultimately social networking, including texting, has more disadvantages than advantages. It is an

addictive, serious issue that needs that needs to be addressed by the youth. Communication by means

of technology doesn’t only have one bad point; it has numerous, that all must be dealt with before it’s

too late. The benefits can be very good for our society today. It makes life easier and more convenient.

The disadvantages though are not being able to delete information/pictures once it’s out there, being a

populated zone for sexual predators, has high rate for cyber-bullying that can lead to teen/child

depression or suicide, can cause social awkwardness, become addicting, can lead to procrastination,

laziness and multi-tasking. Ways to fix these drawbacks are to promote, protest, publicize and petition.

Get the youth out there teaching the youth what’s wrong and what’s right. “Technological progress has

merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” -Aldous Huxley.